We hold four contests a year. Click on the Current or Latest Contest box on www.writeradvice.com for details.
Questions? Please ask. Thanks!
Writer Advice’s Flash MEMOIR Submission Information
In view of the world’s challenging economy, we’re keeping our reduced price for anyone who does not want feedback. Your work will still be considered for a prize, but you won’t receive a detailed evaluation of your writing.
If you’d like to know what’s working in your writing and what trips an award-winning writer up, I’m happy to send a personalized, detailed letter, but I have to ask that you pay an additional $9 fee. You’d pay the $5 submission fee and add the $9 feedback option on Submittable.
If you have the money, I strongly recommend it. Please remember that a worker is worthy of her hire. Thank you for understanding.
That said, WriterAdvice seeks flash memoir, a personal life story running 750 words or less. Enlighten, dazzle, and delight us. Focus on a moment that changed you. Memoir is a slice or sliver of your life. Hopefully, your story will touch or move readers in some way.
Finalists receive responses from all judges. Everyone who pays the supplemental fee receives a detailed response from award-winning author B. Lynn Goodwin.
We enjoy stories with a discovery, maybe a surprise, and a tone that rings true.
DEADLINE: Submit to the WriterAdvice Flash Memoir Contest by March 2, 2023. Early submissions strongly encouraged.
JUDGES will be selected from previous prizewinners. Their names will be announced soon and you can read their pieces by clicking on Archives.
PRIZES: First Place earns $150; Second Place earns $75; Third Place earns $40; Honorable Mentions will also be listed.
FOR BEST RESULTS:
- Include your name, contact information, and title in the cover letter, but include only your title in the submission so it remains anonymous.
- Since we judge these anonymously, you don’t need a cover letter that includes more than your contact information. If you are a finalist, we’ll ask for a bio.
- Please double-space your submission. We recommend that you use a 14-point font that is easy to read. Cambria, Ariel, and Verdana are all good. If you forget, we can fix it for you.
- You own the copyright. If we publish your work, the rights still belong to you.
- Simultaneous submissions accepted.
- We prefer unpublished work, though we accept stand-alone excerpts from memoirs seeking a publisher or agent.
- Be sure you’re sending us memoir—not fiction. Our next contest is for fiction.
SUBMISSIONS: All entries should be submitted through the Submittable link at the bottom of the page.
You may enter UP TO THREE stories. Each is a separate submission with a separate fee.
We accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Names of all winners will be announced on WriterAdvice, www.writeradvice.com in early April or—worst case —later.
Questions? Please use the Contact button. Submittable button and comments from previous contestants are at https://writeradvice.com/latest-contest-information/.
We want to share your stories about your publishing journey and your writing life here. Write to entertain, to enlighten, and to advise (but not preach). Write to share your gratitude, amazement, and disbelief.
Share the good, the bad, and the silly, but don’t share them all in one submission. Think of a blog post or a short-short story. No epics.
No fiction here. These are real-life stories ranging from 250 to 750 words. Less is more. Make your point clearly and move on.
Who knows what your experience might inspire?
New submissions will be added quarterly. Send through Submittable, <!-- Link to the Writer Advice submission manager. --->
<a target = _blank href="https://writeradvice.submittable.com/submit"><img src="//manager.submittable.com/Public/Images/submittable-submit-button.png" alt="submit" border="0" /></a>
$6 submission fee covers our time, possible editing, and the
decision-making process.
You get a credit for your resume plus a brief bio and the satisfaction of sharing your experience Sorry that we do not have the income to pay you at this time.