8 New Agents Seeking Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Thrillers, Literary Fiction, YA, Memoir, Nonfiction and more

Here are eight new literary agents actively seeking clients. New agents are a boon to writers. They are actively building their lists, and will go the extra mile for their clients.

All of these agents work for established agencies with good track records. They are looking for all genres.

Always check the agency website and agent bio before submitting. Agents can switch agencies or close their lists, and submission requirements can change. 

NOTE: Don't submit to several agents at the same agency simultaneously. If one rejects you, you may then submit to another. (Some small agencies share. Be alert to a notice that "a no from one is a no from all.")

You can find a full list of agents actively seeking new clients here: Agents Seeking Clients. 

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Charlotte Sunderland of Park, Fine & Brower

Charlotte Sunderland works with Celeste Fine on bestselling nonfiction and fiction. She comes to books with a film and tv background, having worked in Los Angeles for a decade, at Creative Artists Agency, wiip studios, and as Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Creative Executive, where she helped develop film, tv, and podcast material. Charlotte graduated from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts with a B.A. in Cinema and Media Studies.

What she is seeking: Charlotte is looking for upmarket fiction that can expand into film and television, and is particularly interested in self-sabotaging heroines and morally ambiguous characters, dysfunctional families, unreliable narrators, ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations, and humorous takes on conventionally dark subjects.

How to submit: Please specify the first and last name of the agent to whom you are submitting, as well as the category and genre of your submission (i.e.: “Charlott Sunderland – Adult Fiction”) in the subject line of the email. Send your query letter and accompanying material to this email address: queries@parkfinebrower.com. All materials must be in the body of the email, as we are unable to open attachments. Due to the volume of email queries we receive, we will only respond if we are interested.

For adult fiction submissions, please include a query letter and approximately the first 25 pages of your work. For YA & children’s fiction submissions, please include a query letter and the first chapter or approximately the first ten pages of your work. For non-fiction submissions, please send a query letter. 

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Ben Kaslow-Zieve of Park, Fine & Brower

Ben Kaslow-Zieve works alongside Celeste Fine on bestselling nonfiction and fiction. Having started his career in the foreign rights department at Park & Fine (now Park, Fine & Brower), he is particularly attuned to ideas and stories that will impact readers around the world—and how to help those books reach their audience in every country and every language. 

What he is seeking: He loves non-fiction of all kinds, especially books that seek to translate big ideas to a broad audience and authors who help us better understand the time and place in which we live. Whether in science, history, memoir, cultural criticism, investigative journalism, or business, he loves an unexpected angle, an untold story, and an unusual discovery. He believes in the power of nonfiction to start conversations, shift perspectives, and change our culture.

In fiction, he’s looking for smart takes on genre and accessible literary fiction that engages with its social and historical context. He loves: original premises taken to surprising conclusions; epics of all genres; unique relationships; characters at odds with their time; a feel for the rhythms of the world; understated heartbreak; compassion; compelling sentences.

How to submit: Please specify the first and last name of the agent to whom you are submitting, as well as the category and genre of your submission (i.e.: “Ben Kaslow-Zieve – Adult Fiction”) in the subject line of the email. Send your query letter and accompanying material to this email address: queries@parkfinebrower.com. All materials must be in the body of the email, as we are unable to open attachments. Due to the volume of email queries we receive, we will only respond if we are interested.

For adult fiction submissions, please include a query letter and approximately the first 25 pages of your work. For YA & children’s fiction submissions, please include a query letter and the first chapter or approximately the first ten pages of your work. For non-fiction submissions, please send a query letter.

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Melissa Rodman of Park, Fine & Brower

Melissa Rodman works closely with Sarah Passick to develop a variety of nonfiction and select fiction projects from proposal to publication. Prior to joining the team at Park & Fine (now Park, Fine & Brower), she served as research associate in entertainment, media, and sports at Harvard Business School and editorial associate at Harvard University Press, before earning a master’s degree at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and completing an editorial internship at The New Republic. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History & Literature, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and in college interned at Picador, the U.S. imprint of her North Star author, Hilary Mantel.

What she is seeking: Her literary interests include narrative nonfiction, cultural criticism, history, and memoir, and she enjoys collaborating with authors to hone their ideas, arguments, and sentences.

How to submit: Please specify the first and last name of the agent to whom you are submitting, as well as the category and genre of your submission (i.e.: “Melissa Rodman – Adult Fiction”) in the subject line of the email. Send your query letter and accompanying material to this email address: queries@parkfinebrower.com. All materials must be in the body of the email, as we are unable to open attachments. Due to the volume of email queries we receive, we will only respond if we are interested.

For adult fiction submissions, please include a query letter and approximately the first 25 pages of your work. For YA & children’s fiction submissions, please include a query letter and the first chapter or approximately the first ten pages of your work. For non-fiction submissions, please send a query letter. 

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Ms. Natalie Barracliffe of Sheil Land Associates Ltd

Natalie studied Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway University of London and graduated in 2018. She completed work experience with Rogers, Coleridge & White and then joined Sheil Land Associates in 2019 as Assistant to two literary agents, including our CEO, Sonia Land. She was promoted to Associate Agent in 2024 and is growing her list while continuing to support the agents.

What she is seeking: As I begin growing my list, I’m particularly interested in fantasy, thrillers and romances in the Adult and Young Adult market. I'm also looking for a chilling horror to sink my teeth into. Genres: Romance, Fantasy, specifically fantasy with a romance element, Young Adult fiction, specifically thrillers, fantasy and romance, Thriller, Crime fiction, Horror, General fiction.

How to submit: Please follow the guidelines HERE.

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Arianna Siddiqui of FinePrint Literary Management

Arianna Siddiqui earned dual degrees in political science and economics from Trinity University and completed the Columbia Publishing Course at the University of Oxford. She also started her professional career selling used Mercedes before transitioning into a career in publishing. With experience as an assistant at Lucinda Literary and William Morris Endeavor, and as a mentee with the Writers House Mentor Initiative, she has a strong eye for engaging stories and market trends. Arianna is currently pursuing a part-time master’s in creative writing at the University of Cambridge. In her free time, Arianna writes speculative romance and fosters litters of kittens.

What she is seeking: Arianna is particularly drawn to mysteries, romance, and speculative fiction across young adult and adult audiences. She’s also open to adult nonfiction that explores unique narratives or perspectives.

