Writer Contests and Awards
Florida Book Awards
https://www.floridabookawards.org/
Established in 2006, the Florida Book Awards has grown to include awards in eleven categories of competition and is introducing a new Gold Medal for Poetry Chapbooks within the Poetry Category. Books may be submitted by authors, publishers, or members of the public in any of the eleven categories: Cooking, Florida Nonfiction, General Fiction, General Nonfiction, Older Children’s Literature, Poetry, Popular Fiction, Spanish Language, Visual Arts, Young Adult Literature and Young Children’s Literature. Descriptions of these categories and instructions for submitting nominations are available at www.floridabookawards.org/enter.
All books nominated in the next entry cycle must have a 2024 copyright date and an ISBN number. Authors must be full-time Florida residents, except in the Florida Nonfiction, Visual Arts and Cooking categories, where the subject matter must focus on Florida.
Florida Writers Association Awards
https://floridawriters.net/competitions-awards/
The Florida Writers Association, Inc. (FWA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization that supports the state’s established and emerging writers. Membership is open to the public and includes writers, poets, editors, publishers, and agents of all genres. YOU HAVE to BE A MEMBER TO PARTICIPATE in the awards
Royal Palm Literary Award (RPLA)
https://www.floridawriters.org/rpla
A prestigious writing competition for FWA adult members with 30+ categories.
Submissions open February 1 – April 30 (or until capacity is reached)
Limited to 4 entries per person
Published and unpublished works; fiction and nonfiction, short works and book-length, and poetry are welcome
Fee varies based on genre category and date of entry
The contest is exclusive to FWA members active through October 31, 2025
All entrants receive judges’ feedback
Dahris Clair Memorial Award
Awarded to FWA adult member
Recognizes the top-scoring entrant in the RPLA screenwriting genre
Florida Writers Association Collection
https://www.floridawriters.org/collection-books
A short story contest for FWA adult members.
60 entries are chosen for publication
A Person of Renown chooses the top ten stories to appear in the front of the book
Youth Royal Palm Literary Award
A prestigious writing competition for FWA youth members.
Categories are broken down by age
Published and unpublished entries are welcome
Candice Coghill Award>
Awarded to FWA youth member
Recognizes the top-scoring entrant in the Youth Royal Palm Literary Award competition
National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award (NERFA)
Sponsored by the First Coast Romance Writers
https://NERFA.FirstCoastRomanceWriters.com
The National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award began in 2012 and it celebrates published romance novels and novellas and is judged by romance readers. Winners are selected from three finalists in each category by bloggers, booksellers, and librarians.
Fill out the application, upload the PDF of your book published in 2024, select the Romance category that best fits your story and pay the small fee. You DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MEMBER to participate
Fee: $40 Digital. Add $5 to also enter Best First Book category.
PayPal is the only acceptable payment form and must be submitted using the PayPal button on the entry form. Payment must be received before March 31, 2025 at 7 pm (Eastern) to be accepted. Because the number of entries is capped, entrants are encouraged to make payments promptly.
Note from the Editor
This is a page in progress. If you would like to add another organization’s book awards for authors to participate in please let us know by contacting us ueing our CONTACT FORM.