Further reading
Guides for the work between deadlines.
The calendar tells you what is open. These books — chosen for writers who actually enter — cover how a judge reads, how a story is scored, and how a short piece earns a prize.
Success in writing competitions — who went on from a prize, how to improve your odds, and how to use this calendar.
How to Win Writing Competitions (and Make Money)
Cathy Bryant · Paperback
A no-nonsense guide from the founder of Comps and Calls, who has won prizes for poems, flash and short fiction — including cash, a trip to Italy, and a hamper for a hundred-word story. Bryant explains how to choose contests, shape an entry, and turn a win into the next one.
How to Win Short Story Competitions
Dave Haslett and Geoff Nelder · Paperback
Two competition judges talk, in Q&A form, about what they score, what they skip, and how a story is disqualified. The second edition adds a contents page, an index, and two prize-winning stories, so you can see the advice applied.
How to write Flash Fiction to win Competitions: 100 Proof
Sally Dickson · Kindle
The 100 Proof edition of Dickson’s flash guide, written after years of running the Farnham Flash Fiction Competition. It concentrates on what a 500-word story has to do on a first reading: land an idea, hold a judge, and leave a mark.
How to write Flash Fiction: To win Competitions
Sally Dickson · Kindle
A working notebook from a judge who has read more than a thousand flash entries. Ideas, time, editing, and feedback — the practical side of getting a short piece out of the drawer and onto a shortlist.
How to Write a Short Story That Wins a Writing Contest
Nancy Sakaduski · Kindle
A concise craft book from the organiser of the Rehoboth Beach Short Story Contest. Theme, conflict, character, dialogue, structure and the last polish — plus how to format a manuscript so a judge can actually read it.
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