Fiction Writing Challenge

Invitation to Join the Summer Fiction Challenges, Offering Attractive Prizes

Create fiction stories, join competitions, earn income, and gain new readers

Photo by **Anastasiya Vragova** from **Pexels**

Update for Vocal contests

Invitation and Guidance on Entering the Biggest Fiction Contest by Vocal

Why and how to join the Vocal+ fiction contest offering $125,000 in prizes

medium.com

Introduction and Context

Living in a comfort zone does not help us thrive. To go above and beyond, we need to step out of this useless zone and operate in a stretch zone. Motivation does not happen by itself, we create it with our deliberate actions.

ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications supports over 10,500 writers on Medium. Around 3,000 of these writers write fiction stories and publish them in my publications. I am excited and delighted with the vitality brought by our contributing writers.

I created a fiction club allowing writers to collaborate. I also established a publication publishing book chapters from fiction authors. We have now around 100 fiction books published on ILLUMINATION Book Chapters. And we have SYNERGY bringing freelance writers and allowing them to share their stories.

I regularly interact with fiction writers through my publications. I understand that writing fiction is not a trivial task. These authors face many challenges. Marketing fiction is a challenge for many writers. And selling fiction is one of the hardest tasks. The completion is fierce. And worst of all, unfortunately, fiction is undervalued in society.

Writing fiction is fun for the author but more fun for the reader. I love fiction writers who skillfully take me to the fantasy world that they design beautifully.

Fiction is an excellent communication tool. I am an avid consumer of fiction but occasionally use this genre to convey important and sensitive societal matters as I did in this story.

I have a strong affinity for fiction writers. These accomplished writers invest hours of time and effort to create remarkable stories. However, they don’t get the value of their efforts.

Life brings us many challenges but also offers opportunities if we can become aware of them. There are and will always be opportunities. I actively search for opportunities and qualify them for potential benefits for our contributing writers.

In this economic climate, writers need more income to survive and thrive. However, just creating and publishing is not enough for thriving. We need to create visibility by collaborating with others, engaging with their content, and participating in community activities. We are tribal creatures. We perform better with the support of our communities.

Writers need to think and act like entrepreneurs. There is no reason not to be a creator and business owner at the same time. I introduced some practical ways on how to triple your writing income in this story.

Repurposing content is a compelling economic construct for freelance writers. Unfortunately, some platforms restrict writers to be exclusive, and they don’t allow writers to own copyright. I don’t write for those restrictive platforms. I came across a few of them through my WritingPayChecks membership and declined their constrained offers.

The good news is that there are several platforms allowing content repurposing. The three prime examples are Medium, Vocal Media, and NewsBreak.

These three platforms do not restrict writers to be exclusive to their platforms. This means that you are in control of your content. For example, if you post an article to Medium, you can also post the same content to Vocal Media. The immediate benefit is you can earn income from reading times of your stories from both platforms.

Even better, Medium, Vocal Media, and NewsBreak allow you to keep the copyright of your content so that you can repurpose it in any platform and different formats such as podcasts, blogs, books, videos, and newsletters.

I have been writing for Vocal Media since November 2020. I introduced my progress after writing six stories and participating in some communities. Even though Vocal pays for stories, my primary purpose is not to earn money but to meet new collaborators. I shared my thoughts, and plans in this story called Vocal Is Not Just For Money.

So far, I published over 70 stories and made many friends from various communities of Vocal. My favourite is the 01 technical community. Several Vocal writers share their stories on my Quora space for Vocal Writers. You are all welcome to join and share your Vocal stories in this space. I also created a LinkedIn Group for Vocal writers for collaboration.

I love writing for Vocal because they never censor my content, always publish on time, and respond to my queries on time. They even allowed me to publish chapters of my recent book, which brought me new readers. I will continue repurposing my Medium and NewsBreak stories that can reach a new audience.

In addition, similar to Medium, Vocal Media allows using affiliate links. These links can bring you additional income as I explained in my recent book. All you need to do is declare your affiliate links as you do for your stories on Medium.

