Believe in yourself. It’s good to understand you aren’t a Thoreau or Stephen King, but isn’t it worth the price of a Starbuck’s coffee to learn how good you really are? The sheer fun of it is worth that much!
I began contesting several years ago, and the first one I entered was huge. I didn’t know that at the time, but when I learned II took honorable mention over 16,000 other entries in the Writer’s Digest Contest, I almost fainted. But just think… I almost won… not because my writing was so good, but because my story was unique and it had a good angle.
A big dose of morphine couldn’t have made me any higher. Here I am years later, and I’m still riding that wave. It was well worth the money to have that marvelous experience.
Contest Tips and Tricks:
• First and foremost, follow the guidelines or your entry will be disqualified.
• Enter contests that have small fees, as they have less competition than free contests. If you’re a beginner, don’t enter a contest that charges more than $10. Why? Because you’re getting into professional contesting at that point.
• What you should expect to pay: Creative Writing Institute’s contest is only $5, but fees vary. Contests that give cash prizes must charge a modest fee to subsidize the awards.
• Winning the lottery is much akin to winning a writing contest. Against all odds, even when you think you don’t have a chance, you might win! The results of one CWI contest showed a point spread of three points between first and third place! Wow! Really close. Don’t cheat yourself out of this great learning experience.
• As you search for contests, beware of scams. Some places will ask for a high entry fee, and virtually all of the entrants will receive a letter telling them they have won. When the “winner” replies, the scammer will want another $20 for a biography, and later they’ll ask for more money to enter for the grand prize. The so called “winners” are told their work will appear in an anthology (collection of short stories or poetry), but of course, the organization will prod them to sell anthologies to family and friends. A little common sense goes a long way in this kind of thing.
• There are only three kinds of fees that you should consider: (1) Entry fee, (2) reading fee, and (3) critique fee, if you want the judge’s feedback [well worth the money]. Choose the contest that best suits you and go for it! Just search “writing contests” and you’ll find more than you can enter. They usually run in the spring and fall, so get brave. Gamble the price of one cup of coffee, if only for the sheer fun of it. It’s a great experience.
Check our guidelines and enter before August 31, 2017, midnight, EST. This is the kind of contest where you really have a chance. Hey – don’t forget to click “like” before you go – top right corner!
Welcome to Creative Writing Institute’s annual short story contest. This is going to be our biggest and best contest yet. In a small fee-based contest like this, the competition is much less and your chances of winning are much greater. Our fee is the price of a Starbuck’s cup of coffee and it helps subsidize our nonprofit charity contest, so invest in us, and at the same time invest in yourself. More about Translation Agencies UK
Publication: we will publish the first, second and third place winners, two honorable mentions, and ten additional Judge’s Pick stories in our fifth annual anthology, along with best-selling guest authors and stories written by Creative Writing Institute’s staff. Enjoy the competition. Join the fun!
Judge’s Pick: you may be asking what a “Judge’s Pick” story is. That is a story that impressed a judge so much that he/she nominated it for publication, even though it was not a winning entry. A very high commendation for the author.
We would like to express our gratitude to Microsoft and TechSoup for donating a Norton AntiVirus Package for five computers, valid for one year. *The Norton Package will only open in the USA.
eMedals: You will love the classy eMedals. Make them any size you want. Post them on your site and on social media! Keep it forever.
