Donna Collins' Blog

FICTION:

Spring Issue 2012
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   29th February 2012
Fees:   £0 for one entry.
Prizes:   £0 for first place. Publication in our magazine and on our website
Details:   We invite all writers to submit short stories of any genre to our Spring Competition. The best ones will be published in our magazine and on our website. Please submit via email. Your short story must be 2000-8000 words in length. The magazine will be published on March 20th 2012. Multiple entries are permitted but each entry must include your name. See our website for full details.
Country:   United Kingdom
Email:   editor221b@yahoo.co.uk
Website:   http://221bmagazine.co.uk/?page_id=818

Fiction Writing Competition
Category:  Fiction
Closes:   1st August 2012
Fees:   $0 for one entry.
Prizes:   $1,000 for first place. SECOND PRIZE: $500, THIRD PRIZE: $250.
Details:   Fiction Writing COMPETITION for Physicians and Lawyers. FORMAT: A short story or novel excerpt in the fiction genre should be submitted. The submission should be typed and not exceed 2,500 words. (This will be strictly enforced). DEADLINE: August 1, 2012. JUDGING: The submissions will be judged on originality, quality of writing, and the potential of the author.
Contact:SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO: (do not send certified mail) SEAK, Inc. —Fiction Writing Competition ATTN: Steven Babitsky, P.O. Box 729, Falmouth, MA 02541
Country:   United States
Email:   karen@seak.com
Website:   http://www.seak.com/2012_National_Fiction_Writing_Competition_for_Physicians_and_Lawyers.html

Writersbillboard Flash Fiction 
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   27th January 2012
Fees:   £2.50 for one entry.
Prizes:   £0 for first place. Prize is publication on the website
Details:   Short fiction of fewer than 400 words, any theme
Country:   United Kingdom
Website:   http://www.writersbillboard.net

Libboo Bounty
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   30th January 2012
Fees:   $0 for one entry.
Prizes:   $100 for first place. Top five stories will be selected.
Details:   Seeking short stories, word count: 1000(min) – 3500(max), within the comedy or satire genre about Vacation and Holiday Mayhem.
Contact:   Libboo Inc. ONE Marina Park Dr., 14th floor Boston MA 02210
Country:   United States
Email:   fernando@libboo.com
Website:   http://www.libboo.com/bounty

Sentinel Literary Quarterly Short Story 
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   20th January 2012
Fees:   £4.00 for one entry. £8 (2 stories), £10 (3), £12 (4)
Prizes:   £150 for first place. £75 (2nd), £50 (3rd), £10 x 3 High Commendation, plus publication
Details:   For previously unpublished original stories in English Language in any style, on any subject up to 1,500 words long. Stories submitted must not be under consideration for publication or accepted for publication elsewhere, and must not be simultaneously submitted to another competition.
Contact:Sentinel Poetry Movement, Unit 136, 113-115 George Lane, London E18 1AB
Country:   United Kingdom
Email:   competitions@sentinelpoetry.org.uk
Website:   http://www.sentinelquarterly.com/competitions/short-stories-0112/

Valentines Short Story Competition
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   5th February 2012
Fees:   £1 for one entry.
Prizes:   £30 for first place. 1st prize in Amazon Vouchers, website and ebook publication. Other prizes on offer.
Details:   Short story between 100 and 1,500 words on the theme of Love. Check out website for details.
Country:   United Kingdom
Email:   editor@5minutefiction.co.uk
Website:   http://www.5minutefiction.co.uk

What Happens Next?
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   31st March 2012
Fees:   £3 for one entry. or free to members.
Prizes:   £150 for first place. 2nd Prize: £100 3rd Prize: £75
Details:   Using the photo for creative inspiration, your story must be about a man in a library who chooses a book that changes his life. What the book is and why it has such an effect on him is up to you. The story must evolve and can be emotional, action-packed, mysterious or indeed take any direction that you like. Just make sure that it is powerfully written and interprets the theme creatively.
Contact:   Creative1 Publishing 15 Rue Canigounenc, Ceret 66400
Country:   France
Email:   info@creative-competitor.co.uk
Website:   http://creativecompetitor.com/2011/12/28/what-happens-next-writing-competition/

