Winner Receives a $500 Publishing Contract

TheNextBigWriter has partnered with costumealibi.com to bring you two great contests. The first is a Halloween Short Story Contest. The short story should be between 2,500 and 5,000 words with a Halloween theme. There are no genre restrictions. Anything goes. We are looking for the most engaging, can't-put-it-down story to feature on the costumealibi.com Halloween Stories page.

Deadline: 11:59 PM ET on October 5, 2010

Prize: $500 Publishing Contract

How to Submit Your Halloween Entry

See all Halloween Entries

Competition, Rules, and Regulations

Winner Receives a $100 Publishing Contract

TheNextBigWriter has partnered with costumealibi.com to bring you two great contests. The second contest is a costume-oriented flash fiction piece. The flash fiction piece should have a costume theme and doesn't necessarily have to be about Halloween. It should be a humorous story between 500 and 1,000 words. Judging criteria -- The laugh-out-loudest story wins.

Deadline: 11:59 PM ET on October 5, 2010

Prize: $100 Publishing Contract

How to Submit Your Costume Flash Entry

See all Costume Flash entries

Competition, Rules, and Regulations

Previous Writing Competitions

1st Place Winner Receives $500 and a $2,500 Publishing Package from CreateSpace.

The winners of the 2010 Strongest Start Novel Competition are:

Main Competition

Priscilla the Great by jediprincess

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror

Shadyia: Dark Desires by A.T.Schlesinger

Memoir and Non-Fiction

Root Hog or Die by vern

Romance

The Evolution of Janie by penang

If you missed this year's competition or didn't win, keep working on those opening chapters. The competition will be back next year.

Receive notices of the competition by joining our competition email alert list.

Strongest Start Novel Competition Updates

What is the Strongest Start Novel Competition?

It is the only live, online novel writing competition for unfinished books and novels. That means you can enter with a draft or unfinished manuscript and that you will receive feedback on your submission as the competition progresses. Feedback that you can use to improve you submission before the competition deaadline. The competition is meant to motivate writers to finish their books and to edit what they have written. And of course, to reward the writers who have done a fantastic job of honing their three starting chapters to page turning perfection

Stay in the Know.

The 2010 competition is over, but leave us your email and receive advanced news on the 2011 Strongest Start Novel Competition.

In 2010, the Strongest Start Novel Competition offered:

• Over $3,500 in cash and prizes.

• Feedback on your writing to help you prepare your novel for publication.

• The opportunity to get noticed and build a fan-base.
• The perfect environment to meet other writers, share tricks, and join the most advanced writing workshop on the planet.

Learn more

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The winning entry will receive a $100 publishing contact and will be featured in front of hundreds of thousands of readers.

Deadline: 11:59 PM ET on March 1, 2010

Have a good idea for a flash story? Or maybe you've already written one. Post it as part of the TheNextBigWriter's 2010 Flash Writing Contest. If we like it enough, you'll receive $100 and be featured on the homepage of Booksie.com, a site that receives 500,000 reader visits per month.

Submit Your Flash Entry

More information

See all 2010 flash entries.

Competition, Rules, and Regulations

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Join A Project to Create the Internet's First Workshop - Based Novel - The Cloud

Winning entries receive a publishing contact for inclusion in the published novel.

Deadline: 11:59 PM ET on January 21, 2010

TheNextBigWriter in conjunction with Odin Roark of iPOV BOOKS present the first workshop-built-novel. The novel will be comprised of individual chapters/short stories written by different writers from TheNextBigWriter around a central theme and premise.

The Cloud

The novel project called THE CLOUD is a concept created by Odin Roark based on a premise that challenges religion, commerce, and science, as well as general behavior in the 21^st century.  The plot involves reactions to a dark gray cloud that takes residence over the skies of Las Vegas in August of 2013 and is still there at the book’s conclusion in January 2014.  The genre of this book is literary.

Learn more about The Cloud Project.

Awards:

The writers whose stories are selected as winners will receive a Publishing Contract to have their story published as part of the The Cloud Anthology. 50% of the net proceeds will be equally shared by the estimated 15 to 20 authors. 50% of the remaining net proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the formation of a charity fund developed by Odin Roark that will provide computers for children in developing countries.

Submit Your Entry to The Cloud

More information

See all The Cloud entries.

Competition, Rules, and Regulations

Create the Most Horrible Wedding That's Out of This World

The theme of this contest is the wedding that goes horribly, horribly wrong. But as a twist, the story must be set in a science fiction or fantasy setting. Other than that, use your imagination and have fun.

We're looking for the most creative, most entertaining story. One that melds a disasterous wedding with a credible science fiction and fantasy setting. Key elements that we'll be looking for include:

Well conceived characters

Credible science fiction and fantasy settings

A creative and original story

A well written story.

The story should be a minimum of 1,000 words but under 3,500 words.

Prize: $100.

Contest submission deadline: August 31, 2009.