How to submit: Use her querymanager HERE. 

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Hailey Stephens of Arthouse

Hailey Stephens is an avid reader, writer, and editor with a bachelor's degree in English-Writing from Illinois Wesleyan University, as well as a master's in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University. She is especially interested in uplifting diverse artists from rural communities that may be overlooked by such a metropolis-based industry. When not reading or writing, Hailey enjoys exploring her many hobbies. She's a baker, hiker, puzzler, gamer (board games, card games, D&D, video games-she's open to it all!), cross-stitcher, and so much more. While Hailey's reading tastes include almost everything (she currently favors romance, literary fiction, and creative memoirs), her writing is focused on both creative nonfiction and psychological/supernatural horror. 

What she is seeking: In general, Hailey is only looking for Adult novels, but she will selectively take on Middle Grade books if the manuscript will inspire a passion for reading. In fiction, she is looking for literary fiction, romance, thrillers, and horror. In nonfiction, she is looking for both trade and literary proposals, including memoirs.

How to submit: Please follow the agency guidelines HERE.

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Ed Wood of The Blair Partnership (UK)

As Publishing Director at Little, Brown, I published crime, thriller and book club bestsellers including Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, Carl Hiaasen, Keith Stuart, Jessica Fellowes, Patricia Highsmith, and international megabrands Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler. I published numerous Sunday Times and digital bestsellers, including at number one. Among various awards, my titles won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, various CWA Daggers, and the McIlvanney Prize. And in my second role as Little, Brown IP Director, I worked with authors on original concepts that became huge rights sales hits and international bestsellers. I like to work in creative partnership with authors to fulfil their vision – and then help them reach the biggest readership possible.

What he is seeking: I’m thrilled to take on clients in crime, thriller, mystery and book club fiction – and to be their creative and commercial champion.

How to submit: You can send submissions at EdSubmissions@theblairpartnership.com

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Ms. Marissa Koors of The Curious Minds Agency (UK)

Before joining Curious Minds in 2023, Marissa worked as an editor at Basic Books, where she edited Kate Cooper’s Queens of a Fallen World – a Finalist for the 2023 Cundill Prize – and Sophie Duncan’s Juliet.  An avid gamer with a love of branching narrative, she also edits video games and tabletop roleplaying games in her spare time. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

What she is seekng: She is seeking non-fiction authors in categories ranging from history, philosophy, and the ancient world to fashion, culture, the arts, and emerging science and technology who want to use their expertise to render the hidden structures of the world legible to readers. She is drawn to stylish and substantive books animated by bold argument that spark debate and start conversations.

How to submit: You may submit a proposal and sample chapter by email to info@curiousmindsagency.com

2025 New Year's Writing Resolution (for writers): Recycle Your Work

Every year, I make a New Year's Resolution just for writing. I don't bother with personal resolutions, because I never keep them. (I have not, for example, run the Boston Marathon, cured cancer, or finished my PhD...yet.) But, without fail, I do keep my writing resolutions. 

In past years, I have made writing resolutions to Write What I Feared (we must all face our writing demons), and to get more rejections than C. S. Lewis. (He got over 800; I clocked in at a measly 160 that year.). In 2020, I resolved to begin (facing a blank screen is always daunting) and the following year, to finish what I had started. (This is a perennial problem for writers such as myself, who have a wealth of ideas, but little patience.) 

I have resolved to read, because it is only through reading and re-reading that we hone our writing skills, and I have resolved to observe the ordinary, because observing what goes on around us, and listening, really listening, with the heart as well as the ears, is the basis of all subject matter. 

Perhaps most important of all, I have resolved to be true to my own work - that is to say, to not conform to what I think an audience might like (or dislike, as the case may be), but to be loyal to my own message, my own thoughts, my own feelings. Most writers may not realize it, but ignoring a prospective audience is actually quite difficult, especially once editors and publishers get hold of your manuscript. 

Where was I? Oh yes...

After resolving to get off my butt and get published, and, miraculously, having done so, and having started, finished, faced my writing demons, observed, revised, and re-read the greats ... what is left?

Nothing. I am completely bereft of ideas.

No, just kidding. I do have one goal this year. Over the past few years (or is it decades?), I have gotten a number of short pieces published. It was exhilaring to see my work in print. So, like an addict, I kept pursuing the intoxication of publishing new work. Meanwhile, my older stories (some of which are quite good, even if I do say so myself), have been forgotten in my lust for novelty. 

There is simply no excuse for abandoning your prior work, especially when it has appeared in journals which are now defunct. (My strategy has always been to submit to print journals first. That allows me to submit to online journals later.)

So, this year, I shall delve into my neglected writings and recycle them. There are plenty of journals that accept reprints, and, because I happen to have a list of them right here, I shall begin to recycle.

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If you want to follow in my footsteps, this is my excellent list: 185 Literary Magazines Accepting Reprints. You are welcome to make ample use of it.

Previous resolutions (all of which are worth following in case you're stuck for inspiration):

2024 New Year's Writing Resolution: Revise Your Darlings

2023 New Year's Resolution for Writers: Motivation

2022 New Year's Writing Resolution: Observe the Ordinary

2021 New Year's Resolution for Writers: Read

2020 New Year's Resolution for Writers: Begin

2019 New Year's Resolution for Writers: To Thine Own Work Be True

2018 New Year's Resolution for Writers: Finish

New Year's Resolution: Write What You Fear

2016 - Your Year to Get Published!

A New Year's Resolution - For Writers (Get rejected!)

94 Calls for Submissions in January 2025 - Paying markets

This January there are more than seven dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays.

I post upcoming calls for submissions shortly before the first day of every month. But as I am collecting them, I post them on my page, Calls for Submissions. You can get a jump on next month's calls for submissions by checking that page periodically throughout the month. (I only post paying markets.)

Also see Paying Markets for hundreds of paying markets arranged by form and genre.

Happy submitting!

Note: I update this list continually throughout the month, so check back frequently for new submission calls.

