Best in Rural Writing Contest

Submissions are now open to the inaugural Best in Rural Writing Contest.

The contest is open to everyone in the world. The work must be original and unpublished. Shortlisted authors must be willing to have their work appear in the 2023 Best in Rural Writing eBook (first digital rights). After publication, all rights revert back to the author.

Submissions should, in some way, be connected to “the rural.” The manner and extent to which this is done is open to the author and not necessarily limited to rural characters or rural topics.

Ten shortlisted entries (5 fiction and 5 nonfiction submissions) will be selected by the judge after the contest deadline. These entries will be published in the 2023 Best in Rural Writing eBook. Afterwards, the judge will select the best short story and best essay. Each author will receive $100.

Finally, a small panel, as well as the audience, will vote to crown which piece is the Best in Rural Writing. Panel members include the judge, an anonymous author, a representative from The Milk House, and a representative from AcresUSA. The audience vote will count for 1/5 of the decision. The overall winner of the Best in Rural Writing Contest will receive an additional $100 (for a total of $200). The winner will be announced late 2023.

We are keen to encourage quality submissions, 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.