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Writing Contest Entry Update

We’re less than a month away from the kickoff of our first annual summer writing contests.

Writers should NOT SUBMIT their work until the entry dates are open.

Each month focuses on a different writing art:

June=Poetry

July=Nonfiction

August=Fiction

Entry details and fees for each competition are listed below.

Annual Poetry Competition

Move us. Make us laugh or cry, smile or sigh.

The American First Magazine poetry competition is open to entries from June 1st-June 30th (Please do not send your entries until June 1st). We want your conservative and/or apolitical poems that draw emotion and offer a unique perspective. Cheesy rhymes might sound good in a rap battle, but digging deeper better suits this contest.

Everyone’s work will be judged based on:

Simultaneous submissions and previously published works are not permitted. We ask for First Rights to publish on our website and in the future print run.

  1. Structure – Haiku, sonnets, free verse and more: all will be accepted, but even with free verse offering a syllabic pattern builds a better poem.
  2. Style – Poetry has a special flow. Whether rhyming or not it carries a certain quality that sets it apart from other forms of art. The language is important, every word, every syllable matters and they all need to fit together to make the entire work count.
  3. Theme – The topic and the meaning are the heart of a poem. Literal internet poetry has diminished this art. Figurative language using simile and metaphor is much more effective, but needs to be gently worked in to balance a poem. It’s not easy and we are eager to give conservative and apolitical content the chance to earn awards as liberals take too many art forms literally.
  4. Creativity – Give us something new. Say the things that haven’t been said in the specific poetic way that only you can say it.

And what’s in it for YOU?

Prizes, of course

3rd place will get their entry fee back, a free American First Magazine Bookmark, and a winner’s certificate.

2nd place will get $10 prize money ($15 if you do a triple entry), a free American First Magazine bookmark, AND a winner’s certificate.

1st place will get $15 in prize money ($20 if you do a triple entry), a free American First Magazine bookmark, an American First Magazine coffee mug, AND a winner’s certificate.

All winners and honorable mentions will be featured in our first print edition early next year.

Please submit by paying your entry fee and then emailing your story (or stories) in JUNE to: americanfirstmagazine@gmail.com

We will reply with a confirmation of receipt of payment and entry (All unpaid entries will be disqualified)

Please put “Competition Entry” in the subject line and address it, “To the judges”.

Fees (yuck – we hate them but they fund the publication)

Single entry: $5

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/00gaG38J1cza3hm3cc

Double entry (2 stories per author): $8

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/eVag0n4sL2YA8BGeUV

Triple entry (3 stories per author): $10

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/5kAeWj2kDfLm8BG8wy

Paid Substack subscribers get up to 6 free entries. No more than 3 stories per author will be accepted through regular paid (non-subscriber) entries. Sure upping the odds is great but we don’t want to overdo it.

Annual Nonfiction Writing Competition

Creative (memoir-style) and Essay nonfiction gives writers the chance to offer their perspective through true stories.

The American First Magazine nonfiction writing competition is open to entries from July 1st – July 31st (Please, don’t submit for this contest until July 1st)Fees (yuck – we hate them but they fund the publication). Tell us about a specific life-changing experience, or fun family story up to 2,500 words.

Simultaneous submissions and previously published works are not permitted for the contest. We ask for First Rights to publish on our website and a potential anthology.

  1. Technical skills – Grammar, structure, and style
  2. Voice – How much of yourself comes through this piece?
  3. Topic – Even personal stories need an underlying theme. The heart of this story, why it’s significant, and how the author makes the reader connect to the subject are all important components of nonfiction.

Prizes:

3rd prize will get their entry fee back, a free critique of the winning piece, a free American First Magazine Bookmark, and a winner’s certificate.

2nd prize will get $10 prize money ($15 if you do a triple entry), a free critique of another nonfiction piece up to 3,000 words, a free American First Magazine bookmark, AND a winner’s certificate.

1st prize will get $15 in prize money ($20 if you do a triple entry), a free edit of a nonfiction story up to 3,000 words, a free American First Magazine bookmark, an American First Magazine coffee mug, AND a winner’s certificate.

All winners and honorable mentions are also entitled to bragging rights.

Submit by paying your entry fee and then emailing your story (or stories) in JULY to: americanfirstmagazine@gmail.com

We will reply with a confirmation of receipt of payment and entry (All unpaid entries will be disqualified).

Fees

Single entry: $5

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/00gaG38J1cza3hm3cc

Double entry (2 stories per author): $8

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/eVag0n4sL2YA8BGeUV

Triple entry (3 stories per author): $10

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/5kAeWj2kDfLm8BG8wy

Paid Substack subscribers get up to 6 free entries. No more than 3 stories per author will be accepted through regular paid (non-subscriber) entries. Sure upping the odds is great but we don’t want to overdo it.

Annual Fiction Writing Competition

The American First Fiction Competition is open to entries from August 1st – August 31st (For the love of EVERYTHING, please don’t submit for this contest until August haha). Genres don’t matter so long as the work comes from your imagination. Please use standard manuscript formatting and don’t go over 5,000 words.

Simultaneous submissions and previously published works are not permitted for the contest. We ask for First Rights to publish on our website and our first print run.

Everyone’s work will be judged based on:

  1. Technical skills – Grammar, structure, and style
  2. Originality – Is this the same old story or something fresh and new?
  3. Characterization – Make us fall in love with your characters, or hate them
  4. Worldbuilding – Was the story built and described in a world we can imagine?
  5. Plot- We need a solid beginning, middle, and end…or at least a climax if you’re playing with new structures to dazzle us.

Prizes:

3rd prize will get their entry fee back, a free critique of the winning piece, a free American First Magazine Bookmark, and a winner’s certificate.

2nd prize will get $10 prize money ($15 if you do a triple entry), a free critique of another nonfiction piece up to 3,000 words, a free American First Magazine bookmark, AND a winner’s certificate.

1st prize will get $15 in prize money ($20 if you do a triple entry), a free edit of a nonfiction story up to 6,000 words, a free American First Magazine bookmark, an American First Magazine coffee mug, AND a winner’s certificate.

All winners and honorable mentions are also entitled to bragging rights. Submit by paying your entry fee and then emailing your story (or stories), in August, to: americanfirstmagazine@gmail.com or americanfirstmagazine.proton.me

We will reply with a confirmation of receipt of payment and entry (All unpaid entries will be disqualified)

Fees

Single entry: $5

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/00gaG38J1cza3hm3cc

Double entry (2 stories per author): $8

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/eVag0n4sL2YA8BGeUV

Triple entry (3 stories per author): $10

Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/5kAeWj2kDfLm8BG8wy

Paid Substack subscribers get up to 6 free entries. No more than 3 stories per author will be accepted through regular paid (non-subscriber) entries. Sure upping the odds is great but we don’t want to overdo it.

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