Man on the Train Writing Competition
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   7th April 2012
Fees:   £3 for one entry. Free to Members.
Prizes:   £150 for first place. 2nd Prize: £100 3rd Prize: £75 4th Prize: 3 months membership
Details:   Using the photo for inspiration, create a story that depicts a man on a journey by train, but a journey to where? What happens to him en-route? Who does he meet? What happens when he reaches his destination?
Contact:   Creative1 Publishing, 15 Rue Canigounenc, Ceret 66400
Country:   France
Email:   info@creative-competitor.co.uk
Website:   http://creativecompetitor.com/2011/12/28/man-on-the-train-writing-competition/

500 Word Writing Competition
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   15th March 2012
Fees:   £3 for one entry. Free for Premier1 members.
Prizes:   £100 for first place. 2nd Prize: £75 3rd Prize: £50.
Details:   Using the photo for inspiration, create a compelling story that make us hang onto every word. You can be completely creative with your interpretation but you must include all three characters in some way. Entries must be completely original and previously unpublished. You have a maximum of 500 words including the title so make sure that you use each word wisely.
Contact:   Creative1 Publishing 15 Rue Canigounenc Ceret 66400
Country:   France
Website:   http://creativecompetitor.com/2011/12/25/500-word-fiction-writing-contest/

Scribble Themed Competition
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   1st November 2012
Fees:   £3 for one entry.
Prizes:   £100 for first place. Shortlisted entries to be published.
Details:   For short stories up to 3000 words on the theme: Friends.
Contact:   Park Publications,14 The Park, Stow on the Wold, Glos. GL54 1DX
Country:   United Kingdom
Email:   parkpub14@hotmail.com
Website:   http://www.parkpublications.co.uk

Writers For Animals
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   31st March 2012
Fees:   £0 for one entry.
Prizes:   £0 for first place. This is a fund-raiser, so contributors won’t be paid.
Details:   Stories of 800 – 8,000 words sought for a compilation book that will be sold to raise funds for animal rescues. Wanted: True-life stories about animals who have touched people’s hearts, and people who’ve helped them. Plus fiction stories for adults and teenagers in any genre that have some kind of animal theme. We don’t want poetry, essays, opening chapters of novels, children’s stories, sexually-explicit content or political rants. Email for submission instructions.
Country:   United Kingdom
Email:   writersforanimals@live.co.uk
Website:   http://writersforanimals.onlinegroups.net

Illness & the Child writing competition
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   31st March 2012
Fees:   £5 for one entry. Fee donated in aid of Sick Kids.
Prizes:   £0 for first place. Hand-crafted Borders glassware, publication and live reading at publicity event.
Details:   Open competiton, poetry (60 lines) and prose (3000 words) on Illness and the Child. Anything linking a child with illness (in the child, or someone known to him or her), otherwise interpretation wide open. Entrants 18 and over; BWF members precluded. Winners announced after 30th May. All entry fees go towards helping children in the Sick Kids Hospital.
Contact:   The Sick Kids Foundation, 20 Millerfield Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1LW
Country:   United Kingdom
Email:   bwfcompetitions@gmail.com
Website:   http://www.edinburghsickkids.org/press-and-news/news-archive/open-writing-competition.html

Birmingham Book Festival Story Competition
Category:   Fiction
Closes: 31st January 2012
Fees:   £5 for one entry.
Prizes:   £100 for first place. Also writing workshop. Ł50 second place.
Details:   For stories between 1,000 and 2,000 words on the theme: clocks.
Contact:   Birmingham Book Festival Short Story Competition 2012, Unit 116, Custard Factory, Gibb St, Birmingham B9 4AA
Country:   United Kingdom
Email:   joanne@birminghambookfestival.org
Website:   http://www.birminghambookfestival.org/short-story-comp-2012

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
Category:   Fiction
Closes:   5th February 2012
Fees:   $0 for one entry.
Prizes:   $15,000 for first place.
Details:   For general fiction and young adult novels. Opens to submissions January 23, 2012.
Country:   United States
Website:   http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011

ROMANCE WRITERS OF AMERICA:

21st Annual Duel on the Delta
Sponsor: River City Romance Writers
Fee: $25.00
Deadline: March 15, 2012
Entry: electronic entries only; first twenty pages.
Judges: trained, published and unpublished.
Final Judges: TBA.
FMI, www.rivercityromancewriters.org; duelonthedelta@yahoo.com.

