Here is a smattering of the many resources I have been using in my quest to become a published writer. Help yourself!
Events
Ilkley Literature Festival (My hometown’s local festival, October – probably not your hometown’s local festival, but look to see if you have one, they need love)
Liars’ League (Spoken word event, various venues)
Publications and Competitions – Short Stories
Liars’ League (Short stories up to 2,000 words; winners read by professional actors in front of an audience)
Mslexia (Short stories up to 3,000 words by female writers, every summer)
Metaphorosis (Short stories of 1,000-6,000 words, speculative fiction)
Open Pen (Short stories up to 4,000 words with ‘something to say’; mp3 recordings up to 10 minutes long)
Wasafiri (short stories of 4,000-6,000 words, for publication in the magazine; there is also an annual New Writing Prize)
Ilkley Literature Festival Competition (Currently on hiatus)
Writers and Artists Yearbook competition (Short stories up to 2,000 words, usually on an annual theme)
Street Cake Magazine (2-5 short stories up to 2,500 words each, ‘weird’)
Plus One Mag (Short stories, ‘edgy’)
Dark Mountain (Short stories up to 2,500 words for online publication, or up to 5,000 for the print editions, ‘environmentalism and the human condition’)
Fish Publishing (Short stories up to 5,000 words)
Grindstone Literary (Short stories up to 3,000 words, flash fiction up to 200 words)
Into the Void Magazine (Short stories up to 5,000 words)
The Moth (Short stories up to 5,000 words)
The White Review (Short stories over 1,500 words)
Aesthetica Magazine (Short stories up to 2,000 words)
Last Line (Write a <5,000 word story ending with a particular sentence. Or add it to an already written story. No-one’s looking…)
Neon Magazine (Surreal/speculative short stories up to 5,000 words – on hiatus)
L Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future (Science fiction stories up to 17,000 words)
Creative Future Competition (Short stories up to 2,000 words on a given theme, by underrepresented writers)
Publications and Competitions – Novels and Novellas
Mslexia (Unpublished novel/novella manuscript competition)
Grindstone Literary (Unpublished novel competition)
Bath Novel Award (Unpublished young person’s novel and adult novel competitions)
Publications and Competitions – Playscripts and Screenplays
BBC Writers’ Room (Plays and screenwriting)
Sources for More Competitions, Publications, Etc.
Duotrope (Database of publishers and agents, plus a submissions tracker; reasonable subscription cost)
Writers and Artists Yearbook (Ultimate guide to the year’s publishers, agents, competitions, and other writer-ish necessities)
MsLexia Indie Press Guide (Index of indie publishers and publications)
New Writing North, South, East Midlands (Regional sources of writing opportunities)
Writers’ HQ (So many competitions…)
Doing It Yourself – Publishing and Promoting
Tracey Iceton (Edited my novel, definitely recommend)
Kindle publisher (For when you can’t be arsed with publishers and agents)
Patreon (Some people’s fans want to give them money)
LinkedIn Advice (An informative post about how to make LinkedIn work for your writing career)
New Author Blogging (Blogging ideas)
Fiverr (Find good-quality cover design and other services at reasonable prices)
Reedsy (Cover designers and editors and marketers, oh my!)
Vocal+ (A place to publish your stories online, track views, and enter competitions – if you’re popular, maybe earn some money too)
WordPress (Good for making your author website! There you go WordPress, I promoted you, where’s my cheque…)
Other
Creative Future (Works with underrepresented writers, such as homeless people and those with disabilities, to help get their work out there)
How About a Submissions Tracker Spreadsheet?
Based on the one I use, with space to keep track of pending competitions, submissions, publishers/agents, completed works, and any contacts you make or resources you find…
Hannah Hoare 