Waiting for my ship to come in...
Veterans of this blog will know that I liken sending out my short stories(to magazines, publishers, employers, residencies, grants, competitions and contests) to launching ships.
Some will sink without trace, others will come back home with just token cargo (such as a shortlisting) and occasionally they flow into port laden with gold (a win). I have two such golden returns this year (the HISSAC and the Molly Keane Awards) and two further publications and a host of minor treasure besides.
But over half my fleet sunk. I tell you that not to dishearten you, on the contrary. When a ship disappears, you’ve got to brush yourself off and get on with it. Send more out and the more you send, the less you’ll bother about those you’ve lost. If you keep at it, you”ll get there.
Here’s a list of end-of-year comps – go on, launch a ship!
Roanoke Review
Deadline: November 8, 2011
Entry Fee: $15
Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Roanoke Review
Website: http://www.roanokereview.wordpress.com
**
Winter Anthology
Deadline: November 15, 2011
Entry Fee: $11
Website: http://www.winteranthology.com
Prize: $1,000 and publication in the Winter Anthology
**
Writer’s Digest
Deadline: November 15, 2011
Entry Fee: $20
Website: http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions
Prize: $3,000
***
Tennessee Williams Contest
Closing Date: November 15
Prizes: $1,500
Entry fee:
Website: http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/contests
**
New Millennium Writings
Deadline: November 17, 2011
Entry Fee: $17
Website: http://www.newmillenniumwritings.com
Prize: $1,000
**
Cheer Reader
Closing Date: 30 November 2011
Prizes: €100
Entry fee: €5
Website: http://cheerreader.co.uk
**
Mary Gornall Memorial
Website: http://www.ashbywritersclub.com/
Prize: £100
Deadline: 30 November 2011
**
Ink Tears
Closing Date: 30 November 2011
Prizes: £1000
Entry fee: £4.50
Website: http://www.inktears.com
**
The New Writer
Closing Date: 30th November
Prizes: £150
Entry fee: £5
Website: http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizes.htm
**
Fish Short Story Prize
Deadline: November 30, 2011
Entry Fee: $28
Website: http://www.fishpublishing.com
Prize of 3,000 euros
**
Glimmer Train Press
Deadline: November 30, 2011
Entry Fee: $15
Website: http://www.glimmertrain.org
Prize: $1,200 and publication in Glimmer Train Stories
**
Narrative Fall Story Contest
Deadline: November 30, 2011
Entry Fee: $20
Website: http://www.narrativemagazine.com
Prize: $3,250
**
Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown Writing Fellowships
Deadline: December 1, 2011
Entry Fee: $45
Website: http://www.fawc.org
Fellowships for a seven-month residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown
**
Willesden Herald
Deadline: 16 December 2011
Entry Fee: £3
Website: http://www.willesdenherald.com/competition/rules.php
Prize: £300
**
Ruth Hindman Foundation H. E. Francis Short Story Competition
Deadline: December 31, 2011
Entry Fee: $15
Website: http://www.uah.edu/english/hefranciscontest
Prize of $1,000
**
Boulevard Contest
Deadline: December 31, 2011
Entry Fee: $15
Website: http://www.boulevardmagazine.org
Prize: $1,500
**
Literal Latté K. Margaret Grossman Fiction Award
Deadline: January 15, 2012
Entry Fee: $10
Website: http://www.literal-latte.com
**
Francis McManus
Closing Date: Friday 20 January 2012
Prizes: €3,000
Entry fee: None, but must be Irish or resident in Ireland
Website: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/francismacmanus/Francis-MacManus-Entry-Form.pdf
Good luck!
suehealy 
November 6th, 2011 at 23:13
What a great column, Sue! I especially like the contest links you give. And I need to do more short pieces while I’m working on my novel. So thanks for the shot in the arm!
November 7th, 2011 at 00:08
Glad to be of use, Elaine!
