Writing Contests and Awards

Browse our range of writing contests and awards links especially for the competitive author!

2010 Nautilus Book Awards Now Open For Submission Marilyn McGuire, Founder of the Nautilus Book Awards, recently announced that the 2010 Nautilus Book Awards are now open for submissions. 2010 marks the 10th anniversary of this prestigious award.

Gold and Silver awards are given to print and audio books of exceptional merit that make a literary and heartfelt contribution to spiritual growth, conscious living, high-level wellness, green values, responsible leadership and positive social change, as well as to the worlds of art, creativity and inspiration. Past Nautilus Award winners include distinguished authors and some of the finest teachers of our times, such as Deepak Chopra, Thich Nhat Hanh, Eckhart Tolle, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Joel Olsteen, Caroline Myss, and Andrew Weil. McGuire is pleased and proud of the "Nautilus Library of Imagination & Possibility where all previous (and future) Nautilus Award winners are listed.

The Awards Committee is now accepting entries in 28 subject categories (see below) including audio books, a new category for poetry, and five categories for children and teens. Nautilus Book Awards Silver and Gold Winners are carefully selected in a unique three-tier judging process by experienced teams of book reviewers, librarians, authors, editors, bookstore owners, and leaders in the publishing industry. Any book copyrighted or released from January 2008 to December 2009, in English, is eligible. Final deadline for entering is January 15, 2010. Unlike many other book awards, self-published titles are also eligible for entry.

The Nautilus Book Awards are named for the mollusk whose beautiful, pearl-lined shell contains chambers of increasing size which the sea creature constructs for itself as it grows. The nautilus symbolizes both ancient wisdom and expanding horizons, both the elegance of nature and a continual growth of understanding and awareness.

2010 Categories:

• Aging Gracefully/Rejuvenation
• Animals/Nature
• Art/Specialty/Gift
• Audio Books to Enlighten and Inspire
• Conscious Business/Leadership
• Conscious Media/Journalism/ Investigative Reporting
• Cosmology/New Science
• Ecology/Environment/Sustainability - Green Values
• Fiction/Visionary Fiction
• Food/Cooking/Nutrition
• Grieving/Death & Dying
• Health/Healing/Energy Medicine
• Home & Garden/Natural Living
• Indigenous/Multicultural
• Memoir/Personal Journey
• Parenting
• Personal Growth (Self-Help)/Psychology
• Poetry
• Relationships - Marital/Family/Significant Other
• Social Change/Activism/Peaceful Solutions
• Religion
• Spirituality
• Yoga/Pilates/Tai Chi/Bodywork
• Children's Picturebook (Pre-school - Grade 2)
• Children's Illustrated (Grades 3 - 6)
• Children's Non-fiction (Elementary)
• Fiction - Teenage (Ages 12 - 18)
• Non-Fiction Teenage (Ages 12 - 18)

For more information on the Nautilus Book Awards and how to submit an entry, visit www.nautilusbookawards.com or email marilyn@nautilusbookawards.com.

Readers Favorite Readers Favorite Award: Our annual contest awards four levels of winners in each of our 40 genre categories.

Why enter or award contest?
Book Awards grab the attention of book stores, publishers, libraries, and readers, which can translate into increased sales. You can refer to your book as an "Award Winning Book" and you as an "Award Winning Author" on your book cover, website, and all other marketing materials. You can add your Award Sticker to existing copies of your book, or incorporate a digital image of it into new or reprinted versions.

We have been reviewing books for many years and are excited to announce the launch of our first annual Readers Favorite Award Contest! This is great news for you because a contest's first year means fewer competitors and a better chance for you to win!

However, your award will still be based on the quality of your book. If your entry is the only one in a particular category, it does not mean you will automatically win Gold. In fact, you may not win an award at all. Smaller numbers in your category simply means there will be fewer books to compete against for the caliber of award your book may warrant.

GuideGecko Writing Contest Win a trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair, jump-start your travel writing career

GuideGecko.com holds an international writing contest for travel, food and lifestyle guides in conjunction with the world's largest book fair in Frankfurt, Germany. The contest is open to all aspiring and established authors on all career levels. Authors from all over the world can submit their own travel, lifestyle or entertainment guides, and the winning titles will be showcased on the fair. The top prize is a personal trip to the fair in October 2009. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet renowned publishers, pitch story ideas, and expose their titles to over 300,000 visitors and 10,000 journalists. Hall 3, where the winning titles will be displayed, is probably the most lively hall on the whole fair - bringing great exposure to the author and the books that are on display.

The contest deadline is September 24, 2009. There is no page limit and authors are welcome to submit new and existing works, as long as they fit into the (broad) categories of travel, lifestyle and entertainment guides. Authors keep all copyrights, and participation is free. More info: www.guidegecko.com/writing-contest

Marie Curie Cancer Care Daffodil Theatre Awards
Marie Curie Cancer Care and Barefeat Theatre Company are looking for poets and playwrights to submit a play, monologue, sketch or poem under 5 minutes for their Daffodil Theatre Awards. This competition is a fantastic chance for writers with new work to win the following whilst raising money for a worthy charity.

• Best New Writing will receive one years free membership to the Ambassador Theatre Writers Group
• Best Overall Piece will receive a writing workshop with established writer Martin Brocklebank
• Best Actor will receive a workshop with NLP for Actors
• All 20 finalists will perform their work on the 25th October and will receive feedback from the panel of judges
• All 20 finalists will receive a 2 hour workshop with Sally Luff (Ambassador Writers Group)

All 20 finalists will have their work printed into a small booklet of plays which we be sold as a programme on the night and then after the event by Samuel French with proceeds to go to Marie Curie Cancer Care. The writers will have copyright over their work and their contact details included to enable them to be contacted should someone wish to perform/ use their work.

