Too many options when it comes to submitting your work? Here’s our top five comps and subs for January 2025.
Name: Cōnfingo
Deadline: N/A
Wordcount: Up to 5,000 words for short fiction, poems (maximum of three) no longer than 50 lines, artwork must be available in high-resolution suitable for printing A5.
Genre: Short fiction, poetry, and art
Description: Cōnfingo is an independent publishing house based in Manchester. Twice a year, they publish a collection of new short fiction, poetry, and art from around the world in a print-only magazine. Authors whose work is accepted for publication receive payment of £30.
Entry fee: Free
Website: https://www.confingopublishing.uk/submissions
Name: Fiction Factory First Chapter + Synopsis Competition
Deadline: 30th January 2025
Wordcount: Maximum 5,000 words of first chapter only and a one-page synopsis. If your first chapter is longer, clearly mark the 5,000-word point.
Genre: Fiction
Description: Fiction Factory runs various writing competitions throughout the year. Next up is their First Chapter and Synopsis competition. The winning entry will be read by literary agent Joanna Swainson of the Hardman and Swainson Agency. The winner will receive £500 and an appraisal. All short-listed entries will also receive an appraisal.
Entry fee: £18 or £38 which includes entry and assessment.
Website: https://fiction-factory.biz/first-chapter-synopsis-submissions/
Name: New Writers Flash Fiction Competition
Deadline: 31st January 2025 at 23.59 UK time
Wordcount: 300 words (excluding title)
Genre: Flash Fiction
Description: The New Writers Flash Fiction Competition 2025 are looking for imaginative, thought-provoking flash fiction stories. The head judge is author, playwright, columnist and illustrator Shreya Sen-Handley. The winner will receive £1,100, second place: £300, third place: £200. The winners will also be published on their website and included in a future anthology.
Entry fee: £10 for one entry, £19 for two entries, £27 for three entries. They will donate £1 from each entry to First Story, a creative writing charity for young people.
Website: https://newwriters.org.uk/competition/flash-fiction-comp-2025/
Name: Fish Publishing Short Memoir Prize
Deadline: 31st January 2025
Wordcount: 4,000 words
Genre: Memoir/Non-Fiction
Description: Fish Publishing are running a short memoir competition. On their website, they say: “Anyone’s memoir can be worthy if written in a way that captivates the reader. You need not have had a life of fame, fortune, or tragedy to make the grade as the ordinary can be woven into a masterpiece.” First prize: €1,000, second prize: €300 plus an online writing course, third prize: €200 plus an online writing course. The best ten memoirs will be published in the Fish Anthology 2025.
Entry fee: €20, €14 for subsequent entries (optional critique €56)
Website: https://www.fishpublishing.com/competition/short-memoir-contest/
Name: The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize
Deadline: 31st January 2024
Wordcount: First ten pages of an unpublished novel, plus a one-paragraph pitch and a one-page synopsis.
Genre: Fiction
Description: The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize was founded in 2010 and is open to women and non-binary writers. They welcome submissions of literary fiction and genre fiction equally. YA and children’s novels will be accepted if they are mainly word-based (picture books are excluded). First prize: £1,500; all short-listed authors will receive a one-to-one consultation with a literary agent.
Entry fee: £12
Website: https://www.lucy.cam.ac.uk/fictionprize
