Well, for those of you balking at the November Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) contest beginning in just four days, perhaps the Writer's Digest 5th Annual Short Story Competition is more to your liking. With a $3,000 first place prize and a goal of a completed short story of 1,500 words, there are a lot of reasons to consider entering. The deadline is Wednesday, December 1, 2004. (See the October 21, 2004 entry for my thoughts on NaNoWriMo.)
Writers Digest has been offering contests for many years. At one time they only had one annual contest with several categories. I remember submitting my first short story, Rosebud, to the competition and then having to wait for about six months to learn the results. When I received the October issue that contained the names of the top 100 writers, I quickly flipped to the contest's pages. That year the contest had more than 3,000 entries, and I was absolutely thrilled to see my name on that page. First short story, first contest. You just never know.
Writer's Digest 5th Annual Short Short Story Competition
www.writersdigest.com/contests
All manuscripts must be in English, original, unpublished and 1,500 words or less. There is a $12 entrance fee. All entries must be postmarked by December 1, 2004.
Prizes:
1st -- $3,000
2nd -- $1,500
3rd -- $500
4th to 10th -- $100
11th to 25th -- $50 gift certificate for Writer's Digest Books
Be sure and check the web page to read the complete rules and entry forms. When it comes to contest rules, my best advice is: don't deviate. Follow them exactly as written.
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