One of the things that you might be looking for if you are thinking about entering some writing contests and 2019 is contest that have actual cash prizes attached to them. There are a lot of writing contests out there that offer prizes that are not cash. Some of them include being published in a publication that is sponsoring the contest and others might include gift cards or discounts. But if you want cold hard cash as a prize, fire up some nice book writing software like Squibler or Scrivener and check out these writing contests.
The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition
This contest is sponsored by the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway. This contest is been going on for more than 35 years and it offers three eight $1500 cash prizes for first place and then $50 for second place in third place winners. To be eligible, you have to write an original and unpublished work of fiction that is no more than 3500 words long (no fanfiction!). There is a five dollars admission fee and you can submit for the next year’s contest at any time.
Colorado State University’s Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction
This one is organized by the Colorado State University Center for literary publishing. You do not have to be in the US to be eligible for this contest. The winner of the contest gets $2000 as well as publication in the Colorado review. In order to be eligible, your story must be at least 2500 words and be no more than 12,500 words. It also must be fiction. The contest opens sometime in the late fall or winter of the year.
The Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition
Each year, this contest happens again disliking it has been doing for more than 85 years. Writers digest is one of the most well-known and well-respected magazines for writers out there. This is a contest that has a ton of entrants, but also has a lot of winners. There will be 500 total winners chosen with the top prize of the contest at $5000 plus a paid trip to the writers digest annual conference. First place in a category will be $1000, second place will be $500, their place will be for $250, $100 will be for fourth place and $50 will be awarded to fifth-place. Sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th will also get $25 each. The word counts vary depending on which category you intercede want to go check their website for details.
The Roswell Award
The Roswell Award is a contest for science-fiction stories with the top prize of $500. Stories have to be 1500 words or less. You also get $250 for second place showing and $100 for third place.
Nelson Algren Short Story Award
Another great contest that you may want to consider is this one that is presented by the Chicago Tribune. The grand prize winner for this contest gets $3500 and the remaining four finalists get $1000 each. Runners-up get $500. Stories must be fiction, unpublished and no more than 8000 words.