(Image: Wikimedia)

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What If… Skunk Wurks Edition. Genre: "Who doesn’t know the black projects that rolled out of the Skunk Works like the famous SR-71, U-2, or F-117 stealth fighter? What do you think they aren’t telling us about? This anthology dives into the concept of other black projects, their uses, and outcomes. Maybe the crazies are right. What If… the UFO’s are actually ours… Anything from discovery and design to use in application of the Aircraft, Heavy Weapons, Power Armor, Sea Vessels, and more are welcome." Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

Flame Tree: Robots Past & Future Short Stories. Genre: Short fiction on theme: Robots. Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Deadline: January 1, 2025. Accepts reprints.

Glen Must Die! Genre: Speculative fiction. See theme. Payment: $.03/word pending a Kickstarter launch of the anthology. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

June Road Press. Genre: Poetry collection, full-length, 40 to 60 poems, preferably the author’s first or second book. "We’re particularly interested in work with strong ecological/environmental themes, or that engages in meaningful ways with nature or place, by writers who identify as women." Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

Cafe Irreal. Genre: Magical realism. Length: Up to 2,000 words. Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

Planet Black Joy. Restrictions: Open to women and non-binary folk who identify as Black, African, or of Afro-descendent heritage. Genre: Fiction exploring and celebrating Black joy and pleasure. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

Utopia Science Fiction. Genre: Utopian science fiction. See theme. Payment: $0.08/word for fiction, $30 for nonfiction, $25 for poetry. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

The Paris Review. Genres: Poetry. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: Opens January 1, 2025, and closes when they reach capacity.

The Other Stories (Audio). Genre: Horror on themes. Payment: 15 GBT. Deadline: January 1, 2025. See themes.

Cordite. Genre: Poetry. See theme. Payment: Not specified. Payment is available for Australian contributors only. Deadline: January 2, 2024.

Stone's Throw. Genre: Noir, dark fiction, crime short stories. Length: between 1,000 and 2,000 words. See theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: January 4, 2025. Note: This is a monthly call.

Sci Phi Journal. Genre: Hard science fiction, fictional nonfiction, and speculative philosophy. Translations accepted. Payment: €0.03/word; €0.01/word for translations. Deadline: Opens January 4, 2025.

The Fantastic Other. Genre: Fiction, flash fiction, poetry, art on theme: Storm. Payment: $5. Deadline: January 5, 2025.

Rainy Weather Days. Genre: Fiction, poetry, nonfiction on theme of Defiance. Payment: $25 for prose, $10 for poetry.  Deadline: January 5, 2025.

All My Relations is an art and lit, online and printed magazine, exploring themes of interconnectedness. This volume is open to racially and ethnically marginalized, gender variant, and disabled creatives only, in consideration of the theme. Own voices only, please. Payment: $10. Deadline: Open until filled or until January 5, 2025, whichever comes first.

Mslexia. Restrictions: Open to women. Genre: Fiction poetry, nonfiction. Payment: £25. Deadline: January 6, 2025.

Sunlight Press. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, photography, reviews. Payment: $15 - $40. Deadline: Opens January 6, 2025.

Affirm Press Restrictions: They only accept Australians. Genre: All literary and genre fiction. For non-fiction, they are interested in most subjects that have a mn authors or authors based in Australia, and only manuscripts that haven’t been previously published. They only accept submissions on the first Monday of each month, Read their submission guidelines here. Deadline: January 6, 2025.

Sixty Inches From Center. "Sixty Inches From Center is a worker-led organization and publishing platform that produces collaborative projects about artists, archival practice, art history, and culture in Chicago and the Midwest. We are a collective of arts workers, writers, editors, artists, curators, librarians, and archivists who promote and prioritize the preservation of culture within Indigenous, diasporic, queer, and disability communities of our region." Genre: Nonfiction. Payment: $150 per piece; $1 per minute transcribed for interviews. Deadline: Opens January 6, 2025.

Cosmic Horror Monthly. Genre: Weird and cosmic fiction under 5,000 words. Payment: 3 cents (USD) per word. Deadline: January 7, 2025.

Fraidy Cat Quarterly: Paranoia. Genre: Horror flash fiction and short stories, art. See theme. Payment: $10 - $20. Deadline: January 7, 2025.

Belmont Story Review. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Payment: $100 for prose, $50 for poetry. Deadline: January 8, 2025.

Fourteen Poems Genre: Poems. "We want to represent all that's thrilling about the new wave of LGBT+ poets. If you’re a poet, even if you’ve never been published before, we want to read your work. Every issue we publish 14 of the best queer poems we’ve found, and we want to include you! We publish 4 times a year, but take submissions all year round. To be considered, email up to 5 poems, preferably in a pdf format, with a small paragraph about yourself to hello@14poems.com." Payment: £25 for each poem published. Deadline: January 10, 2025.

Headland. Restrictions: Open to Māori writers. Genre: Poetry, short fiction and nonfiction. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: January 10, 2025.

Hollow Oak Press: Short (b)Reads Anthology. Genre: Short stories on theme: Food. Word count: 2,500-7,000 words. Payment: $30. Deadline: January 10, 2025.

Shoreline of Infinity. Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, 6000 words max. Payment: £20/1000 words. Deadline: January 12, 2025. 

Daikaijuzine. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, art. Payment: $10.00 for each short story, and $5.00 for each poem and flash fiction piece. Deadline: January 12, 2025. Opens January 6.

Tin House. Genre: Debut novels. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 12, 2025. Opens January 11.

Matchbook. Genre: Flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and indeterminate prose. 1000 words max. Payment: $20. Deadline: January 13, 2025.

34 Orchard. Genre: Fiction, poetry. "We like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad." Payment: $50. Deadline: January 14, 2025. Opens January 1.

The Orange & Bee. Genre: Original works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction that engage in a significant way with the long history of fairy tales. Payment: Poetry: flat rate $US50.00 per poem; Flash fiction/non-fiction: flat rate $US80.00 per story (max 1000 words); Short fiction/non-fiction: $US0.08 per word (max 4000 words). Deadline: January 14, 2025.

