2024 Writing Contest Overview

The 2024 Writing Contest is open for entries!

The contest submission window is from February 19 – June 30, 2024. The entry form is here.

The entry fee is $35 per entry and includes a copy of the 2024 SFWC Writing Contest Anthology that will feature the winning work.

Entries must fit into one of the following categories:
– Adult Fiction
– Adult Nonfiction (including business and memoir)
– Kidlit (includes Picture/Children’s/Middle Grade/YA Books)
– Poetry

Entries may have been self-published or not-yet-published but not traditionally published. Entries can be up to 1500 words in length (or less, but not more) and should be the first 1500 words of a novel or book, an essay, article, novella, short story, novelette, etc. For Poetry entries, you may submit up to three poems at a time in one document, as long as their total COMBINED word count is at 1500 or less. They will be judged individually.

Grand Prize: A registration to the 2025 San Francisco Writers Conference.*

Four Category Winners will receive a 2025 Summit Registration of their choice or an equivalent discount to the main conference.**

Winners and finalists in each category receive publication of their entry in the 2024 SFWC Writing Contest Anthology. Finalists can, and should, proudly mention their award in query letters to agents and publishers…and on the covers of their books! They will also be acknowledged on the SFWC website and at the 2025 conference.

All entrants will receive a copy of the 2024 SFWC Writing Contest Anthology. Entries with a U.S. mailing address will receive a print copy. Entries with international mailing addresses will receive the ebook version. The anthology will also be available for purchase through traditional booksellers. See the 2021, 2022, or 2023 SFWC Writing Contest Anthologies for a sample.

You must use the contest registration form on this website to upload your entry/entries and pay. It’s easy!

All fees and entries must be received by midnight Pacific Time on June 30th, 2024.

Finalists and Winners will be announced on the website and in our Newsletter no later than Sept. 30th, 2024.

Questions? Problems? Contact the Contest Coordinator at Contest@SFwriters.org.

*This Grand Prize registration to the 2025 San Francisco Writers Conference includes full registration to the main conference (main sessions, keynotes, social events, etc.). It does not include hotel accommodations, transportation, personal expenses/meals, or any conference add-ons. It has no redeemable cash value.

**This Category Winner registration to one of the 2025 San Francisco Writers Conference Summits includes a full registration to your choice of our one-day Summits at the conference or an equivalent discount to the full conference. It does not include hotel accommodations, transportation, personal expenses/meals, or any conference add-ons. It has no redeemable cash value.

***Presenters and staff who received any form of compensation from the 2024 conference, apart from lunch provided to regular volunteers, are not eligible to enter. As judging is blind, we don’t exclude regular uncompensated volunteers or family members.