The 2012 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense for Unpublished Writers
Sponsor: Kiss of Death Chapter RWA
Fee: $15–30.00
Deadline: March 15, 2012
Entry: prologue/first chapter up to 5,000 words. All electronic entry.
Final judges: See website.
FMI, www.rwamysterysuspense.org or email: Brooke Wills at daphnecontest@gmail.com.

SCRIPT WRITING OPPORTUNITIES Via ISA:

SCOUTING FOR WRITER WHO LIVED IN MANHATTAN DURING SEPTEMBER 11TH
Iron Horse Films, LLC is scouting for a writer who lived in Manhattan during the tragedy of 9-11. We are looking for an up and coming writer who is looking to expand their script writing experience. Please submit a sample of your work (i.e. up to five pages either in word or Final Draft with a copy of your resume. Writers will get some compensation for their work. Serious writers only please. Please submit your sample to Iron Horse Films,LLC along with your resume by midnight of January 8th to the following E-mail: info@ironhorsefilms.net. Thank you.

WRITER WANTED FOR SITCOM
Writer wanted for a sitcom about an Indian Immigrant experience taking place in New York. Each episode will be standard sitcom length 23 minutes. We would prefer previous sitcom experience, multi-cultural themes a plus. It’s a comedy/drama/satire with lots of emotions. Send a cover letter with either a link to a sample of your writing or a sample in the body of the cover letter to: info@nritvfilmclub.com. The producer Tirlok Malik is a New York Emmy nominated filmmaker. You can learn more about his work at www.nritvfilmclub.com.

LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK ON HORROR SCRIPT
Just completed a rough draft of a horror script and am interested in getting some feed back to assist in my revisions.   The script is a more traditional style monster mash-up, combining elements of Frankenstein and Mummy lore.  If you think you might be able to offer some free coverage, please drop me a line at kevinmglover@yahoo.com.  Thank you.

LOOKING FOR SCI FI BUFF FOR FILM IN ESPERANTO
If you are a science fiction buff who has an idea for a film in Esperanto, give me a ring. I can barely speak a word of it but if it is written down, or in subtitles, I can actually make out the sense of it fairly well. If you don’t have any command of Esperanto whatsoever, but would like to try your hand at helping write a script along the lines of a futuristic domed city, robots, at least 1 personal sized spaceships, a slave revolt, and a lasergun battle, give me a call. This could be a lot of fun. Call Matthew, late evenings 503-771-3307.

LOOKING FOR JUNIOR WRITER
Oak3 Films, Singapore, is looking for a junior writer. The job scope includes: generate innovative ideas for TV and new media; research and write scripts; pitch & sell ideas to broadcasters and investors. Requirements are: read widely, & sensitive to local & international TV trends; thrives on tight deadlines; awesome written and spoken language skills, especially in Mandarin; good presentation skill, especially in Mandarin. Need not have media background, but must love to watch TV (good & bad ones.)  Send inquiries to info@oak3films.com. Only Singaporean, Singapore PR need to apply.

SCREENWRITER NEEDED FOR AZ FILM PROJECT
Looking for screenwriter in Arizona feature film project. Compensation can be discussed over phone or email. Outline of story can be discussed. The film is drama/comedy. No professional experience necessary. For more information email tallent.stephen@gmail.com.

ACCEPTING SHORT SCREENPLAYS
Pro Digital Group is now accepting short form screenplays. Please submit thriller, crime, and horror scripts only(a flavor of love story OK) with a running time of no more than 20 minutes. Must be unique and original to you and registered with the Copyright Office or WGA. We will produce and provide the financing. Option/Purchase price and rights to be negotiated. Reply by email to us at jobs@prodigitalgroup.com with subject line “SCREENPLAY”! Thanks for your consideration and hope to hear from you soon.

Please remember to check out legitimacy of all contests before you enter and to copyright all work.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

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