Midnight Meadow Publishing's goal is to publish engaging and unique LGBTQ+ stories while elevating marginalized voices. They are interested in a wide variety of genres. Read submission guidelines HERE. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

GigaNotoSaurus. Genre: Science Fiction or Fantasy (or any combination thereof) from 5,000 to 25,000 words. Payment: $200. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Puncher & Wattmann. Restrictions: Open to Australians. Genre: Full-length fiction, memoir, poetry. Payment: Advance and royalties. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Electric Spec. Genre: Speculative fiction. Payment: $20 per piece. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

100-Foot Crow. Genre: Speculative fiction drabbles. Payment: $8. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Tales from the Crosstimbers. Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, splipstream, and horror. Payment:  $10 per story or 1 cent/word rounded to the nearest 100 words, up to a maximum of $25. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Shatter the Sun: Queer Tales of Untold Adventure. Genre: Fantasy stories of queer heroes forged and tempered in the fire, fighting dark stars and bright suns, and overthrowing tyranny in all its forms. Sword and sorcery, sweat and sandals, souls and stars. Payment: $0.08/word. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Beautiful Days Press. Genre: Full-length and chapbook-length poetry manuscripts. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 15, 2025. 

Women Artists Datebook. Restrictions: Open to women. Genre: Poems and art. Theme: Peace and Justice. Payment: $200 for art, $70 for poetry. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Orion. Genre: Essays on the environments in which songs are conceived and recorded. Payment: Who Pays Writers lists payment of 25 cents/word. Deadline: January 15, 2025. Pitches only.

Ploughshares. Genre: Fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Payment: $45/printed page, $90 minimum per title, $450 maximum per author. Deadline: January 15, 2025. (Charges for online submissions. No charge for snail mail.)

Shenandoah. Genre: Fiction and novel excerpts. Payment: $80 per 1000 words of prose up to $400. Deadline: Opens January 15, 2025, and closes when they reach capacity.

Rattle: Tribute to Food Poems. Genre: Poetry about food. Payment: $200. Deadline: January 16, 2025. 

Three-Lobed Burning Eye. Genre: Horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Payment: $0.08/word. Deadline: January 16, 2025.

Havok. Genre: Flash fiction. See themes. Payment: $50 via PayPal for each story selected. No payment for online publication. Deadline: January 17, 2025. 

Seaside Gothic. Genre: Seaside gothic fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or a collection of photographs or illustrations. Payment: £0.01 per word. Deadline: January 19, 2025.

Flame Tree: Witch Craft. Genre: Stories that deal with what it means to be ‘witch’, and the rediscovery and reclaiming of that power, its links to nature – and the exploration of whether a witch is drawn to 'good' or 'bad', and why. Stories should be in the horror and folk horror veins, and we’d like to see as wide a range as possible. Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word. Deadline: January 19, 2025.

Hearth Stories: Springtime Fair. Genre: Fantasy, literary fiction, romance, historical fiction or alternate history. "In this anthology we will be featuring stories that center around a craft, recipe, or ritual (see below for specifics). In addition to the story, each author will provide a set of instructions to make/enact the craft, recipe, or ritual that was featured in their story." Payment: 2 cents/word. Deadline: January 20, 2025.

Astrolabe. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, and photography & art. Payment: $50. Deadline: January 21, 2025.

The Fairy Tale Magazine. Genre: Fairy-tale inspired stories/poems. See theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: January 21, 2025.

Full House Literary. Genre: Prose, poetry, hybrid, photography and artwork. Payment: £5. Deadline: January 24, 2025.

Splinter Journal. Genre: Poetry, fiction, memoir, nonfiction (pitches only). Payment: Profiles (pays AUD900), essays pays AUD900), writing about writing (pays AUD500), and criticism (pays AUD700), and completed submissions of poetry (pays AUD250/poem or AUD450/collection of up to four poems, fiction (pays AUD900), and memoir (pays AUD600). Deadline: January 25, 2025.

This Magazine. Restrictions: Open to Canadians. Submissions by BIPOC, Q2ST, disabled, and other marginalized writers are especially welcomed. Genre: Fiction. Payment: $125 per accepted short story up to 2500 words; 60$ per flash fiction story under 1000 words Deadline: January 26, 2025.

Rough Cut Press. Restrictions: Open to LGBTQ community. Genre: Short prose of up to 650 words on the ‘Reach’ theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: January 27, 2025.

Baubles From Bones. Genre: Science fiction and fantasy. Length: All stories must be between 1,000 to 8,000 words. Payment: $.01/word. Deadline: January 29, 2025.

Mythaxis. Genre: Speculative fiction. Payment: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum. Deadline: January 30, 2025.

Frivolous Comma. Genre: Speculative mystery. Payment: $0.10/word. Deadline: January 30, 2025.

Gwyllion. Restrictions: Writers living in Wales and writers who identify (fully, in part, or by ancestry) as Welsh. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Welsh themes. Payment: £15 per accepted story or poem. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Undertaker Books: Carnival of Horror Anthology. Genre: Horror. Amid the lights, games, and shows, in the shadows the bright lights don’t reach, are horrors of all kinds… We’re looking for stories of abandoned amusement parks, traveling carnivals, haunted attractions, chilling circuses and more!” Payment: $25. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Acre Books. Genre: Full-length poetry manuscripts. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 31, 2025. 

meat4meat Anthology. Genre: Body horror. “meat4meat is first and foremost intended to showcase the works of transgender creators, however the trans community is not the only marginalized community with a personal relationship to the genre of body horror. Creators who are disabled are also strongly encouraged to submit.” Payment: $0.05/word for originals, with a minimum of $50. Deadline: January 31, 2025. Reprints accepted.

Alpennia: Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast. Genre: Short stories in the lesbian historic fiction genre. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

On Spec. Restrictions:  Canadian writers only. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Payment: $100CAD. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Event Magazine. Genre: Poetry, fiction. Payment: CAD $40/page for poetry and $35/page for prose, up to a maximum of $500. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

JMS Books. Genre: LGBTQ romance stories, 12,000 words minimum. See theme. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Dark Peninsula Press: Phantom Worlds – The Cellar Door. Genre: Horror. They’re looking for parallel universe, alternate reality, time travel, survival horror, post-apocalyptic, and cosmic horror stories. Payment: $50. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

West Avenue: A Sparkle of Woodland Magic. Genre: Short stories of up to 5,000 words and poems. See theme. Payment: £10. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Garland. Genre: Poetry, prose poetry, short prose (<1500 words), and other experimental writing by queer, trans, and gender variant writers. Visual components and hybrid formats are welcome. Payment: $5. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Brink. Genre: Hybrid, cross-genre fiction, nonfiction poetry. Payment: $25 Poem; $50 Work (less than 1500 words); $50 Art (1-3 Images); $100 Art (4+ Images); $100 Work (more than 1501 words). See theme. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

The Temz Review. Genre: Prose (fiction and creative non-fiction) up to 10,000 words long. Payment: $20. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Split Lip Magazine. Genre: Fiction (flash and short stories), memoirs, and poetry. with a pop-culture twist. Payment: $75 for poems, memoirs, flash, fiction, and art, $50 for interviews/reviews, and $25 for mini-reviews web issues. Deadline: January 31, 2025. Closes when they reach capacity, so submit early.

december magazine. Genre: Poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction (essays, memoirs, biography, literary journalism, social or cultural commentary or analysis) and visual art that can be reproduced in our print format. Payment: $10.00 per page with a minimum of $40.00 and a maximum of $200.00. Deadline: January 31, 2025. For the month of January, they open fee-free submission portals exclusively for BIPOC writers.

