contests

2026 SWG Fall Writing Contest

  • You must be a paid SWG Member to enter
  • Story can be any genre
  • Story must be no more than 500 words (Not including the title)
  • Story must include the words: Time, Sunset, Rhythm, Coffee, and Nervous
  • No AI
  • Prizes (1st $75, 2nd $50, 3rd $25, and Honorable Mention)
  • Do not put your name on the entry
  • Give your entry a title and email it as an attachment or in the body of the email and send it to SWGContests@gmail.com
  • Entries must be received no later than 11:59pm on October 31st
  • 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place Winners of the 2026 Summer Contest are not eligible to enter

contests

2026 SWG Summer Writing Contest

Write a story using exactly 100 words (No More No Less).
Make sure it has a beginning, middle, and end.
Title is not included in the word count.

1st Place – 150 Dissidents Outside Pyongyang by Mandie Hickenbottom Conner
2nd Place – Fashionably Late by Liz Verity
3rd Pace – Unbalanced by Harriet Ford
Honorable Mention – One Minute Early – Krystal Gregory

contests

2026 SWG Spring Writing Contest

A Message In A Bottle

Use the picture below to inspire your story.
Where did your character(s) find it? What’s inside?
And what happens after your character(s) discover what’s inside?

1st Place – Donna Mork Reed – Green Glass Memories
2nd Place – Oscar Nailer – Grandpa’s Medicine
3rd Place – Lynn Combs – Written In Time
Honorable Mention – Freda Roussell – First Date

Resource Tips

Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover?

cover4No matter who your audience is, you want them to be excited when they see the cover of your book.

While the old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is one all too oft repeated, we all know that we’ve been in a bookstore and picked up a book with an author and title we weren’t familiar with simply because the cover appealed to our senses in some way. That’s not to say that the heart of the matter isn’t what happens to be inside the book; I can just as easily recall how many times I’ve put down that same book with the interesting cover after scanning a few pages and deciding it wasn’t for me.

When you’ve completed a book that you’ve poured your heart, your soul, and countless hours into, it’s important that your piece physically reflects how beautiful of an accomplishment self-publishing can be. While the traditional means for designing a book cover happened to be very time-consuming and left a lot of authors underwhelmed with the result, luckily for today’s authors, we live in a digital age which makes designing a book cover more exciting and involved (especially for a self-publishing author)!

KELLY SCHUKNECHT, Executive Vice-President of Outskirts Press, has wonderful tips to share about designing the book cover that draws the reader in and helps for choosing the right cover that conveys the story of your book.
Read the entire article here.

Source: selfpublishingadvisor.com