The August 2025 edition of "Get Submitting" is a monthly hand-curated list of the top five contests, grants, scholarships, submission calls, and awards. We try to prioritize opportunities that are at least one of the following: open to all genres, local, free to apply, and/or committed to celebrating and supporting writers from historically marginalized communities. We do the research, so you have more time for what matters: the writing.

Contests & Awards

Summer Short Story Award for New Writers | The Master Review

Fee: $20; Award: $3,000; Deadline: September 7th

The Masters Review is looking for spectacular stories—up to 6,000 words, fiction or creative nonfiction. This year’s guest judge is Jennine Capó Crucet, a recipient of the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize and author of Say Hello to My Little Friend and other works. The contest runs from July 1 to September 7, 2025, and is open to any writer who has not published a novel or memoir with a major press. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

The Iowa Short Fiction Awards | The Iowa Workshop

Fee: $0; Award: Publication; Deadline: August 31st

The Iowa Short Fiction Award and the John Simmons Short Fiction Award are annual prizes awarded to two collections of stories. Writers who have yet to publish a book-length volume of fiction are eligible to apply, and winning manuscripts are published by The Iowa Press. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Residencies

Illustrated Children's Book Fellowship | Associates of the Boston Public Library

Fee: $0; Award: $25,000; Deadline: August 15th

The Associates of the Boston Public Library are providing an emerging writer of an illustrated book for children with the financial support and editorial assistance needed to complete one work for children. The fellowship is intended for an emerging writer passionate about becoming a children’s author. Visit the website for complete guidlines.

Call for Submissions

Submissions for Autumn Issue | Menace Magazine

Fee: $0; Award: Publication; Deadline: Rolling

GrubStreet Novel Generator graduates Sophia Carroll, Disha Trivedi, Michaella Sangiolo, and Stacia Sheputa have launched Menace, a magazine for the literary weird. They are calling for submissions for their Autumn issue. They publish work that encapsulates the dark, the transgressive, the gross—work that would be rejected from big literary magazines for being too genre. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Submissions for Oct 7th Event | Tell-All Boston

Fee: $0; Award: Selection for live reading; Deadline: September 5th

Tell-All Boston is Boston’s only live-on-stage literary reading series dedicated to the art and craft of memoir; brought to you and curated by the alumni of GrubStreet’s Memoir Incubator and Essay Incubator. They invite submissions for the October 7th event from emerging writers on the theme of Transgression. Visit the website for complete guidelines.