Writing Opportunities

Hey everyone. Since this is (sort of) a literary blog, I like informing my followers about opportunities to share their writing. I know it can be tough to establish your name out there and earn money from writing. Even if you have the skills and talent, it's hard to get exposure sometimes. That's why I really like making posts like these. I share whatever I've found helpful so it can help someone else.

Just remember that even if you don't win writing contests with big cash prizes, it's okay. I've entered in lots of contests. You win some, you lose some. Even if you find yourself losing every contest you enter in, don't give up on your dreams. Remember that you started writing because (hopefully) you love it and it's something you're passionate about.

I know lots of writers were actually excited for the COVID-19 lockdown because they thought it would give them time to work on the novel they've been dreaming of. But they underestimated the toll that the pandemic would have on their mental health and their level of inspiration and are now suffering from writer's block. This is okay. You are human and you have limits. And you are worth more than your productivity! But if you still feel like you should be writing something, try journalling or writing very informal blog posts like these. I barely edit these or plan them out which is why I sometimes sound like a 12 year old rambling about something, but it's better than not writing anything.

Okay now that that's out of the way, let's get into the writing organizations that you should join!

1. Write the World

This is an online writing platform for 13-18 year olds that has competitions each month where you can win $100 for best entry or $50 for best peer review. The judges are all cool popular famous celebrity writers.

You can also just post random writing and get very personalized, detailed feedback.

I am a community ambassador on WtW this summer, which means I write lots of peer reviews and create prompts to be used on the site. I absolutely love it and honestly feel like this is the most helpful writing community I've been a part of.

One of the best things about WtW is that it is an international community. So you don't have to live in a particular country to enter contests.

2. Shrapnel magazine

Here's another opportunity to win some cash, although the prizes are small. 25$ for essays and fiction and 15$ for poetry and book reviews. I haven't actually written for them yet but I'm thinking about writing a book review. They appear to be a small publication that's just starting out. But I love that they pay writers. So good luck if you enter!

3. INKspire org

No cash grabs here, but lots of ways to form amazing connections. The editors give very helpful feedback. I have written 3 articles for them and a poem and I'm currently working on a short story.

4. Reedsy prompts

You can win 50$ for writing a short story using the prompts posted by Reedsy. I haven't actually participated in any of the contests yet but I've used Reedsy's ebook formatting tools to self-publish some novels (back when I had the time to do things like that). So I also recommend Reedsy products and services in general. The ebook formatting thing is free. You can also pay editors on the site.

5. The Creative Cafe

This is my favourite publication on Medium. To join the publication, simply answer any of their prompts. Then you will be added to a supportive and enthusiastic community of writers. There's a Slack group where you can chat with people as well. The cash prizes for the competitions are 25$. But everyone who enters gets a shoutout which is actually extremely helpful for publicity and attracts a lot of viewers to your piece.

6. NaNoWriMo

Ah, the infamous novel writing competition which every writer attempts at least once. There is a July event coming up in case you're interested (it's on the Camp NaNo site).

You won't win cash from this contest. However, if you win, you will get lots of freebies, discounts and random cool stuff. I got an exclusive aesthetic ebook format
From winning. Reedsy partnered with NaNo for it. I won NaNoWriMo in November 2013 and 2016. Then again in April 2018 (for camp nanowrimo). After that I made an attempt in July 2018 but abandoned my 50 page manuscript because it really wasn't going anywhere.

7. CANSCAIP

This is the Canadian society of children's authors, illustrators and publishers. I recommend their annual "writing for children competition" but there are some things you gotta keep in mind:

1) there is a quite pricey entry free (30$), which I paid this year. And I am anxiously awaiting the result. However, the contest guarantees detailed written feedback for every entry. So when you think about it, it's actually a cheap price for a personal editor which is basically what you're getting.

2) you don't have to write a picture book for 4 year olds (unless you want to, and that's what I did) but you could also submit a novel for preteens.

3) the prize for this contest is actually one of the greatest in my opinion. You actually get published by a prestigious publisher and become an established author. It would be great for your career as you will find it much easier to get published again if you ever want to.

Thank you for reading and I really hope you found some of these suggestions helpful. If you know of any other writing communities, contests, events, etc. why not share them with your fellow writers?