Formerly the “Novel Opening Contest,” the First Thousand Words Contest has the same specs as it has since 2019.

Submit the first 1,000 words of your published book (self-help, erotica, mystery, romance, fantasy, memoir, you name it!) as a PDF to compete for who of your contest cohort has the strongest opening. From compelling moral arguments to thrilling action sequences to spicy romantic encounters, we’re looking for writing that pulls you in from the first few pages.

Entries should be in PDF format and only contain the ISBN of the published book and the first thousand words of that book. Your book must be in active sales status on at least one platform (not “out of stock,” “out of print,” or “unavailable”).

Entries must be in English and should not contain any extraneous material such as author contact information, illustrations, or photographs.

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.