Apart from blogging and meaningfully sharing in social media, one of the best ways to promote my Vocal stories is using a Flipboard Magazine. I add my Vocal stories and share the link in my newsletters and blogs. It is simple and effective.

After this background, in this story, I want to introduce new opportunities available for fiction writers. This specific one is created by Vocal Media.

If you are a fiction writer, this opportunity can be ideal for you.

Why participate in writing challenges

There are five compelling reasons.

The first one is earning prizes. Just from a single 600-word story, you have a chance of making $5,000, $1,000, or $500 if your story is selected. There is even a chance you may earn more than one competition.

The second reason is motivation. Monetary value and the spirit of community participation encourages writers to be more creative and prolific.

The third reason is that even if your story does not earn a prize, you can still get it published and earn regular income from the reading times at Medium and Vocal Media. You can also repurpose your material in your blogs, other platforms and even create a book. As you may know, any reader on the Internet qualifies as reading time on Vocal. Readers are not required to be members. On Medium, your stories earn income from reading times of members.

The fourth reason is reaching out to a new audience and increasing the number of your readers.

And the fifth reason is personal satisfaction. You complete a task and your brain rewards you with dopamine. As a result, your motivation and self-confidence can increase. Writing is a therapeutic activity. Communities can motivate and empower writers.

I hope these compelling reasons resonate with you.

In this post, I introduce you to the SFS (Summer Fiction Series) initiative offered by Vocal Media. These challenges include substantial prizes.

How to Join Eight Great Challenges

Vocal Media offers eight writing competitions for fiction writers.

Let me introduce each competition by providing where the inspiration of the challenge come from, duration, deadlines, and prizes.

If you are interested, you can add them to your calendar and writing plan.

Challenge 1: Old Barn

The first challenge is inspired by Charlotte’s Web.

You can create a fiction story set in a run-down barn.

Duration is one week.

You have limited time for this around 40 hours, if you hurry by submitting a fiction story that you may have now you can be qualified for this challenge. If you miss this one don’t worry. There are seven more challenges with longer deadlines.

Dates: Between July 7 and 13, 2021

Grand prize: $5,000

Second prize: $1,000

Third prize: $500

SFS 1: Old Barn challenge. Grand prize: $5,000

This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each…

vocal.media

Challenge 2: Death By Chocolate

This challenge is inspired by Matilda.

You can create a fiction story that includes a piece of chocolate cake.

Duration three weeks. You have 8 days left.

Dates: Between July 2 and 27, 2021.

Grand prize: $5,000

Second prize: $1,000

Third prize: $500

SFS 2: Death By Chocolate challenge. Grand prize: $5,000

This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each…

vocal.media

Challenge 3: Brown Paper Box

This challenge is inspired by Phantom Tollbooth.

You can create a fiction story that includes a suspicious package wrapped in brown paper.

Duration three weeks. You have 15 days left.

Dates: Between July 2 and August 10, 2021.

Grand prize: $5,000

Second prize: $1,000

Third prize: $500

SFS 3: Brown Paper Box challenge. Grand prize: $5,000

This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each…

vocal.media

Challenge 4: Golden Summer

This challenge is inspired by Bluest Eye.

You can create a fiction story that includes a marigold flower.

Duration four weeks. You have 22 days left.

Dates: Between July 7 and August 03, 2021.

Grand prize: $5,000

Second prize: $1,000

Third prize: $500

SFS 4: Golden Summer challenge. Grand prize: $5,000

This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each…

vocal.media

Challenge 5: Raging Bull

This challenge is inspired by The Sun Also Rises.

You can create a fiction story that includes a bull.

Duration five weeks. You have 29 days left.

Dates: Between July 7 and August 10, 2021.

Grand prize: $5,000

Second prize: $1,000

Third prize: $500

SFS 5: Raging Bull challenge. Grand prize: $5,000

This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each…

vocal.media

Challenge 6: The Green Light

This challenge is inspired by The Great Gatsby.

You can create a fiction story that includes a green light.

Duration six weeks. You have 36 days left.

Dates: Between July 7 and August 17, 2021.

