⏳ Weekly Writing Contest | September 28: Secret in the Pages
This week's guest judge is author and historian Anna Beer. Submit your entry by Friday, October 3rd at 12pm ET/5pm BST.
Welcome to the Weekly Writers’ Hour Contest!
This week’s challenge invites you to slip a secret between the lines.
*PS* Applications for 🪶The Manuscript Accelerator, our 10-week virtual residency for writers who want to finish their manuscript in 2025, close on Oct 1. Learn more.
PROMPT
Secret in the Pages: Describe a secret tucked inside a book. Perhaps it’s a letter slipped inside a library book, a confession scribbled in pencil, or a truth disguised as fiction. Write in the genre of your choosing.
Unpublished pieces of 500 words or less in any genre are eligible.
Submissions are due by Friday, October 3rd, at 5pm BST / 12pm ET.
Keep reading for more information on prizes and FAQs – plus an introduction to this week’s guest judge, author Anna Beer, whose latest book, Death of an Englishman, is out now.
Happy writing!
The Writers’ Hour Magazine Team
Meet Our Guest Judge: Anna Beer
Anna Beer a cultural historian, biographer, and debut novelist. She is author of Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music and Patriot or Traitor: The Life and Death of Sir Walter Ralegh, as well as biographies of Bess Throckmorton, William Shakespeare and John Milton. Her book Eve Bites Back offers an alternative history of English literature. She is a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford. Her novel, Death of an Englishman: An Oxford Mystery, is out now.
A Note from Our Editorial Team
As you approach this week’s prompt, you might start by free-writing about the book itself. Capture its cover, its smell, the hands that have held it. Then let the secret appear. Is it a note slipped between pages, a marginal scribble, a character’s unspoken truth, or something else entirely? Think, too, about who hides the secret and who discovers it. What changes when it’s found?
How to Submit:
Submissions should be made through our online submission platform, Submittable, and formatted as a Word Doc.
For more details, please read the full Contest Guidelines.
The winning entries will receive:
First Prize:
$65 USD (£50 GBP)
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
3-months of London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership (£79 value)
Commemorative Writers’ Hour trophy mug
Second Prize:
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
1-month of London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership (£29 value)
Third Prize:
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
FAQs:
What genres can I write in?
All genres - fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc - are welcome.Is there a word limit?
Your piece must be 500 words or less. Pieces that exceed this will not be considered. There is no minimum word limit.Do I need to submit in a specific format?
Please follow the instructions outlined in the Contest Guidelines.When is the deadline to submit?
Submissions are due by Friday, October 3rd at 5pm BST / 12pm ET / 9am PT. Submissions received outside this window will not be considered.When will the winner be announced?
The winner will be contacted via Submittable, and the winning entries will be published in Writers’ Hour Magazine by Saturday, October 25th.Can I submit a piece I’ve already published?
Only previously unpublished pieces are eligible for this contest. (Published means anything that has already been made publicly available in print or online.)Can I use AI tools (like ChatGPT) to help write my contest submission?
No. We do not accept any AI-assisted writing for contest entries. All submissions must be the author’s original work and human-generated. Use of AI will disqualify you from this and any future contests.
PS: ✍️ Write with us daily at Writers’ Hour
Come work on your submission at Writers’ Hour—our daily silent writing sprints—where writers around the world gather together to write. It’s the perfect environment to focus, share space with other writers, and make progress on your contest entry.
Plus, on Tuesday September 30, we’re hosting a 🎯 FREE October Goal Setting workshop to help you get clear on your writing goals and make a plan for the month ahead. 👉 Register to reserve your spot.
🔒 Paid Subscriber Perk: Editorial Feedback Lottery
This week, three paid subscribers will be chosen at random to receive personalized feedback from our editorial team on their contest submission.
How to enter the feedback lottery: