Okay, okay, I can see where you might be a little doubtful that a writing contest could be deemed as marketing. A writing contest certainly isn’t a traditional strategy of marketing, but in my opinion, it’s a different avenue of showcasing your writing and getting your piece into the hands of readers. And to me, that’s marketing.
There are millions of different types of writing contests for all genres and mediums, whether that’s short stories, flash fiction, poetry, etc. there’s definitely a contest for you out there.
Writing contests are great opportunities for all writers, but especially new and emerging writers as these contests can be a great steppingstone to gain recognition for your writing, especially if you happen to win. You can update your author bio or website, showcasing your winning story which brings more credibility.
Winning aside, I find writing contests to be particularly helpful when I’m stuck in a writing rut, unsure of where to go next. Whether the contest is prompted or not, contests can give you an
understanding of what the literary world is wanting to see more of right now, which is always helpful when trying to break into it.
Before going down the rabbit hole of applying to hundreds of contests, it’s important to be strategic about which writing contests you apply to. Sometimes I like to browse and read past winning entries to see if my style of writing is something the judges of the contest may go for. Not that I adapt my stories to each contest, but I’d rather not waste my time and money applying for something that I don’t think my skills match up to.
Like I said, there are a million contests out there, but here are a few places that I like to regularly check:
- Reedsy
- Substack (Lunar Awards, etc.)
- Submittable
- Poets & Writers
Whether you have looked into submitting to a writing contest or not, I challenge you to look into a couple and see if your stories might be a good fit. Never hurts to try!
