10th creative non-fiction and travel writing competition: A Book Led Me There.

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 Full details 

Intrepid Times is thrilled to announce our 10th creative non-fiction and travel writing competition: A Book Led Me There.

A good book can change your life; it can rewrite your personality, and it can send you packing your bags and heading to the airport. It could be a straightforward literary pilgrimage, like the many writers who sought out, for example, Paul Bowles in Morocco. Or it could be a subtler kind of inspiration; seeking the soul of Hemingway in Paris, or in pursuit of a certain feeling, depth, or sensibility, impelled by a writer who changed your experience of the world.

Like all Intrepid Times writing competitions, entry is free and open to authors from around the world. Writers looking to improve their craft and gain valuable insight into how their work is perceived by editors may wish to upgrade to an Assessed submission. Submissions are open until Sunday, August 31, and winners will be announced in October.

Essential info: The winning writer will receive a prize of $300 USD as well as publication on Intrepid Times. Up to four runners-up will also be selected for publication and paid our standard publication fee. Pieces must be original, factual, and not published elsewhere online. The maximum word count is 2000; pieces that exceed this limit will not be considered. Please see below for advice on how to maximize your chances of winning:

Please select your option to continue.

Free Entry

  • Submit one story only
  • Your story will be considered on its merits
  • You will only hear back from our editors if you get selected as a winner/runner-up. Winners are announced in October.
Register Now

Assessed Entry ($75)

  • Submit one story only
  • Your story will be considered on its merits
  • Receive guaranteed, detailed feedback from our editors, regardless of the competition outcome. In October, we will reach out with in-depth feedback on your story and personalised advice on how to improve and succeed as a writer.
  • Save $50 off our usual article assessment fee
Register Now

VIP Entry ($195)

  • Submit multiple stories
  • Each story will be considered on its merits
  • Receive guaranteed, detailed feedback from our editors, regardless of the competition outcome. In October, we will reach out with in-depth feedback on up to three stories with personalised advice on how to improve and succeed as a writer.
  • Coaching with our editors; Book a 30-60 minute call with our editors to talk about your writing, your goals, and receive advice on how to move forward and launch your career.
Register Now

This is our 10th writing competition – here are some tips on how to win it:

Having now become known as the home of some of the most popular and successful non-fiction and travel writing competitions online, we’ve reviewed many thousands of submissions and learned a thing or two about what makes winning stories stand out. Here are some tips to help you win:

Get to know the publication

“A Book Led Me There” is hosted by Intrepid Times, a narrative travel writing platform established in 2014. A serious participant in this competition should invest the time to become familiar with this publication. Read recent stories. Follow on Instagram and Facebook. Listen to the Travel Writing Podcast. Understand what this publication looks for in the stories we select, and you’ll have a better chance of creating one.

Write a unique piece; don’t try to bend an old story to fit the theme

It’s quite easy for an editor to tell when a recycled story has been shoe-horned to fit a theme it wasn’t written for in the first place. You may well have something on your desktop that’s an ideal match for this theme, but if you don’t, it’s best to avoid trying to retro-fit an old story to match this topic.

Ask for a second pair of eyes to proofread your story

We are not sticklers for perfect grammar and punctuation; we believe that the essence of a story is much more important than these surface details. This said, a story riddled with errors that make it hard to read can be off-putting. It’s notoriously hard to proofread your own work, so asking a trusted friend for an objective proofread is always advisable. If you don’t have someone to do this for you, try reading your story aloud; this will help you spot errors you may have otherwise missed.

 

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