You, yes, you!!! The girl (non-gendered) reading this! Submit your shit to awards!
You had stuff published this year, right? And it’s good, isn’t it? It has to be, an editor chose YOU from the slush and spent their time and money to show it to more people!
It’s the end of the year, so it’s time to get it in front of MORE PEOPLE to show them just how GOOD IT IS!!!
Awards!!!
“But I’m not–” Shut up! That’s not for you to decide! I’m sure we’ve all written something that we think is amazing, and it never sells, and something we’ve thought was doghsit and tons of people loved it. We are not good judges of how “”””””good”””””” our own writing is.
Since the end of the year is coming up, that means award stuff is, too! AC Wise [has this post with links to all the big genre awards][this is for 2026, so if I re-share this post in future years, I gotta update it], and there’s also stuff like the Pushcart and Best of the Net (which is already closed lol). Also the Cóyotls, if you’re writing furry stuff (but those noms start the following year so dw about it yet).
Each award has its own rules, but, generally, they consider anything that came out in a given year. Since I’m writing this in 2026, that means Jan 1 – Dec 31 2026. So anything that you put out this year probably qualifies!
(also I’m saying “story” a lot, but this also counts for poetry, too. And nonfiction, creative or otherwise.)
So put yourself out there!!!
You’ve probably seen some PLEASE! CONSIDER IT!!! posts on social media by now. You should do that, too! Use Canva or whatever to throw an image together. What’s the most important is the names of the works and how long they are (different places have different cut offs for short stories and novelettes and all that, so just say how many words they are, rounded to the nearest hundred)(unless they’re under 1K, then be exact). And then post this picture all over social media!
But you need people to READ your shit in order to think it’s good. You can’t put links in images (we have yet to invent the technology), and a bunch of links in a skeet is not really viable. And don’t just say “oh it’s in Clarkesworld totally, go find it yourself.” The harder it is for people to find something, the less likely they’ll do it! And we want this to be as easy as possible for people!
So make a page on your website (or carrd, or whatever)(this is the sign you need to make a website) that lists all of your shit this year, along with all the info that’s needed. Look at my topnav and you’ll see mine for this year. Feel free to straight up steal the format lol. The AC Wise post has links to a bunch of people’s posts, so look at those for inspo, too.
Make sure to include:
- Who published the thing first, and when
- How long the thing is, in words
- What genre(s) it is (sci fi, fantasy, horror, erotica, etc.)
- If it’s about a specific topic there are also awards for (queer stuff, furry stuff, disability, etc.)
- WHERE TO FIND IT!!!
Yes, this does mean that if something is behind a paywall (like purchasing a book), then it’s less likely to be read, and less likely to be nominated (especially if the publisher isn’t a super ginormous one). You can offer to email people the Word doc for the story, or work with your publisher about how to go about sending out eBooks.
It’s too late for this year, obvs, but, next year! If you got something that came out early in the year or behind a paywall, look for reprint opportunities that post stuff online for free. Audio podcasts like the Escape Artists Cinematic Universe (PodCastle/Escape Pod/PseudoPod/Cast of Wonders) and The Voice of Dog are great ways to get your story in a more accessible format, which makes it easier for people to read it and nominate you!
Your editor wants you to succeed because it’s good for them too!!!
It feels awesome to be nominated for an award, of course, but it’s also awesome to be the person that gave that story the chance and put it out there! Also some awards only let the editors send in the nominations!
So (POLITELY) reach out to your editor and say, hey! I want my super awesome story to be considered for this award! How can we make this happen!
Some awards limit how many pieces can be nominated per publication per year, so you may not be one of the six(?) that can be sent to the Pushcart. And that can suck, yeah! Putting yourself out there and getting turned down always sucks! You know that one quote, but fuck that guy because he’s gone full MAGA (despite being a Canadian???)(I live in a hockey household so I have learned too much hockey lore).
But there’s other things! Such as!!!
Year’s best anthologies are kind of an award, if you really think about it
If you already follow me on bsky, you’ve seen me yell about this! Well I’m doing it AGAIN!
A bunch of places and editors make “Year’s Best [whatever] of [whenever]” anthologies. The point of these is to collect really good examples of [whatever], from a bunch of different sources, and stick them in one volume.
There’s this weird second hand store where I live that sells marble and used toilets and broken crayons and they usually have these anthologies, but from the 80s and 90s. And they’re so fun to read, I get to recognize markets I still see today, and George RR Martin is there, too. All of the print magazines from back then are uber collectors’ items, so this is the only way you can even read some of these stories (legally) anymore.
So how do you get into these? You submit to them! Or your editor does. Like the actual awards, they (usually) have a qualification period for that specific year, and what even is a “short story” means something different for everyone, and etc. and etc. Always read the guidelines.
These are a little weird, cause you might get an A , even though you (or your editor) never sent it in, and if you do send it in, you’re almost never going to get an R. If they pay, it’s not a whole lot, but the point of these isn’t the money, but to get in front of more people.
If you feel awards are a popularity contest, then don’t you want to be more popular? Don’t you want more people reading your stuff and going “wow this guy is cool I’m gonna go follow them on bsky and see what else they have” ? This is why you NEED to have your website in your bio btw! So people can find you and see what else you have!
[I have info on all of the 2026 years bestses in the big spreadsheet]. Click the tab for the right sheet. If you’re not a furry, you are allowed to look at it.
But I only self published stuff?
Some places do consider these, including stuff first published behind the Patreon paywall. But you need to read the guidelines and check. But most don’t.
And, yeah, that sucks. These have been going on for so long that the norms were made well before “self publishing” as we knew it existed.
I didn’t publish anything this year 🙁
And that also sucks! All of this is a lot of stuff outside of your control. You can’t force an editor to publish you, and you can’t force a judge to nominate you.
But is there a writer or publication you know of (especially a newer or lesser known one) that you really like? Could you go to bat for them and tell people how awesome their stuff is? Honestly I’d be thrilled if some rando was telling everyone my stuff is awesome and should be considered for all the awards, and I imagine most other writers would feel the same way!
I never know how to introduce the endings to nonfiction things
Put yourself out there! Take the risk! Who knows what’ll happen!!! You don’t!!! And I sure as hell don’t!!
Also keep an eye out for the older anthologies in secondhand stores they’re really neat 🙂