Grand prize: $5,000

Second prize: $1,000

Third prize: $500

SFS 6: Green Light challenge. Grand prize: $5,000

This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each…

vocal.media

Challenge 7: Long Thaw

This challenge is inspired by The Catcher in the Rye.

You can create a fiction story that includes a frozen pond.

Duration seven weeks. You have 43 days left.

Dates: Between July 7 and August 24, 2021.

Grand prize: $5,000

Second prize: $1,000

Third prize: $500

SFS 7: Long Thaw challenge. Grand prize: $5,000

This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each…

vocal.media

Challenge 8: Pear Tree

This challenge is inspired by Their Eyes Were Watching God.

You can create a fiction story that includes a pear tree.

Duration eight weeks. You have 50 days left.

Dates: Between July 7 and August 31, 2021.

Grand prize: $5,000

Second prize: $1,000

Third prize: $500

SFS 8: Pear Tree challenge. Grand prize: $5,000

This series is comprised of eight short fiction Challenges ranging in length from one week to eight weeks long. Each…

vocal.media

All Vocal Media challenges can be accessed at this link.

Competition Terms and Conditions

There are four conditions to participate and benefit from these competitions.

These four rules, apart from Vocal+ membership, also apply to publishing your stories on Vocal Media. You don’t need to be Vocal+ member to write for Vocal but you need it to participate in challenges.

Prerequisite 1 — You need to be a Vocal+ member.

You can join Vocal as a creator using this link.

Prerequisite 2 — For your stories to be eligible, they must be between 600 and 2,000 words and comply with Community Guidelines.

Vocal publishing guidelines are very similar to Medium.

In a nutshell, no hate speech, no plagiarism, no copyright images, no porn, no explicit nudity, no graphic violence, no terrorism, no self-harm or glorification of suicide, no sexual solicitation, and no child exploitation.

Prerequisite 3 — There is an age requirement. The minimum age required is 13 to write for Vocal and participate in challenges.

Prerequisite 4 — You also need be residing in a country where Stripe is available. You can connect your Vocal+ account to stripe as you do on Medium.

Stripe currently covers 44 countries.

Image screen capture from Stripe website

Conclusions

I highly recommend all our fiction writers participate in these challenges.

There are many tangible and intangible benefits to be gained from participating in these challenges. Apart from apparent monetary value, you can also enhance your writing portfolio, repurpose your content, increase your readers and improve your self-confidence.

As a bonus, I will create a special section in my publications and promote the fiction stories you write as part of this challenge. I will provide the details in another post shortly.

In addition, you can compile your fiction stories in a manuscript and create a book of around 30,000 words and self-publish them. I provided guidance in this article: How To Create A 30,000 Words E-book In A Month: Practical steps to produce a manuscript with 1,000-words a day.

When you repurpose your fiction stories on Medium, you can make them part of our 100-day writing challenge. So we can turn this single opportunity into multiple opportunities.

You have nothing to lose but a lot to gain in joining writing challenges. I am here to support you. You can contact me on the Slack workspace directly. If you don’t have access to Slack, you can send a request on this weblink.

And I know 70 editors of my publications will also support you. So please contact me and our editors on our Slack workspace and join our Fiction Club. You can also share your story links and other promotional materials free of charge in channels followed by 8,200 members.

If you are not a writer for Vocal Media yet, you can apply using this link.

I am not a regular fiction writer. However, to support and encourage you, I will submit at least one fiction piece to one of these challenges. As you may appreciate, leaders must walk their talk 😉.

I wish you the best in your writing career. Furthermore, I hope you win one of these prizes.

Please leave a comment if you have questions or require further clarification.

Thank you for reading my perspectives.

Please note that this story includes affiliate links.

Special Invitation

I want to send my special invitation to published book authors contributing ILLUMINATION Book Chapters.

I know these authors are accomplished and received fantastic feedback from our discerning readers. I firmly believe that they can gain substantial benefits from these fiction competitions. Their books are remarkably impressive and enjoyed by many fiction readers. In no particular order:

I look forward to reading your fiction stories on Medium and Vocal.

As sample, I share some of my stories on Vocal.

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