The Bombay Literary Magazine. Genre: Fiction, poetry, translated fiction/poetry and graphic fiction. Payment: Indian rupees 5,000 (approx. $61) per contribution. Deadline: January 31, 2025. Closes when cap is reached.

Parsec Ink: Triangulation: Dark Hearts. Genre: Speculative stories and poems about women who are anti-heroes. Payment: 3¢ per word for fiction, 25 cents per line for poetry. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Heartlines Spec. Restrictions: "Since Heartlines Spec is primarily a Canadian magazine, we're looking to feature writers identifying as being from Canada/Turtle Island. This includes expats, new immigrants, and people who refuse/resist Canadian Identity. Our goal for each issue is to publish at least 50% Canadian content." Genre: Short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. "We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules." Payment: $0.08 CAD per word for short fiction and $80 CAD flat for poetry. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

After Happy Hour. Genre: Poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, visual art, and hybrids. Reprints from defunct markets only. Payment: $10 honorarium on publication. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Library of Arabic Literature Blog. Genre: Posts on Arabic literature. Pitches only. Payment: $400. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Ampersand Review. Restrictions: Open to Canadians. Genre: Poetry, fiction, nonfiction, reviews. Payment: Poetry: $50 per poem/page to a maximum of $100. Fiction: $100 per story. Non-fiction: $100 per piece. Reviews: $100 per piece. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Ecotone. Genre: Prose and poetry that reimagines place. Payment: $100 minimum for poetry and a $200 minimum for prose. Deadline: January 31, 2025. Fee-free peroid opens January 26.

Fiction. Genre: Experimental fiction and translations of works previously unpublished in English. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Dragon Soul Press: Reach for the Stars. Genre: Contemporary fiction stories. Must feature a character overcoming various obstacles to reach their goals. Can be based on true stories. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Inked in Gray: WriteHive Anthology. Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, or horror only. Theme: Surviving Humanity. Payment: $45. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Silver Blade. Genre: Science Fiction, Slipstream, Classic and Modern Fantasy; short fiction, flash fiction, novellas, and poetry. Payment: $15 for novellas, $3 for flash fiction, $8 for short stories, $8 for single poems and $15 for Featured Poets (by invitation only). Silver Pen will pay half of these rates for previously published works. Deadline: January 31, 2025. Reprints accepted.

Poetry From the Rock. Restrictions: Open to Canadians. Genre: Poetry. Payment: Short poems will receive $25 per poem, medium poems $50 per poem, and long poems $75 per poem. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Litmosphere. Genre: Art, flash (fiction and nonfiction), poetry, and short prose (fiction and literary nonfiction). Payment: $50 per accepted poem, flash fiction and nonfiction; $100 per short fiction and literary nonfiction; $250 for non-exclusive online use of 15-30 images. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Space and Time. Genre: Speculative fiction. "We welcome poetry, art and fiction that bend rules, transcend genre and break stereotypes." Submissions accepted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French or Italian. See theme. Payment: 1 cent/word for prose, $5 for poetry. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Only Poems. Genre: Poetry. "We love prose poems, traditional forms (ghazals, villanelles, sestinas), love poems, sex poems, and experimental questionnaires, but we are not married to a style or genre. We are welcoming of anything you think is your most exciting work. Ultimately, we want poems that move us or make us go: “God, I wish I had written this!” Payment: $55. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Nashville Review. Genre: Fiction, poetry, art, and nonfiction. Payment: $25 per poem & song selection; $100 per selection for all other categories, including featured artwork. Translators receive $25 per poem & $100 for prose selections. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Southword. Genre: Poetry. Payment: €50 per poem. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Vine Leaves Press. Genre: Full-length manuscripts. "We are looking for: novels and novellas (all genres accepted, but with a literary bent), memoirs/biographies/autobiographies, creative nonfiction, writing/publishing reference books, short story collections, and poetry and vignette collections. For shorter works, such as poetry and vignettes, we will not accept anything shorter than 60 pages." Payment: 40% net royalty on all eBook and print sales. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Malahat Review. Genre: Poetry. Payment: CAD $70/page. Deadline: January 31, 2025. (Note: Submissions by Canadian writers are accepted for consideration all year.)

Nonbinary Review. Genre: Poetry, fiction, essays, and art. See theme. Payment: $10 - $25. Deadline: January 31, 2025. Closes when cap is reached.

AND A FEW MORE...

The Other Stories (Audio). Genre: Horror on themes. Payment: 15 GBT. Deadline: February 1, 2025. See themes.

Last Girls Club. Genre: Feminist horror: short stories and poems - see themes. Payment: Fiction, 1.5 cents/word. Poetry, $10. Deadline: February 1, 2025.

The Paris Review. Genres: Fiction. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: Opens February 1, 2025, and closes when they reach capacity.

The First Line Journal. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction and poetry using the line provided. (See theme) Payment: $25-50 for fiction, $25 for nonfiction, $10 for poetry. Deadline: February 1, 2025.

71 Free Writing Contests in January 2025 - No entry fees

This January there are more than five dozen free writing contests for short fiction, novels, poetry, CNF, nonfiction, and plays. Prizes range from $55,000 to publication. None charge entry fees.

Some of these contests have age and geographical restrictions, so read the instructions carefully.

If you want to get a jump on next month's contests go to Free Contests. Many of these contests are offered annually, so even if the deadline has passed, you can prepare for next year.

Good luck! 

