Too many options when it comes to submitting your work? Here’s our top five comps and subs for March 2026.
Name: Short Fiction – The Visual Literary Journal
Deadline: 1st March or until they reach 500 submissions
Wordcount: 500-5000 words
Genre: Fiction
Description: Short Fiction is an online journal and are looking for original, exciting, and most innovative short stories. They don’t accept poetry or life writing but are open to hybrid pieces that qualify as fiction. The submission window closes at midnight on 1st March or when they reach 500 submissions. Once a month they publish a story as their Featured piece. They pay for any work accepted for publication.
Entry fee: free (donations welcome)
Website: https://www.shortfictionjournal.co.uk/about
Name: Mairtín Crawford Awards for Poetry and Short Story 2026
Deadline: 12pm (midday UK time) on 11th March 2026
Wordcount: Poetry: 3-5 poems; Short Story: up to 2,500 words
Genre: Poetry and Short Story
Description: The Mairtín Crawford Awards are aimed at writers working towards their first full collection of poetry, short stories, or a novel. They invite both published and unpublished writers to submit to the poetry or short story categories, the only stipulation is that writers have not yet published a full collection of poetry, short stories, or a novel. The winner of each award will receive a £500 cash prize. Two runners up in each category will receive a £250 cash prize.
Entry fee: £10
Website: https://belfastbookfestival.com/mairtin-crawford-award
Name: Profiles
Deadline: 15th March 2026
Wordcount: 1,000 – 5,000 words
Genre: Fiction and Non-Fiction
Description: Profiles is an independent literary and visual arts journal dedicated to character studies and portraiture. They are currently looking for submissions for Issue 5, specifically character-driven fiction, and non-fiction – both original works and translation. As stated on their website, they love stories and non-fiction that treat their characters with empathy, without bordering on apologia, and show human nature as it is, not necessarily as it should be. They are a print magazine based in Ireland and accept submissions from Ireland and abroad with the exception of residents from the US and Canada due to the high volume of submissions they receive.
Entry fee: Free
Website: https://www.profilesjournal.com/
Name: Cats Protection Cat Tales Short Story Competition
Deadline: 31st March 2026
Wordcount: 250-1,000 words
Genre: Short Story
Description: Cats Protection Cat Tales is a brand-new short story competition, and they are inviting aspiring writers to share their most imaginative stories with them. All entries must feature cats at their core and highlight the special connection they share with people. There are two categories: stories aimed at readers under 16 or stories written for adults. The winner will receive an exclusive prize bundle from Cult Pens worth up £350 and their story will be published in the Cat Magazine.
Entry fee: £10
Website: https://www.cats.org.uk/shortstory
Name: WriteMentor 2026 Novel and Picture Book Awards
Deadline: 31st March 2026 (11.59pm)
Wordcount: Novels: first 3,000 words plus synopsis; Picture Books: Whole manuscript plus synopsis.
Genre: Picture Books; Children’s and Adult Fiction
Description: In partnership with Darley Anderson Agency, the WriteMentor 2026 Novel & Picture Book Award is looking for new writing talent in children’s, young adult, and adult fiction. The winner of each category will receive a £500 cash prize, a 45-minute one-to-one virtual consultation with the agent judge for that category, and a one-year free membership to the Hub, WriteMentor’s online membership platform.
Entry fee: £12
Website: https://write-mentor.com/writementor-writing-awards/
