WRITING CONTESTS
BEGINNER • INTERMEDIATE • PROFESSIONAL
Congratulations to the 2025 First Impressions Finalists!
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The Genesis Contest
The Genesis Contest is the ACFW contest for unpublished Christian fiction writers. Genesis has a number of categories/genres to enter, the opportunity for unbiased feedback on writers' work by published authors and experienced judges, and the chance for the category finalists to have their work read by Christian publishing house editors and literary agents. ACFW has been pleased to see many previous category winners and finalists move further in their writing careers to become published authors.
The 2026 contest opens January 2, 2026.
Click the "Full Details" button for more information about this contest.
The Carol Awards
The Carol Awards are ACFW's recognition for the best Christian fiction published by traditional publishing houses or independently published in the previous calendar year.
The 2026 contest opens January 2, 2026.
Click the "Full Details" button for more information about the Carol Awards.
First Impressions Contest
FIRST IMPRESSIONS gives unpublished writers the opportunity to have the first five pages of their Christian fiction manuscript evaluated by an industry professional.
The 2025 First Impressions Contest is now open. Entry deadline is October 15, 2025 at 4pm central time.
