BookRix hosts an annual free competition for fiction writers. Submissions are generally open between November and January and the winner of the competition receives publishing services valued at more than $2,500 including copy editing, cover design, promotional materials creation and more. Second and third place winners receive cash prizes. Initially writers are asked to submit only the first 25 pages of a work that must be at least 30,000 words long.
The Clive Custler Adventure Writers Competition accepts only 25 entries per year of full manuscripts in the adventure genre. Writers must be previously unpublished and manuscripts must be between 50,000 to 130,000 words. Each writer can submit only one manuscript. The winner of the competition receives the Grandmaster Award and $1,000. The contest entry deadline for the 2012 award is in October 2011.
The Forward Poetry group of the U.K. hosts multiple poetry competitions on an ongoing basis. The contests are generally on specific themes, encouraging writers to write for the competition rather than submit previous work. Current subjects as of March 2011 include "School Secrets," "Hello Happiness" and "New Beginnings." Prizes tend to be small, frequently offering only publication as a reward, but it is a good way to get some of your work published and to be encouraged to write more.
"Writer's Digest" hosts multiple writing contests for members. These include their annual writing competition, with more than 1,000 winners in various categories; the Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards; an annual short story competition; a poetry competition; and the Writer's Digest Popular Fiction Awards. There is also a bi-monthly 'creative challenge' asking writers to submit a 750 word entry on a specific topic. The winners of the creative challenge are published in "Writer's Digest" magazine.