(Image: Flickr)

____________________

Defenestration Lengthy Poem Contest. Genre: Lengthy poem (at least 3 pages). Prize: $300. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

Vermont Writers' Prize. Restrictions: Open to residents of Vermont. Genres: Short story, poem, play or essay on the theme of Vermont - its people, places, history or values. Entries must be unpublished and fewer than 1,500 words long. Writers may submit only one entry per year. Prize: $1,250 and publication in Vermont Magazine. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

The Fifty & Up Writer Awards. Genre: Fiction, CNF, poetry by writers aged 50 and up. Prize: $50. Deadline: January 1, 2025.

The Welkin Mini Writing Prize. Genre: Narrative prose (fiction and nonfiction) up to 100 words. Prize: £50 top prize. Deadline: January 2, 2025.

Jack Hazard Fellowship. Restrictions: Open to writers who teach full time in an accredited high school in the United States. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir. Prize: $5,000. Deadline: January 3, 2025.

San José State University: Center for Steinbeck Studies – The Steinbeck Fellows Program. Fellowships are currently offered in Creative Writing (excluding poetry) and Steinbeck Studies; Fellows may be appointed in many fields, including fiction, drama, creative non-fiction, and biography. The creative writing fellowship does not require that there be any direct connection between your work and Steinbeck’s. The emphasis of the program is on helping writers who have had some success but have not published extensively, and whose promising work would be aided by the financial support and sponsorship of the Center and the University’s creative writing program. Prize: $15,000. Deadline: January 5, 2025.

Furious Fiction. Genre: Flash fiction. "On the first Friday of every month, a new set of story prompts will be revealed. You will have 55 hours to submit your best 500-word (or fewer) story." Prize: $500AUD. Deadline: January 5, 2025. Opens January 3.

Miriam Chaikin Writing Award. Genre: Poetry and prose, including plays, short stories, and other creative writing. Prize: $500. Deadline: January 5, 2025.

Olive B. O’Connor Creative Writing Fellowship. Genre: Fiction and poetry. Prize: $55,100. Deadline: January 6, 2025.

Shepton Snowdrops: Treasures of Nature. Restrictions: No entry fee for poets under 18 years of age. Genre: Poem. See theme. Prize: £50-100. Deadline: January 6, 2025.

Bethesda Magazine Short Story Contest. Restrictions: Open to residents of Washington, DC and select counties in Maryland and Virginia. Genre: Short stories. Length: 4000 words maximum. Prize: $500 in adult category (age 18+) and $250 in high school category (ages 14-17). Deadline: January 7, 2025.

Dr. Paul Kalanithi Writing Award. Restrictions: No fee for medical students, residents, fellows. Genre: Short stories, essays or poetry addressing patients and providers facing chronic or life limiting illness. Fiction and non-fiction submissions are welcome. Prize: $300. Deadline: January 7, 2025.

MoCo360 Short Story Contest. Restrictions: Open to residents of Montgomery County, MD and Upper Northwest Washington, DC (20015 and 20016 zip codes). Genre: Short stories between 1,500 and 2,500 words. Prize: Publication in Bethesda Magazine as well as prizes up to $500 in adult category (age 18+) and $250 in high school category (grades 9-12). Deadline: January 7, 2025.

Japan Center-Canon Essay Competition. The aim of the Japan Center Essay Competition is to promote awareness and understanding of Japan in the United States and to help young Americans broaden their international horizons. Genre: Essay. Contestants should write, in English, one or more aspects of Japan including art, culture, tradition, values, philosophy, history, society, politics, business, and technology in relation to their personal views, experiences, and/or future goals. (Contestants do not need to have any experience in visiting Japan or studying Japanese. Prize: Best Essay Award in the High School Division: 1st Place: $3,000 and a Canon camera, 2nd Place: $1,500 and a Canon camera, 3rd Place: $750 and a Canon camera; Best Essay Award in the College Division: $3,000 and a Canon camera; Uchida Memorial Award: $1,000 and a Canon camera; Merit Award: $200 (each) for up to five awards. Deadline: January 8, 2025.

The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. Restrictions: An address in the UK or Republic of Ireland or British Overseas Territory or British Forces Post Office. OR an entry code shared with you for submission to the International Award. Note: The Bruntwood Prize International Award of  £8,000 is open to international playwrights who can apply through their partners. (See site for list) Genre: Play. Prize: £16,000. Deadline: January 9, 2025.

Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out Essay Contest Grades 6 - 10. Stop the Hate® is designed to create an appreciation and understanding among people of differing religions, races, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. Genre: Essay, 500 words. (See website for theme) Restrictions: Northeast Ohio 6-10th Graders. Prize: $20,000 scholarship. Deadline: Grade 6-10: January 9, 2025.

The Bechtel Prize. Genre: Essays essays describing a creative writing teaching experience, project, or activity that demonstrates innovation in creative writing instruction. "We are looking for essays that describe a project or activity that got students excited about writing and fostered a vibrant and dynamic culture of literacy in the classroom." Prize: $1000 and publication. Deadline: January 10, 2025.

Luminarts Creative Writing Fellowship. The Creative Writing Fellowship awards two $10,000 grant Fellowships for excellence in creative writing in the categories of prose and poetry, in fiction and nonfiction. Applicants submit a two-page written piece (either a stand-alone piece or an excerpt of a larger piece such as a novel or short story). Open to writers between the ages of 18 and 30 years old at the time of application; be enrolled in, or have graduated from, a degree program; and live within 150 miles of the Union League Club of Chicago. Genre: Poetry or prose, fiction and nonfiction. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: January 10, 2025.

Encore Award. Restrictions: Open to British or Commonwealth citizens. Genre: Second published novel. Book must have been first published in the UK. Prize: 10,000 pounds. Deadline: January 10, 2025.

PEN America’s U.S. Writers Aid Initiative. Restrictions: Applicants must be professional writers based in the United States, and be able to demonstrate that this one-time grant will be meaningful in helping address a short-term emergency situation. Prize: Grant, amount not specified. Deadline: January 10, 2025.

Discoveries Prize. Restrictions: Open to female novelists of all ages and backgrounds, from across the UK and Ireland. Genre: Novel in progress. Prize: The winner will be offered representation by Curtis Brown Literary Agency and a cash prize of £5,000. Deadline: January 13, 2025.

Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) provides direct support to individual Bronx artists who create literary, media, visual, and performing works of art. Prize: 25 BRIO grants of $3,000 each are awarded to Bronx artists. BRIO award winners complete a one-time public service activity. Deadline: January 13, 2025.

