
Welcome to 2025, y'all! I'm beginning this new year with a list of contests to start a fresh year of writing off with a bang! I hope you will join me, fellow writers!
Please note that I have not entered all of the contests on this list, but I have done my best to pick out legitimate, good contests that are worth your time.
When searching for writing contests, look each one over very carefully. There are many writing scams out there. Use your common sense and listen to your gut. If something feels wrong, it probably is. Steer quickly away. There are plenty of other writing contests out there to choose from.
As always, quotes are from the contest sites themselves.
New Brunswick Writing Competition
Contest Entry Period: January 1st to March 31, 2025
Entry Fee:Â Varies by category. The Sheree Fitch Prize for Teen Writers is free to enter (for teens 13-18).
Special Requirements: Must be a resident of New Brunswick, or a WFNB member.
Theme: None. There are eight categories to choose from: Fiction Manuscript, Short Fiction, Poetry Manuscript, Single Poem, Books for Young People, Teen Writers, Nonfiction, and Screenwriting. Submission fees vary for each category.
Age Category:Â None found, except for The Sheree Fitch Prize for Teen Writers (open to teens ages 13-18). I don't think there are age categories specified for any other categories.
Rights Information: None found. To the best of my knowledge, winning stories aren't actually published by WFNB, only their titles are announced.
Prizes: Prizes vary by category.
You can find the full guidelines here. Read them over carefully, as always.
Links to the individual categores are listed above, under Theme.
Invent a Word Contest
Contest Deadline: "February 28, 2025, 11:59 pm Eastern Time"
Entry Fee:Â FREE
Special Requirements:Â Entry must be "original and unpublished."
Theme: Invent a Word (see this page for more info & inspo).
Age Category:Â None found
Rights Information: None found.
Prizes:Â Winner will receive a free Gotham Writers class of their choice. Premium classes excluded. If you win, your entry will also be published on GothamWriters.com.
"The winner will be notified by mid-March."
No more than 70 words.
See ideas, rules, etc. by following this link. This contest sounds like so much fun. I can't wait to enter!
CBC The First Page
Contest Deadline: Uncertain. Sometime in February.
Entry Fee:Â FREE
Special Requirements: "The First Page is a national writing competition for Grades 7 to 12 students in Canada."
Theme: "Students are invited to write the first page of a novel, imagining how present-day issues and trends have played out 150 years in the future."
Entry Length:
Age Category: Grades 7-12
Rights Information: None found. I'd be hesitant to submit without researching this further, as it seems likely that an organization like CBC would want all rights to the winning story (stories?). I've inquired about this via email, so will update this section if I receive a satisfactory reply.
Prizes: "The winner of each category will receive a one-year subscription to OwlCrate, which delivers monthly boxes of books and literary-related goodies. The school library of each winner will also receive a donation of 50 books."
"Your entry can be 300-400 words in length. Your entry also needs a title, but the title is not included in the word limit. Your entry can be written in any genre."
The contest post says that when submissions open, the link to the online submission form will be found at this link. Keep checking to see when submissions open up. Here is the link to the post from which I sourced my information.