The Quills Awards are open to League of Utah Writers members who have published a book in the past year

Winners announced at the Quills Conference Awards Ceremony
August 12, 2023

Welcome to the Quills Awards Writing Contest 2023 as hosted by the League of Utah Writers!

Entry Fee

$40 per entry. Each submission may be entered in one category only.

Rules and Guidelines

Submission period begins March 13th and closes May 12th.

Must be a member of the League of Utah Writers. Note: At contest close, submissions will be verified for member eligibility at contest close. If membership will have lapsed or will be lapsed by September 2023, the submitter will be prompted to renew their membership. If a week goes by without their membership being renewed, the submission will be denied without their entry fee being refunded.

Publishing Date of submitted work must be between May 2022 - May 12 2023. For traditionally published works, if an ARC is available prior to the submission deadline with a release date before July 31, 2023, the work is eligible.

All forms of publication are welcome - indie, traditional, etc - as long as it's in its final form and available to audiences.

Previous winning works are ineligible to be entered again.

2023 Categories

Novel (40k+ words)
Novella/Novelette (10k-40k words)
Middle Grade (up to 50k words)
Young Adult (40k+ words)
Collections. This category is open to editors who edited an anthology and single author collections. Authors who submitted a short to an anthology collection, please submit your short story to the Typewriters.
Graphic Novels -- minimum of 50 pages
Nonfiction (all types) (25k+ words)

Gold Quill, Silver Quill, and Bronze Quill awards are given in each category.

The Diamond Quill Award is given to the highest score among all entries.

Categories may also include Recommended Read awards in the event of close scores.

Restrictions and Judging

A text may only be entered into one category.

Multiple entries are accepted from a single author, but each book can only be entered once.

Judges are anonymous professionals from outside the League of Utah Writers.

Judges will know the author's name since it is impossible to redact names or other identifying information.

In no way does the League of Utah Writers share your personal information with any third party. Any information of such a nature is only for use in contacting the submitter or allowing Reviewr to identify your account, should you need assistance.

Award winners will be announced at the Quills Awards during the Quills Conference. Please make sure your submission via Reviewr provides a valid MAILING ADDRESS, along with your email address. You do not need to be present at the awards ceremony to win. If you are not present and you place in a category, we will mail you your award, but can only do so with a valid mailing address.

Submission

Entries can only be accepted electronically via Reviewr.

Formats Accepted: PDF, MS-Word.

Please include your cover for marketing purposes should your piece place.

File will be deleted at the conclusion of judging.

Final Notes

Contacting a judge, editor, or agent regarding the contest (before, during, and after) will result in the contestant being disqualified from future participation in any hosted contests by The League.

Violation of the rules will result in a non-judged piece and forfeiture of entry fees.

Categories may be combined if there are insufficient entries.