Submit Your Story

Writing contest rules and details |See all entries

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Can You Write a Chaiku that Rocks?

Submit a Chaiku with a nature theme. Writer about plants, trees, weather, ocean, or anything else in the natural world that inspires your muse.

We will be judging the Chaikus on their ability to tell a story or paint a scene within the constraints of the Chaiku format.

So what is a Chaiku? Chaiku is a neologism derived from the first two letters of Chinese and the last four of HAIKU. It refers to the notion that Chinese poetic meter can play the same role as the meter of haiku in the composition of verse in English.

Whereas a haiku consists of three lines, the first and third containing five syllables and the second seven, chaiku consists of four lines, each containing four syllables, that is to say either four words of one syllable, or four syllables regardless of number of words. Chaiku may consist of one or more quatrains. Rhyme is permitted but not required.

Examples

Four words of one syllable per line

Though clothes should suit
Men short or tall
Souls dress in love
One size fits all

Four syllables per line, regardless of number of words

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are you

Prize: $50.

Contest submission deadline: August 15, 2009.

Submit Your Chaiku

Writing contest rules and details |See all entries

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A Short Story Contest with Cash, Publishing, and Feedback

Mezzo Magazine has asked TheNextBigWriter to help it find a special story to publish in their September 2009 debut issue. The challenge of this competition is to create a short story that has the right ingredients to be featured in Mezzo Magazine's September issue. So what is Mezzo Magazine looking for? In their words:

"The stories we publish are intelligent and creative but with no pretence of intellectual aspirations. We want to enjoy the read, not study the text. We appreciate edgy and irreverent writing that makes us see, hear and be in the story. Our editors use their judgment, and review the following elements to score your submission.

Opening lines - Does the beginning make you want to read more?

Plot - is there a continuous thread of suspense?

Setting - Are the sensory details effective?

Voice and Tone - Is the narrative voice consistent and unobtrusive?

Conflict - Are the stakes and the conflicts surrounding them clear?

Dialogue - Is the dialogue natural sounding? Is it easy to read?

Resolutions - Does the story have a satisfying ending?"

The subject is your choice, but no stories with excessive gore, violence, profanity, hate or discrimination.

The story should be a minimum of 1,000 words but under 3,500 words.

Prize: $200 and publication in Mezzo Magazine's debut September 2009 issue.

Contest submission deadline: June 30, 2009.

Submit Your Short Story

Writing contest rules and details |See all entries | Visit Mezzo Magaine

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1st Place Winner Receives $500 and a $2,400 Publishing Package from BookSurge.

June 18 , 2009: Contest winners announced.

Congratulations to this year's winners. They are:

First Place:

- Sensing Passion: Travels of a Fifty-Five Year Old Divorcee by Christy Cumberlander Walker

Second Place:

- Daughter in Exile by Ama Adjapon

Third Place:

- Far From Happy by Jeni Decker

As stated on the Strongest Start Novel Page, the winner will receive $500 cash and a full publishing package from BookSurge valued at $2,400.

What is the Strongest Start Novel Competition?

It is the only live, online novel writing competition for unfinished books and novels. That means you can enter with a draft or unfinished manuscript and that you will receive feedback on your submission as the competition progresses. Feedback that you can use to improve you submission before the competition deaadline. The competition is meant to motivate writers to finish their books and to edit what they have written. And of course, to reward the writers who have done a fantastic job of honing their three starting chapters to page turning perfection

Stay in the Know.

The 2009 competition is over, but leave us your email and receive advanced news on the 2010 Strongest Start Novel Competition.

In 2009, the Strongest Start Novel Competition offered:

Feedback on your writing to help you prepare your novel for publication.

The opportunity to get noticed and build a fan-base.

The perfect environment to meet other writers, share tricks, and join the most advanced writing workshop on the planet.

Learn more

.

Writing Sprints Online Competition

To help everyone stay in shape and get ready for the upcoming Strongest Start Novel Competition, we've organized a writing sprint. Over the next three weeks, we're going to announce three, consecutive, one week writing contests. You'll have one week to pen your masterpiece and submit it. At the end of the week, we'll judge the entries and announce a winner the following Monday.

Here's the schedule:

Writing Sprint 1: Deadline - January 23, 2009 - CLOSED

Challenge: Write a flash fiction piece of up to 500 words that has to do with a current, past, or future US President. To enter, post your piece during the sprint period and include the tags Presidential Flash (entered as presidential_flash).

The entries will be judged on their originality and their ability to provide some insight into the thinking of a US President (past, present, or future).

Writing Sprint 2: Deadline - January 30, 2009 - CLOSED

Challenge: Sometime later this year, the broadcasters will make the switch from analog to digital television, marking the biggest change in our sets since color tv. To mark the occassion, the next challenge is to write a poem about your television.

To enter, post your piece during the sprint period and include the tags TV Poem (entered as tv_poem).

