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Contests for entries between September 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023
BIOGRAPHICAL NONFICTION CONTEST
A biographical entry must be a true story of an individual(s) known to the author personally--not a fictional or historical character. Autobiography, of course, must be a true story about the author's life, the whole or an episode.
Biographical stories, especially those from older people, or about them by children and grandchildren, are especially appropriate for our mission--to "preserve the extraordinary stories of 'ordinary' people."
Stories posted after September 1, 2022, and not entered in a previous contest can be entered.
RULES FOR THE 2023 CONTESTS
- This year there are four nonfiction story contests with cash prizes. These are open to all. Entry and closing dates are below. There is also a contest for previous winners.
- Stories must be between 1000--5,000 words in length.
- There are no international limitations. Stories from any country are fine, although they must be written in English.
- Language in the stories should be free of words or scenes not suitable for children, since many children read the stories and some actually post their stories.
- Be sure your stories are ready for publication. We do not provide copy editing services. If your stories aren't ready to go up on the site, please don't send them until they are.
- A short author's introduction to the beginning of each story is nice, but optional. A brief biography of the author at the end with writing credits and city and country is required. This helps us determine if you are truly an "unpublished writer."
- Just to be clear, we claim no rights to your stories. They are published with your name as copyright holder. However, since our object is to preserve these stories for future generations, not to put them up one year and take them down the next, all contest entries will be posted on our web site and we expect winners and finalists to remain on the site for as long as the Preservation Foundation exists. We will, however, have no objection to the stories being published elsewhere. If you anticipate submitting your story to a publisher that would object to previous publication on our site do not send it. Contact us if you need further clarification.
- Stories may be submitted as text in the body of an Email or as electronic text files such as Word or Open Office. PDF files will not work for us. No paper manuscripts will be considered.
- See How to submit a story
- Click here to read a warning from our lawyer about the use of copyright material. You must read it fully and attest that you have done so when you submit your story and/or photo. Once you have read this you may decide it is better to let us provide a photo for your story or for the story to be posted without one.
- No story may be entered in more than one contest.
- Stories entered in any of our previous contests will not be eligible for current year contests.
- A writer may enter one or two stories in each contest. There are no entry fees.
- For all contests there will be one prize of $200 for the winner, $100 for the runner-up, and certificates of achievement for all finalists.
- First prize winners in previous contests are not eligible for prizes in current contests. However, there is a separate contest for them, the Winners Circle contest (see below). We hope this will encourage newer writers and increase their chances of winning.
Questions/submissions: preserve@storyhouse.org
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