Hachette Children’s Novel Awards. Restrictions: Open to debut authors living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months. Genre: Debut children’s and early teen fiction, including but not limited to, romance, comedy, historical fiction, crime, mystery and fantasy. Prize: £3000 and a programme of mentoring opportunities with professionals at Hachette Children’s Group and a children’s publishing agent. Deadline: January 13, 2025.

Apparition Lit. Genre: Flash fiction up to 1000 words on theme. Prize: $30. Deadline: January 14, 2025. See themes.

Bethesda Urban Partnership Essay Contest. Restrictions: Open to residents of Washington, DC and select counties in Maryland and Virginia. Genre: Essays. Length: 500 words maximum. Prize: $500 in adult category (age 18+) and $250 in high school category (ages 14-17). Deadline: January 14, 2025.

Bethesda Poetry Contest. Genres: Poetry. Adult and high school student categories. Restrictions: Residents of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia are eligible. Prizes: First place: $350, published on The Writer's Center's blog and magazine, and a free class and membership to The Writer's Center. Second Place: $250. Third Place: $150. Honorable Mention: $75. Prize for high school students, $75. All winners will be published on the Bethesda Urban Partnership website and honored at a special event during the Local Writer's Showcase. Deadline: January 14, 2025.

The Levis Reading Prize is sponsored by the Department of English and its MFA in Creative Writing program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Restrictions: The prize is given annually for the best first or second book of poetry published in the previous calendar year. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $5000. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Hektoen Internationa Nurse Essay Contest. Restrictions: Nurses, nurses’ aides, and nursing and midwifery students are encouraged to submit an essay to Hektoen International’s 2024–2025 nurse writing contest. Genre: Essays can be on any topic as it relates to medicine. Prize: $3,000 for the winner and $2,000 for the runner-up. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Moving Words Poetry Competition for Adults. Genre: Poems of 10 lines or less that will be displayed inside Arlington Transit buses. Prize: $250. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Women Artists Datebook. Restrictions: Open to women. Genre: Poems and art. Theme: Peace and Justice. Payment: $200 for art, $70 for poetry. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award. Genre: Poem, 3-10 pages long, that demonstrates a "truly inventive spirit." Prize: $500 and publication. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Walter Muir Whitehill Prize in Early American History. Genre: Essay on early American history (up to 1825), not previously published, with preference being given to New England subjects. Prize: $2,500. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. Restrictions: Open to women, US citizens only. Genre: Prose fiction. All entries must be submitted by publishers who wish to have the work of their authors that were published in the previous year considered. No self-published works or works from vanity presses will be accepted. Prize: $15,000. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

53-Word Story Contest. Genre: Flash fiction of exactly 53 words based on monthly theme. Prize: Publication and a free book. Deadline: January 15, 2025. This is a monthly contest.

Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship. Genre: Nonfiction book in progress. The project should address the history and/or legacy – broadly defined – of the American Revolution and the nation’s founding ideas. It might focus on the founding era itself, or on the myriad ways the questions that preoccupied the nation’s founders have shaped America’s later history. Fellowship amount: $45,000 stipend, health benefits, faculty privileges, a book allowance, and a nine-month residency (during the academic year) in historic Chestertown, MD. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out Essay Contest Grades 11 - 12. Stop the Hate® is designed to create an appreciation and understanding among people of differing religions, races, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. Genre: Essay, 500 words. (See website for theme) Restrictions: Northeast Ohio 11-12th Graders. Prize: $20,000 scholarship. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards Program. Restrictions: Open to current high school seniors at a public high school in the United States graduating Spring of 2025. Genre: Original literary composition in English in one of the following genres of poetry, spoken word, fiction, personal essay/memoir, or book bans prompt. Prize: $10,000 scholarship. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

French-American Foundation Translation Prizes. Genre: Book. Best English translation of French in both fiction and non-fiction. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Stephen A DiBiase Poetry Prize. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $600. Deadline: January 15, 2025.

Washington State Book Awards. Restrictions: Open to Washington State writers. Genre: Published book: fiction, nonfiction, poetry for adults or children. Prize: Recognition (?) Deadline: January 17, 2025. (For books published Oct. 16-Dec. 31, 2024.)

Northern California Book Awards. Restrictions: Books written by authors based in northern California and published for the first time the previous calendar year are eligible for nomination. Genre: Published book. Prize: $1000. Deadline: January 17, 2025.

John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest is sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. Restrictions: The contest is open to United States high school students in grades nine through twelve attending public, private, parochial, or home schools; US students under the age of twenty enrolled in a high school correspondence/GED program; and US citizens attending schools overseas. Genre: Essay on an act of political courage by a US elected official who served during or after 1956. Prize: The first-place winner receives $10,000. The second-place winner receives $3,000. Up to five finalists receive $1000 each. Deadline: January 17, 2025.

Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize. The annual Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize is awarded each spring to honor an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the USA the previous year. Genre: Published fiction or non-fiction, may include: novels, novellas, short stories, plays, poetry, biographies, essays and correspondence. Prize: $5,000. Deadline: January 17, 2025.

Collaborative. Restrictions: Submissions must be written by more than one author or include a collaboration of two people (i.e., art and poetry). Genre: Poetry, prose, art. Prize: $20. Deadline: January 17, 2025. Note: This is a monthly contest.

The Golden Triangle Golden Haiku poetry contest. Genre: Haiku on theme “Bridges of Belonging.” Prize: Up to $500. Deadline: January 19, 2025. Note: The contest is open to all ages.

Zocalo Public Square Poetry Prize. Restrictions: Open to US poets only. Genre: Poetry that evokes a connection to place. Prize: $1000. Deadline: January 24, 2025. 

Future Worlds Prize. Restrictions: Open to unpublished SFF writers of color. Genre: Speculative fiction. Submit a 5,000-10,000 word extract of either a short story or the opening chapters of a novel. Prize: £4,500 top prize. Deadline: January 26, 2025.

Nine Dots Prize. Restrictions: Open to authors age 18+. Genre: Summary response to "Is data failing us?" The winner will expand on the ideas expressed in their summary response by participating in a seminar at the University of Cambridge and by writing a short book (25,000-40,000 words) to be published by Cambridge University Press. Prize: $100,000. Deadline: January 27, 2025.

