CRAFT First Chapters Contest

The CRAFT First Chapters Contest for unpublished first chapter excerpts of book-length fiction, up to 5,000 words, is an occasional contest. Three winners are selected by a guest judge, with $2,800 and publication awarded.

Judges:

2019: Naomi Huffman
2021: Masie Cochran

Little Squirrel by Tim Hickey

February 21, 2020

But where exactly had it gone wrong this day? Probably when my brother-in-law-to-be, Ward DiBaptista, shouted at me to move the Tahoe so it wouldn’t rut the yard, or maybe just after that, when my fiancée’s entire family made…

Empire of Dirt by Jonathan Bohr Heinen

February 14, 2020

That morning, when they set out to follow the fence line that surrounded their property, Sarah Billard didn’t expect her daddy to stop at the southern section. She could hardly recall the last time seed had taken root there—all…