The best 100 plays/poems will receive 5 years free registration to the UK Copyright Service - this is a wonderful opportunity for you to protect your work by registering it for free onto their website.

I hope you agree that this is a fantastic competition with amazing prizes. You can enter as many times as you like but each entry will cost £10.

If you are unaware of the work of Marie Curie Cancer Care, please view their website for more information www.mariecurie.org.uk I'm sure you'll agree that they are a fantastic charity!

The terms and conditions are as follows:

• The deadline is the 31st August 2009
• You must be 16 years of age or over to enter
• The play/ poem/ monologue must be no longer than 5 minutes
• You must provide your own actors for the day (tech run) and eve of the 25th October 2009
• You must be able to perform your work on the 25th October at Stantonbury Theatre, Milton Keynes
• All set, props and sound must be kept to a minimum with sound provided on CD
• Entrance fee is £10 and must be sent with a copy of your piece, your contact details (with email) and a brief writers blog to - Victoria Martin, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Unit 9 Mobbs Miller House, Ardington Road, NN1 5LP.
• By entering you are giving permission for your play/poem to be printed in a booklet of plays and sold on the evening of the 25th October and after the event on the Samuel French website.
• All proceeds will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care only

If you have any more questions please do not hesitate to contact me, otherwise please enter.

Best wishes
Erica Martin
Barefeat Theatre Company
www.barefeat.org

Thanks to our sponsors The Ambassador Theatre Group, Stantonbury Campus Theatre, Samuel French, The UK Copyright Service, Dijital Central, NLP for Actors and Martin Brocklebank.

America's Haunted Road Trip Contest
We are publishing a collection of great ghost stories and spooky photos in a book entitled Ghosthunting USA 2009 made up of the best entries in our first-ever writing and photo contest. If you've got a ghost story you think will scare the wits out of readers or a photo you've been dying to share, enter this contest!

The deadline for ALL contest entries is SEPTEMBER 15, so make sure you get yours in the mail by at least the 1st of September.

The complete contest guidelines and entry forms are available for download on our website: www.americashauntedroadtrip.com

GET YOUR STORY PUBLISHED, but don't delay, because our deadline is final!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help spread the word! I know there are tons of people out there who are dying to tell their own, true ghost story to thousands of readers.

To find out more about our America's Haunted Road Trip series, please visit:
www.myspace.com/americashauntedroadtrip
www.americashauntedroadtrip.com

Amy Writing Awards
The Amy Foundation Writing Awards program is designed to recognize creative, skillful writing that presents in a sensitive, thought-provoking manner the biblical position on issues affecting the world today.

Bad Writing Awards
The Bad Writing Contest celebrates the most stylistically lamentable passages found in scholarly books and articles published in recent years. Ordinary journalism, fiction, departmental memos, etc. are not eligible, nor are parodies. Deliberate parody cannot be allowed in a field where unintended self-parody is so widespread.

Canadian Authors Association Literary Awards
The Canadian Authors Association sponsors writing contests. There are also various special and annual contests offered by the various Branches across Canada. Make sure you check the contest details for eligibility, deadlines and format.

Children's Book Awards
Includes the Jane Addams Book Award, presented annually to the children's book that most effectively promotes the cause of peace, social justice and world community, and The Caldecott Medal, given to the artist who has created the most distinguished picture book of the year.

Dishonourable Writing Awards
Here are some of the winning entries announced in the 17th annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, organized by San Jose State University's English department, honoring dishonorable writing.

eBook Awards
Includes the Alan Kay Award for eBook Innovation, which recognizes the organization that has contributed the most towards acceptance and the popularization of electronic books in the past year; and the Electronic Literature Awards, with prizes that are the monetary equivalent of a National Book Award.

James Beard and Julia Child Literary Food Writing Awards
A list of award-winning cookbooks straight from the kitchen of Julia Child.

Myers Outstanding Book Awards Winners
Each year a diverse panel of reviewers reads a slew of books addressing bigotry and human rights issues. On the occasion of Human Rights Day, the Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights and Bigotry announces the twelve books published in a given year deemed truly outstanding, different in theme, style and approach.

New Century Writer Awards
Our competition is based in the United States, but its influence is international and reaches out to writers across the globe. Storytelling, after all, like art and music, is universal.

The Official Nobel Prize Site
Browse the Literature award winners from 1901 to today.

The Official Pulitzer Site
Winners, archives and history of the famous Pulitzer Prize.

OscarWorld Writing Awards
A full list of the Academy Awards for Writing.

Poetry Contests Awards and Prizes
Includes The Academy Fellowship, a fellowship offered by the Academy of American Poets with a stipend of $20,000; The Akron Poetry Prize, a competition open to all poets writing in English; and the Annual Love Poem Award.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have provided an avenue for young artists and writers to receive recognition and rewards for their creative achievements. The Awards have helped nurture eight decades of promising talent by providing recognition, cash awards and college scholarships.

State Library of Australia Children's Writing Awards
The Nestle Write Around Australia Program is a unique program for students, designed by the State Library of NSW and coordinated by the public library system across Australia. The program draws on the talents of established children's authors to encourage the next generation of writers through practical writing workshops.