Too many options when it comes to submitting your work? Here’s our top five comps and subs for July 2026.
Name: Instant Noodles
Deadline: 5th July
Wordcount: up to 500 words
Genre: flash fiction; fiction; non-fiction; poetry; drama; visual art and multi-media
Description: Instant Noodles is an online literary magazine of Current Words Publishing. For their issue the theme is, ‘Al Dente’. On their website they say: “What does al dente mean to you? To your neighborhood vampire it probably means something different. How about to the prospector mining gold? Send us something that you haven’t overcooked!”
Entry fee: free
Website: https://instantnoodleslitmag.com/submission-guidelines/
Name: The HG Wells Short Story Competition
Deadline: 7th July (11pm UK time)
Wordcount: 1,500 – 5,000 words
Genre: Short Story
Description: The theme for this year’s HG Wells Short Story competition is ‘The Cheat’. The winner of the junior prize will receive £1,000, and the winner of the senior prize will receive £500. All shortlisted entries will be published in a paperback anthology.
Entry fee: £10 for over 21s; £5 for those with a student ID; free for those aged 21 or under
Website: https://hgwellscompetition.com
Name: Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition
Deadline: 12th July
Wordcount: up to 1,200 words
Genre: Short Story
Description: The Doris Gooderson Short Story competition is for stories on any subject. The winner will receive £200, second prize £100, and third prize £50. All profits will be donated to the Severn Hospital
Entry fee:£5
Website: https://wrekinwriters.wordpress.com/doris-gooderson-short-story-competition/
Name: Scottish Wildlife Trust Words of the Wild Writing Competition
Deadline: 12th July (11.59pm UK time)
Wordcount: up to 1,000 words
Genre: Fiction & Non-Fiction
Description: The Scottish Wildlife Trust Writing Competition are looking for stories of Scotland’s wildlife and wild places within the theme of ‘Changing seasons’. Submissions can be in English, Scots, or Gaelic and can be written in any form: poem, letter, short story, essay, song lyrics – whichever works best to tell your story. A winner from each category will be selected by a panel of judges and will receive a very generous prize bundle.
Entry fee: free
Website: https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/wordsofthewild/competition/
Name: Winchester Poetry Prize
Deadline: 31st July
Wordcount: under 40 lines
Genre: Poetry
Description: The Winchester Poetry Prize welcome poems on any subject, in any style. This year’s competition will be judge by Julia Copus. The winner will receive £1000, second prize £500, and third prize £250. All longlisted poems will be published in an anthology.
Entry fee: £7 for first entry; £5 for each subsequent poem