Contests and Markets for your short prose and poetry.

CommuterLit.com aims to publish a story, memoir, novel excerpt, or poem every working day of the year (minus a summer holiday, any genre, 500 to 4,000 words. This is the best place there is to get your first piece published (and maybe your second and third).

Submissions guidelines here. 

Commuter Lit also has a series of contests coming up:

Halloween Week 2025 — Scary Stories (max. word count of 2,500). Submission window: Sept. 22 – Oct. 13, 2025. Winning entries will appear on CommuterLit the week of Oct. 27-Oct. 31, 2025.

Valentines Week 2026 — Love Stories (max. word count of 2,500). Submission window: Jan. 12–26, 2026. Winning entries will appear on CommuterLit the week of Feb. 9-13, 2026. 

Poetry Week 2026 — Poem or series of poems (max. word count 1000). Submission window: April 13–27, 2026. Winning entries will be posted the week of May 11-15, 2026. 

Flash Fiction Week 2026 — Flash Fiction stories (max. word count 500). Submission window: May 19 – June 1, 2026. Winners will be posted on CommuterLit the week of June 15-19, 2026.

All contests offer $100, $50, and $25 cash prizes. $4 entry fee.

More information here.

Crime Writers of Canada is looking for the Best Unpublished Crime Novel Manuscript written by an unpublished author, sponsored by ECW Press, with a $500 prize

 The competition is a two-step process. Contestants first submit the opening 5,000 words of their manuscript plus a full synopsis of the book. The synopsis is a crucial part of the submission because it is the only way the judges can assess the book’s plot development.

The deadline for Step One is October 31, 2025.

From the initial submissions, a panel of three judges decides on a longlist of up to ten (10) authors.

In Step Two of the competition, the longlisted authors send in their completed manuscripts. The panel of three judges, plus a judge from ECW Press, then decide on a shortlist of up to five (5) finalists. This way ECW, the publisher/sponsor, will read all of the finalists’ entries.

Full rules, eligibility criteria, and submission forms can be found on the Crime Writers of Canada website here.

Canadian book publisher ECW Press is one of the most diversified independent publishers in North America. ECW Press has published close to 1,000 books that are distributed throughout the English-speaking world and translated into dozens of languages.

For information about submitting to ECW, see here.

 About Crime Writers of Canada

Founded in 1982, Crime Writers of Canada is a professional organization dedicated to raising the profile of Canadian crime writers. Our members include authors, publishers, editors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and literary agents, as well as many developing authors.

Past winners of the Awards have included such major names in Canadian crime writing as Mario Bolduc, Gail Bowen, Stevie Cameron, Howard Engel, Barbara Fradkin, Louise Penny, Peter Robinson, and Eric Wright.

CBC Short Story Prize is open for entries

The winner receives $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and their work will be published on CBC Books.

Four finalists each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and their work is also published on CBC Books. 

You can submit original, unpublished fiction that is up to 2,500 words. There is no minimum word requirement.

Work that has been published online or in print or recorded for broadcast is considered "previously published" and is not eligible. 

While the competition is active, submit online by creating an account through Submittable. A fee of $25 is required for each entry.

Full details here.

The Writing Disorder is a literary journal devoted to literature, art and culture. They publish quarterly and are based in Los Angeles, CA. Each issue is published online and sometimes as an ebook. Their mission is to showcase new and emerging writers – particularly those in writing programs — as well as established ones. 

They feature new works of fiction, poetry, nonfiction and art, plus interviews with writers and artists, and some reviews. Although they strive to publish original and experimental work, The Writing Disorder remains rooted in the classic art of storytelling.

No limit on word count. Submissions accepted all year round.

All work featured in The Writing Disorder may include a bio and link to the writer’s or artist’s website, and/or a link to the website where their work can be found.

They’re currently accepting fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, reviews, interviews, comic art and experimental work. They’d especially like to see more poetry, long fiction, nonfiction, artwork, reviews and interviews.

Full submission guidelines here.

All Your Stories Magazine

Bi-monthly publications in separate magazines.  Quick reads, Memories, Short Stories, and Travel Tales and Stories

“We do not reject any submissions, if not selected they are held over for consideration to be published in a forthcoming issue.”

This magazine is to give new and experienced writers an opportunity to be published and can be found worldwide. 

All your stories accepts:

Flash Fiction 500 to 1,000 words

Sudden Fiction 750 words

Twitterature up to 280 words

Drabble 100 words

Dribble 50 words

Short story 2,500 words

Essays and Nonfiction up to 2,500 words

Subjects: Fiction and Nonfiction stories 

Travel Tales and Stories (nonfiction), Memories (nonfiction), Quick reads (flash and sudden fiction), short stories (fiction).

Full submission guidelines here. 

See information about our upcoming  weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

For information about other places to send your short works, see here (and scroll down).

Also, always check out Labels below posts to find collections of postings. For example, if you’re looking for places to send personal essays, click on “essay markets” below (and scroll down).