Welcome to another exciting year of award-winning writing.

OWL members may enter as many of the adult categories for a flat fee of only $15 ($16 by PayPal)! You MUST be a member to enter any OWL adult contest.

     • High School STUDENTS: $30 includes membership and contest entry fee.

Not a member yet? You are most welcome to join and submit your entry fee at the same time by check for $45 or $46 via the PayPal button.

Gratitude and Appreciation

First things first: We sincerely thank all our contest sponsors. Every category you see is here because a generous person or group donated the prize money. There would be no writing contests without YOU! Sponsors are listed with their categories.

What You Get for Your $15 Contest Entry Fee:

1. A chance at a cash prize!

2. You may enter as many categories as you like, making it much more affordable than others that charge you per category or include an expensive three-figure conference!

3. You get motivation to WRITE.

4. The categories and themes give you some guidance, so you're not staring clueless at a blank screen.

5. You can use your entries in other contests or submit for publication afterwards.

6. Since we are a regional group and not a national one, your odds of winning something are higher!

7. Winning any prize, even an honorable mention, empowers you to use the brag-worthy accolade of "award-winning author" and a credit to add to your portfolio.

How to pay the contest entry fee:

You may pay online or via check.

Online: Use our handy PayPal buttons. Please note: There is a $1 charge to cover the PayPal processing fees for the contest fee and another $1 charge for fees for the membership.

Membership + Contest Fee ($47.00)	Contest Fee only: ($16.00)
Student Membership +Contest Fee ($32.00)

Snail Mail Send $15 if you're a member, or $45 to include annual membership and contest fee ($30 for student membership plus entry) to:

OWL Treasurer
c/o Duke Pennell
12 W. Dickson St. #4455
Fayetteville, AR 72702

Please note: This address is ONLY for the contest/annual membership fee. Contest entries sent to this address will be discarded.

General Guidelines

• No gratuitous or graphic violence or sex. Let's keep it clean.

• Only one entry per category is allowed.

• You may only enter a manuscript in ONE category.

• EVERY piece needs a title, except haiku. If your haiku has no title, use the first line as the title for identification purposes.

• All entries must abide by the rules, including manuscript and submission expectations. Any deviation, such as a wrong font or font size, lack of a title, or missing author information, will result in disqualification of that piece.

• Physical entries (Best Book) must be sent to the contest coordinator. Contest entries mailed to the treasurer or anyone else in OWL will be disqualified.

• All entries, with the obvious exception of Best Published Book, must be UNPUBLISHED at the time of submission, and be the original work of the writer. (If your entry has appeared in any written form, such as in a blog, website [like Wattpad], or other electronic outlet, it is considered published and ineligible for entry in any OWL contest.)

• Best Fiction and Best Nonfiction Book of 2024 are just that. Any book with a publication date other than 2024 is disqualified.

• Both Best Book categories require an ISBN or they will be disqualified.

• Submit all entries except PRINT versions of Best Fiction Book or Best Nonfiction Book entry categories via email to "adult.writing@OzarksWritersLeague.com". Note the dot after the word "adult." See Special Exceptions for print categories.

• Payment of contest entry fee will be verified by the Contest Facilitator. No entry fee, no entry.

• Once published at the opening of the contest period, these rules are fixed and final.

• Improperly formatted manuscripts will be disqualified. You should know your word processor's settings. If you do not understand how to set your margins, change your font to the standard, add a header, or set the line spacing to double, look it up (on a YouTube tutorial, for instance) and get it right before submission.

• TITLE: Be sure to give your piece a title! First line can serve as the title for a haiku.

• WORD COUNT: Word limit means just what you'd expect: the number of words in your piece. The title does not count toward your word count.

• FILE TYPE: All files EXCEPT for Best Published Book (fiction or nonfiction) must be in some normal file type (like .rtf, .doc, .docx, or .docs).

• STANDARD FORMATTING: Use standard submission format and rules: Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced (except for poetry), and 1" margins.

• FIRST LINE: Put the contest ID and word count flush left on the first line. Example: N2 Memoir, 1200 words. Categories with no word count designation, such as haiku, poetry, and first page of a WIP, do not need a word count.

• HEADER: If your entry is more than 1 page long, you should have page numbers on the right.

• EBOOKS: Ebook entry for Best Published Fiction Book and/or Best Published Nonfiction Book must be attached to an email as either .PDF, .doc, .docx, .mobi or .epub formats. Full author information must be in the body of the email.

• FILE ATTACHMENTS: The attached submission file(s) must have NO author identification details, but each MUST have the contest identifier (like B1, S31) and a TITLE.

1. The BODY of your email must have FULL AUTHOR CONTACT Information and SUBMISSION INFORMATION. That means:
     • Name
     • Pseudonym, if applicable
     • Mailing Address
     • Phone
     • Email
     • Submission ID, title and word count where applicable

     EXAMPLES:
     • B1 – My Amazing First Page
     • N1 – Remembering Momma

YOUR FILES MUST INCLUDE THE TITLE IN THE FILENAME. Please label each file as follows: Contest Designation (like N1) – Title
     EXAMPLE filename: B1 – Best Book Ever Written

2. Suggestion for your sanity's sake: Put all your contest files into a folder on your computer and write the file names as follows: Contest ID, title. Example: "P1 – MountainPoem."

3. Email digital entries to "adult.writing@OzarksWritersLeague.com".

Special Rules: Best Book Categories

• MAIL your Best Book Award entries to the contest coordinator. We must have books by August 1.

Mail to:
     Linda Runnebaum
     821 6th Street
     Boonville, MO 65233

The Rest of the Fine Print:

• You must be an OWL member to enter the contest. If you're not, you may pay the $30 membership dues plus $15 contest entry fee for a total of $45 in order to participate. Your membership includes information-packed conferences plus other benefits.

• Neither OWL nor the Contest Coordinator is responsible for misdirected or lost entries. You will receive an email to confirm receipt.

• DISQUALIFICATION: Late entries or those breaking any rule are disqualified.

• No electronic entries will be returned, and all will be deleted after judging is final.

• Those entering Best Fiction and/or Best Nonfiction Book Award may have the book returned if a mailer AND sufficient postage is sent with the entry. Otherwise, they will be donated.

• Qualified judges will conduct blind judging.

• Judges and sponsors, if OWL members, may not enter the category they judge or sponsor, but may enter other categories.

• Even if we receive three or fewer entries in a category, those will still be judged and awarded prizes.

• First Place winners may not enter that manuscript in any future OWL writing contest.

NOTE: Unless otherwise indicated, prizes are a certificate of achievement plus 1st $50, 2nd $30, 3rd $20. Honorable Mentions, if granted, receive a certificate.

Questions?
First, read carefully. Everything you need is in here. Part of entering contests is reading and following the guidelines carefully.