Tis the season for short story contests

Tis the season for talking snowmen, animated nativity scenes, tubas in the park, and pointy-eared tomtar.

(me at Tuba Christmas Denver last year)

And spec fiction (science fiction, fantasy and horror) short story contests.  Tis the season to enter.  So here are some of my favorite short story contests open for entry during the holiday season, all of which pay cash prizes. I have entered / will be entering all of these–hope to see you there too.

• Writers of the Future quarterly writer contest
  • Spec fiction up to 17,000 words
  • December 31st
  • Open to all non-professionally published writers
  • Free
• Triangulation: Beneath The Surface, Parsec Ink’s speculative fiction annual for 2016
  • Spec fiction up to 6,000 words
  • February 29th, 2016
  • Free
• Science Fiction Readers annual story contest
  • Spec fiction 1,000 to 5,000 words
  • December 31st
  • Free
• 2015 Hecla Award for Fiction and Memoir
  • Fiction and memoir up to 3,000 words
  • Excerpts accepted as well as short stories
  • December 15th
  • Open only to members of Louisville Writers Workshop
  • Entry fee
• 2016 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award
  • Near future space-based science fiction up to 8,000 words
  • January 31st, 2016
  • Free

For a list of year-round paying spec fiction markets, please see my list of Paying Spec Fiction Markets

Keep on writin’!

CR Hodges

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