First Page Challenge

Open now for fiction and nonfiction.

Last checked

The First Page Challenge is an annual Darling Axe writing contest for novelists accepting original first pages from fiction and narrative nonfiction writers.

Response time info: ~9 days; sourced from The Submission Grinder

Read the full guidelines at darlingaxe.com↗

Submission calls

fictionLiteraryEligibility requirementsCloses Sep 30$5 CAD; optional feedback costs an additional $45 CAD.Pays: First place: $700 CAD; second place: $200 CAD; third place: $100 CAD. Finalists receive publication on the Chopping Blog and complimentary access to a craft book.

Open to: Original, unpublished, unrepresented work

Annual contest for one-page, double-spaced, 12-point first pages from short stories or full-length manuscripts; original, unpublished, and unrepresented work only. Multiple submissions are accepted. Entry is $5 CAD, with optional $45 CAD feedback.

nonfictionLiteraryEligibility requirementsCloses Sep 30$5 CAD; optional feedback costs an additional $45 CAD.Pays: First place: $700 CAD; second place: $200 CAD; third place: $100 CAD. Finalists receive publication on the Chopping Blog and complimentary access to a craft book.

Open to: Original, unpublished, unrepresented work

Annual contest for one-page, double-spaced, 12-point first pages of narrative nonfiction; original, unpublished, and unrepresented work only. Multiple submissions are accepted. Entry is $5 CAD, with optional $45 CAD feedback.

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