The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. Restrictions: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing is open to nonfiction first published in the UK or Ireland. (See publication deadlines.) Genre: Nonfiction, including entries addressing political, social, cultural, moral and historical subjects. Prize: £3,000.00. Deadline: January 27, 2025.

The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. Restrictions: The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction is open to novels and short story collections first published in the UK or Ireland. (See publication deadlines.) Genre: Fiction that explores ideas and issues, political themes, dilemmas and injustices through imagined narratives. Prize: £3,000.00. Deadline: January 27, 2025.

Scottish Book Trust: Monthly Competition. Restrictions: Open to four categories: adult writers, all-age Gaelic writers, young writers 5-11 and young writers 12-18. Genre: Short story based on prompts. (See site for prompt) Prize: Various items. Deadline: January 28, 2025.

The Hillman Prize for Journalism. Genre: Journalism. "Since 1950, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has honored journalists, writers and public figures that pursue investigative journalism and public policy in service of the common good." Prize: $5,000. Deadline: January 30, 2025.

Action! Prize. Restrictions: Open to residents in the UK, Ireland or US and over 18 at time of submission. Genre: Full-length action novel for readers in one of these four age bands 7–9, 9–11, 12–14, 14+. Prize: FIRST PRIZE – A worldwide publishing contract with Faber with a £12,000 advance (subject to contract), SECOND PRIZE: A worldwide publishing contract with Faber with a £9,000 advance (subject to contract), THIRD PRIZE: A worldwide publishing contract with Faber with a £6,000 advance (subject to contract). Deadline: January 30, 2025.

Technology Addiction Awareness Scholarship. Restrictions: Open to a high school freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior or a current or entering college or graduate school student of any level. Home schooled students are also eligible. There is no age limit. You must also be a U.S. citizen or legal resident. Genre: 500- to 1,000-word essay about technology addiction. Prize: $1000 scholarship.  Deadline: January 30, 2025.

Arnold Bennett Prize. Restrictions: Open to writers based in Stoke on Trent, the wider North Staffordshire area or living anywhere in the world if their work features North Staffordshire. Genre: Published fiction, nonfiction, poetry books, plays, including self-published works. Each submission should have an ISBN number and two copies should be either mailed or delivered to Jenny Amphlett, Staffordshire University, 3rd Floor, The Catalyst Building, Leek Road, Stoke on Trent. ST4 2DF. Prize: £500. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

The Drabble Harvest Contest. Genre: Drabble on theme of "Hunting With the Wolves." A "drabble" is defined as a short story containing exactly precisely no more and no fewer than 100 words. It has a title, which can be from 1 to 15 words-- but no more than 15. Prize: $5. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

The Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award. Genre: Short story of no more than 8,000 words that shows the near future (no more than about 50-60 years out) of manned space exploration. Prize: Publication as the featured story on the Baen Books main website paid at the normal paying rates for professional story submissions. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Keats-Shelley Essay Prize. Genre: Essay on any aspect of the writing and/or lives of the Romantics and their circles. Length: 3,000 words including quotations. Prize: Total Prizes over £5000. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Story Unlikely Short Story Contest. Genre: Short story. Length: 4000 words max. Prize: First prize $1500. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Swamp Pink. Restrictions: Submissions are restricted to Indigenous people in the USA. Genre: Short stories and essays of up to 25 pages or a set of 1-3 poems. Prize: $2000. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

A. C. Bose Grant for South Asian Speculative Literature. Restrictions: Open to South Asian or South Asian diaspora writers. Genre: Speculative fiction. Prize: $1000. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

The Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award. Genre: Any published book, whether fiction or nonfiction, that promotes public understanding of Chicago; titles must be available for purchase by the general public in either hardcover or bound paperback form; All subject areas, disciplines, and genres are eligible, including but not limited to: history, biography, the social sciences, art, architecture, poetry, drama, graphic novels, or fiction; Translations, textbooks, anthologies, reprints or new editions of previously published works, pamphlets, condigital publications, travel guides, children’s books, or self-published works are not eligible. Prize: $25,000. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

North Carolina Student Poetry Contest. Restrictions: Open to student poets from 3rd grade to university undergraduates attending schools in North Carolina. Genres: Unpublished poems (submit one poem). Prizes: 1st Place winners will receive a $100 check. 2nd Place winners receive $50. 3rd Place winners receive $25. Deadline: January 31, 2025. 

Cheshire Prize for Literature. Restrictions: The writer must have been born, live or have lived, study or have studied, work or have worked, in Cheshire, UK. Age ranges from 4 to adult. Genre: Short story, piece of poetry, script or children’s literature piece (this can be a script, story or poem, for children ages seven to 14). Prize: Cash prizes. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Dandelion Cottage Short Story Contest for Michigan Students. Restrictions: Open to students attending or being home-schooled in an Upper Peninsula School District. Genre: Short story, 5,000 words max. Prize: Up to $250. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

The Danuta Gleed Literary Award for best first collection of short fiction in the English language was initiated by John Gleed in honour of his late wife to promote and celebrate the genre of short fiction, which she loved. Restrictions: Canadian residents only. Prize: A $10,000 prize will be awarded for the best first collection of published short fiction in the English language. Two finalist will also be awarded $500 each. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Jerry Jazz Musician Fiction Contest. "The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America." Genre: previously unpublished work of short fiction. Prize: $150.00. Deadline: January 31, 2025.

#GWstorieseverywhere. Genre: Micro fiction or essay on theme. Your story must be no longer than 25 words, with a max of 280 characters, including spaces and the hashtag. Prize: Free Gotham class. Deadline: January 31, 2025. This is a monthly contest.

Rattle Ekphrastic Challenge. Genre: Poem inspired by artwork. (See site for image.) Prize: $100. Deadline: January 31, 2025. This is a monthly contest.

Substack runs a monthly short story competition. Their mission is to "revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful." Genre: Short story. Length: 6000- 10,000 words. Prize: $100 plus 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Deadline: January 31, 2025. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute.

Apex Magazine Monthly Flash Fiction Contest. Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror. 1000 words max. Prize: 8 cents/word or $10, whichever is more. Deadline: January 31, 2025. Note: Apex Magazine’s Flash Fiction Contest is open from the 7th until the final day of each month. The contest is themed.