November 6th, 2011 at 23:35
I was just getting around to sending out some ships of my own, and you alerted me to at least four or five contests I wasn’t aware of so thank you. I always look forward to your posts, I usually read them before my morning pages over tea and breakfast, but it is always a special bonus when it is the occasional contest list post. Congrats again on your wins this year and it is really inspiring to hear you lost half your fleet while getting huge hauls on two that returned. My issue is I can only afford one or two entry fees at the moment, so I need to pick a couple of contests and then be sure to pick the piece they would like the most. Anyway, thanks again for the list and the continuously useful and inspiring posts.
November 7th, 2011 at 00:08
How lovely of you, thank you!
November 7th, 2011 at 00:55
What an encouraging post. Currently I am participating in NaNoWriMo, so the logical side of me says I have no time to submit pieces to competitions.
But who said being a writer was logical?!
November 7th, 2011 at 01:10
Nice! I don’t usually enter competitions but might give one a go. Thanks Sue.
November 7th, 2011 at 01:25
Thanks so much. It’s very kind of you to share these links.
All the best,
Susan
November 7th, 2011 at 01:31
Thanks for posting the contest info. I decided to enter a few. My word count for: The Coyote Wars, Book 1: Radalov’s Vengeance is on Twitter.
Congrats on your successes!
KDM
November 7th, 2011 at 16:54
Thanks, Sue. Great reminder that today is the day to get that launching done! Len.
November 7th, 2011 at 23:03
Thanks for information. Good Luck sailing…Just saying
November 8th, 2011 at 21:26
Thanks so much for this post. I feel encouraged, and completely up to writing a few pieces, and launching some ships. 🙂
Many thanks for the links to contests. I often get lost when I’m looking for goo, reputable competitions to enter. It’s going to be a busy few weeks for me!
November 10th, 2011 at 04:33
Wow…lots of helpful information! It’s good to be inspired by others. Thanks so much for sharing and for reminding us not to be scared to get out there.
November 15th, 2011 at 15:55
I am currently in the process of crafting a few boats of my own. May Poseidon bless their voyage as happily as he blessed yours.
November 27th, 2011 at 15:32
I entered a short story contest at Glimmer Train last year and I was really upset because after I had submitted the story and the $15 entrance fee I got a message telling me that because of the volume of submissions they receive, they don’t offer feedback on rejected stories. I wasn’t expecting a line-by-line review of the story, but I did expect a short paragraph telling me why my ship was being sunk so I’d have something to use moving forward.
November 27th, 2011 at 15:54
Hi Michael, thanks for your comment. I hear what you are saying. I know that a lot of competitions offer a critiquing services as an optional extra. Fish publishing are currently doing the same for their prose comp. (ends in a few days). I also understand why comps don’t give feedback – to do so is very time consuming and for the organisers to pay the judges to provide feedback too, they’d probably have to pay them four times as much (and charge entrants four times as much too). Occasionally, if you submit to a magazine, you’ll get a kindly editor with time who might reply with a short critique but this is becoming rarer and rarer. There are also some services who’ll critique a piece of work for a fee. I do – if you check out my ‘services’ tab. However, don’t let the rejection deter you, just keep on keeping on and you’ll get there.
November 29th, 2011 at 03:05
Hi Sue. I love your comparison of submissions to ships. And when I read you had 12 out at once, I was startled. I’ve never had more than three out at once, so 12 seemed enormous to me, and unwieldy. Then I realized that perhaps that’s the point; with so many submissions, I wouldn’t be able to agonize over them, check Duotrope (I’m in the US) so often on each one’s status, etc. I’d have to let them float back to me in their own good time.
So, I’m thinking I need to submit more stories, have more ships out there at any given time. Maybe not 12 yet. Six seems like a nice, attainable goal just now. Too many to follow closely, but not so many that I’d feel swamped. Thanks!
November 29th, 2011 at 08:39
Yes, that’s exactly why I send out so many at once, it helps one to forget which and where and therefore, you don’t fret or feel too disappointed if they don’t come home… It works for me.
December 21st, 2011 at 21:19
[…] on that path. It’s connected me to many others, and that’s changed me, too. Over at Sue Healy’s blog, I learned about launching ships, her metaphor for sending out stories for publication, or […]