WNBA Writing Contest

The WNBA Writing Contest will return in the fall 2021!

Prizes

Each category will have one first-place winner who will

receive $250 cash

be published immediately on the WNBA’s website and in the special contest edition of the WNBA Bookwoman Newsletter

be published in an anthology with past WNBA Writing Contest winners

Each category will also have a second place and third place award winners.

How to Enter

All entries must be submitted online through Submittable.

All entry fees must be paid at the time of submission. Fees are non-refundable.

You can enter more than one time, and in multiple categories, but each submission requires a separate submission application and fee.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable.
- If your work is accepted elsewhere, please inform Andrea Auten, the contest chair, at contest [at] wnba-books.org.

The contest uses an anonymous review system, so don’t include your name, address, or contact information on your work. This information will be collected when you fill out the submissions form.

For prose entries, please include a word count at the top of your piece.

Submission Format

All entries must be formatted on 8 1/2 x 11 or A4 paper.

All prose manuscripts must be double-spaced in 12-pt Times New Roman font.

All prose manuscripts must have a word count at the top of the piece.

For Flash Prose, please include the genre (Creative Nonfiction or Fiction) at the top of the piece.

We recognize that poetry often calls for its own particular formatting. When in doubt, use 12-pt Times New Roman font.

Submissions should be in one of the following document formats:
- .docx (Word 2007–present)
- .doc (Word 2003 or earlier)
- .rtf (Rich Text Format)
- .pdf (PDF)

Fees

WNBA members: $15 per submission

Nonmembers: $20 per submission

Each entry requires a separate submission application and fee.

Eligibility

The contest is open to everyone ages 18 years or older.

The contest is open to all WNBA members AND nonmembers.

To receive the WNBA member discount, you must be a member in good standing. Join or renew now!

You must own the copyright to the work you submit.

Submissions must be written in English. International submissions are welcome if the author is able to accept the winning prize in US dollars.

You can submit previously published work as long as publisher allows for reprinting/redistributing of work. If your work as published elsewhere, please inform Andrea Auten, the contest chair, at contest [at] wnba-books.org.

All contest submissions will be reviewed by the 2020 WNBA Writing Contest administrators for compliance with the these rules. Every submission is subject to disqualification based on violations of these rules.

How to Prevent Disqualification

You must be a member of the WNBA to submit using the member discount.
- If you are unsure if your membership is current, contact your chapter or the national membership chair Beth Frerking at nationalmembership [at] wnba-books.org.
- The 2020/2021 membership year began on June 1, 2020.

Don’t go over the word limit.

Don’t submit materials that could be deemed libelous or slanderous.

Don’t submit materials that support harmful or derogatory ideas or language (e.g., racist, sexist, xenophobic, or anti-LGBTQ).

Submissions must not violate copyrights, privacy rights, trademarks, or trade names.

Don’t plagiarize. All work must be your own work and can’t include any pieces of another’s work, including poetry, song lyrics, character names, and so forth without express written consent.

Contestant’s Rights and Consent

By submitting, you are agreeing to all contest rules.

By submitting, you are agreeing that all decisions made by the judges are final.

You retain the copyright to your work.

When you enter the contest, you consent to the WNBA using or sharing your name, address, email address, and other details for WNBA Writing Contest administration and promotional purposes.

Any data you provide shall be used only in a manner consistent with the consent given by submitters at the time of entry and with these rules.

When you enter the contest, you consent to receiving email marketing from the WNBA. You may unsubscribe at any time.

By accepting a prize, winners consent to the WNBA’s use of their name, image, biographical information, and winning entry for promotional purposes, including, but not limited to, posting winners’ names on the WNBA website, in a winners list, in email newsletters, in press releases, and on social media, without additional compensation.

Winners grant the WNBA the right to modify, edit, correct, reproduce, distribute, and publish the submitted work on the WNBA’s website, in emailed newsletters, on social media, and in the WNBA Writing Contest anthology. Winners will be credited at all times.

Winners agree that no royalties or any other payment or remuneration is due in connection with publication of their work.

WNBA Writing Contest Chair

Andrea Auten (WNBA-LA) is the 2020 WNBA Writing Contest chair.

Andrea is a faculty member and a writing specialist at Antioch University Los Angeles. She is also an alum from Antioch’s MFA program. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Lady/Liberty/Lit, Lunch Ticket, and is forthcoming in Made in LA’s third anthology.

She was a recipient of the Eloise Klein Healy Academic Scholarship and the Marylyn Ross Rockefeller and James S. Rockefeller Jr. Writing Scholarship.

Andrea also works for The Nasiona Nonfiction Organization, as the Marketing and Communications Manager, and as a contributing writer for TLA Magazine. A member of the DWG Writers’ Group, she is currently working on a novel.

Andrea lives in Los Angeles with her husband, sons, and beloved writing partner, Dusky, the family cat.

You can contact Andrea at contest [at] wnba-books.org.