The entries will be judged on the feelings you are able to evoke in your poem about that box that sits in virtually every American home. Do you hate it, love it, miss it, ignore it? Let us know.

Writing Sprint 3: Deadline - February 6, 2009 - CLOSED

Challenge: Love is a theme which fuels many popular stories and novels. Writing about love can also be difficult. For this challenge, write a story about two long lost lovers who are suddenly reunited. The story should be between 500-2,000 words.

To enter, post your piece during the sprint period and include the tags Long Lost Love (entered as long_lost_love).

The entries will be judged on originality and poignancy. Make us experience what the reunited couple are feeling and do it in a way that is genuine and unforced.

Awards:

The winner of each weekly competition will receive $30.

Submit Your Sprint

See all Presidential Sprint entries

See all Television Poem entries.

See all Long Lost Love entries.

Competition, Rules, and Regulations

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Deadline: Contest Closed on January 15, 2009

Time Are Tough Droubble/Drabble Writing Competition

Take a look at the picture below:

It is of a homeless man leaning against a storefront during the Great Depression. Write about this man and the picture. What is he doing there? Where is he? Who is he? Why is he there? Why is he homeless? These are some of the questions open to exploration.

We'll be awarding two $100 prizes. One for the best Droubble and the other for the best Drabble.

Per Wikipedia: "A drabble is an extremely short work of fiction exactly one hundred words in length, although the term is often misused to indicate a short story of less than 1000 words. The purpose of the drabble is brevity and to test the author's ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in an extremely confined space. Richard N. Hill recently coined the phrase "dribble" to describe a story that is only 50 words. Michael Kent of The Next Big Writer added "droubble" for a double drabble, a story in exactly 200 words."

To enter: Posting your writing story anytime during the Contest period. The Drabble submission must include the tags Tough Drabble (entered as tough_drabble) while the Droubble must include the tags Tough Droubble (entered as tough_droubble).

Deadline: 11:59 PM ET on January 15, 2009

Awards:

$100 to the best Droubble.

$100 to the best Drabble.

Submit Your Story

See all Drabble and Droubble entries.

Competition, Rules, and Regulations

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Oct 24, 2008: The winners of the competition have been announced. They are:

"Not In My Neighborhood" by Phoebe Miller

"That's Entertainment" by Kat Nove

"The Night is Full of Stars" by dracognan

Congratulations to the winers and all entrants. Our next writing competition will be announced shortly. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Write a story about a celebrity who becomes a vampire, werewolf, zombie, or some other undead creature and win one of three $30 paid publishing contracts.

Got a favorite or a least favorite celebrity that you've always imagined as a vampire, werewolf, or some other undead creature? In honor of Halloween, we're running a Celebrity Vampire Short Story Competition. Give us a story about them in 500-3000 words. Make it funny, scary, whatever you like - but make it a good read. We'll take our three favorite and give you a paid $30 publishing contract.

Need some inspiration? Take a look at some of these pictures to get your mind moving and your fingers typing.

Celebrity Vampires: Here are some good celeb vampires, especially the pic of Kate Hudson. Here's another site chock-full of celeb vampires.

Celebrity Zombies: Thinking about Zombies. Here are some zombie pics to get you inspired.

To enter: Posting your writing story anytime during the Contest period. The submission must include the tags Celebrity Vampire (entered as celebrity_vampire) in it.

Deadline: 11:59 PM ET on October 15, 2008

Awards:

$30 publishing contracts to the 3 selected winners.

Submit Your Story

See all entries

Competition, Rules, and Regulations

Sample publishing contract

Tell us why you started writing and you might get published in our upcoming book project.

Update: This competition is now closed. 10 Winners were selected and publishing contracts have been sent. We will update the site with more news as we get closer to the publication date.

Do you remember when you first realized you wanted, or even needed to write? When you realized it was an itch that wouldn't go away? We're looking for witers on TheNextBigWriter to tell us about their "gotcha" moment in a story between 1,500-5,000 words. The story must show the moment, or moments when you realized that you were destined to spend your life writing.

We're going to select ten that tell the most insightful, thought provoking, and interesting stories and offer the authors a paid publishing contract to have their work included in our upcoming TheNextBigWriter book My Writing Life.

To enter: Posting your writing story anytime during the Contest period. The submission must include the tags My Writing Life (entered as my_writing_life) in it.

Deadline: 11:59 PM ET on August 13, 2008

Awards:

$50 publishing contracts to the 10 selected winners. Winning entries will be included in the My Writing Life book.

Submit Your Story

See all entries

Questions and Frequently Asked Questions

Competition, Rules, and Regulations

Sample publishing contract

Discuss the My Writing Life Project and Competition

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TheNextBigWriter Top 10 Novel Program:

Posted novels that reach the Top 10 in TheNextBigWriter rankings will be officially recognized as Top 10 Novels. Once this designation is achieved, authors have official permission to refer to their book as a TheNextBigWriter Top 10 Novel and use the logo to promote the sale or publication of their book.

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