2 More Writing Contests

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Monthly TWITTER Writing Contest

Scribendi.com is hosting a writing contest. The first day of every
month at 11 AM, we will announce the topic. Entrants must write a
140-character-or-less tweet, mention @Scribendi_Inc, and summarize the
topic. The contest closes the last day of the month at 11 AM.
Summarize This! promotes concise and precise writing skills in a
fresh, fun way http://www.scribendi.com/summarize_this

Prizes range from free editing to Scribendi.com swap

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Neil Postman Award
Rolling Deadline. Although primarily known as an educationist and a media critic,
Neil Postman was, at his core, a “noticer”—and he particularly noticed what we do
with metaphor and how metaphor shapes and creates our cognitive world.

Postman maintained that words (and words, in truth, are metaphors) are
as much the driver of reality as they are the vehicle. Consequently,
metaphor was not a subject to be relegated and limited to high school
poetry units wherein a teacher drones on about the difference between
“like” and “as” and considers the job finished. For Postman, the study
of metaphor was unending and metaphors were as crucial as they were
omnipresent; they served to give form to and dictate experience. In
honor and remembrance of Neil Postman, who died on Oct 5, 2003, we
have established the Neil Postman Award for Metaphor. The motivation
for the award is simple and two-fold: To reward a given writer for his
or her use of metaphor, and to celebrate (and hopefully propagate)
Postman’s work and the typographical mind. Each spring the editors
will choose one poem from all of the submissions received by Rattle
during the previous year.

The author of the chosen poem will receive $ 500.

There are no entry fees or special submission guidelines. Send
up to 5 unpublished poems plus a self-addressed & stamped envelope
(SASE) to: Rattle, 12411 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA 91604.
To browse previous winners, and for information on how to submit
electronically, visit: http://www.rattle.com/poetry/prize/about/

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Pingates

 

Writing Contest by Family Circle Magazine

Limit 2,500 words of short fiction for this Family Circle Magazine Writing Contest.

Deadline September 7, 2012.  No Entry Fee!

Must be unpublished and never have won a prize. Limit two entries per person. Must be 21 or older and a legal resident of the US. Grand prize may be published in Family Circle.

• One Grand Prize winner will receive a prize package including $750, a gift certificate to one mediabistro.com course of his or her choice, one year mediabistro.com AvantGuild membership valued at $55, and a one year mediabistro.com How-to Video membership valued at $99.
• One Second Place winner will receive $250, a one year mediabistro.com AvantGuild membership, and a one year mediabistro.com How-to Video membership.
• One Third Place winner will receive $250 and a one year mediabistro.com AvantGuild membership.

http://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/fiction/fiction-contest-rules-2012/
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Upcoming Writings Contests: Essay, Short Story, Fiction & Poetry

Contests are a great way to get your name out and upon receiving a prize to add this to your books blurbs. However, always contact the organization (in writing) to find out about the rights you would give away when submitting in case they don’t describe it in their submission guidelines.


Short Grain Writing Contest

Deadline April 1, 2012.
Three prizes will be awarded in each category:
1st Prize: $1,000
2nd Prize: $750
3rd Prize: $500

Poetry: (to a max of 100 lines) Poetry of any style including Prose Poem up to 100 lines.
Fiction: (to a max of 2,500 words) Short fiction in any form including Post Card Story, to a maximum of 2,500 words. The basic fee for Canadian entrants is $35 for a maximum of two entries in one category. The fee for US and International entrants is $40, payable in US funds.
http://www.grainmagazine.ca/contest.html

Tiferet Annual Writing Contest

Deadline June 1, 2012.
$400 for the best poetry submission
$400 for the best short story
$400 for the best essay or interview

We look for high-quality creative work that expresses spiritual experiences and/or promotes tolerance. Our mission is to help raise individual and global consciousness, and we publish writing from a variety of religious and spiritual traditions. One poem per page. Limit 20 pages for prose. $20 Entry fee
http://tiferet.submishmash.com/submit

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Great American Short Fiction Contest

In its nearly three centuries of existence, The Saturday Evening Post has published short fiction by a who’s who of American authors including:  F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Louis L’Amour, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Now you have the opportunity to join that illustrious line-up by taking part in the 1st Annual Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest.

The winning writer will receive a payment of $500 and published  in the Jan/Feb 2013 edition of the magazine and on their website.
Five runners-up will be on the Saturday Evening Post website. and receive payment of $100 each.

Entries must be character- or plot-driven stories in any genre of fiction that falls within the Post’s broad range of interest—one guided by the publication’s mission: Celebrating America, Past, Present, and Future. “We are looking for stories with universal appeal touching on shared experiences and themes that will resonate with readers from diverse backgrounds and experience,” says Joan SerVaas, publisher of The Saturday Evening Post.

Stories must be submitted by the author, previously unpublished (excluding personal websites and blogs), and 1,500-5,000 words in length. All stories must be submitted via the following form and should be in Microsoft Word format with the author’s name, address, telephone number, and email address on the first page. There is a $10 entry fee, which you can pay via credit card below. Deadline for entry is July 1, 2012.

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/fiction-contest

 

 

SAGE Magazine Environmental Writing Contest 2012

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  Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

SAGE MAGAZINE is looking for new ideas and perspectives on the environment. Open to all non-professional writers, Sage’s first annual young environmental writers contest seeks previously unpublished works of art that deal with nature, the environment, sustainable living and natural resource issues.

Send in essays, short stories, memoirs, graphic novels, sky-writing – all forms of environmental writing accepted (including excerpts from longer works).

Winners and finalists will be published online and, when possible, in our annual print publication. A panel of professional environmental journalists will preside over final selection.

First Prize will win $500, Second Prize $300, Third Prize $200.

All entries due by April 20th, 2012, at midnight, Eastern Standard Time.

All Finalists will be published online or in our annual print publication

http://sagemagazine.org/?p=2160 for details and submission guidelines.

 

 

Writing Contests: Read the Fine Print

 

Is it really worth to participate in Writing Contests?  For every offer I read, hear or get in person I always ask myself “who benefits?” and so I study always the “fine print”.  Here is an essay contest as example:

“An Essay Contest, 6 Winners Get Manuscript Critiques:
Pick one of the following stories from Book Wish Foundation’s new book, What You Wish For, and write an essay of no more than 500 words about how the wishes in the story relate to the Darfur refugees in eastern Chad. The stories were contributed for free by their authors so we could use the book’s proceeds to develop libraries in Darfur refugee camps. Essays will be judged on style, creativity, understanding of the story, and understanding of the refugees. (1)

If you win, either the story’s author or the author’s literary agent will provide a one-page critique of the first 50 pages of a middle grade or young adult manuscript of your choosing. You will have six months to submit your manuscript and the agent or author will have six months from submission to provide the critique. Stories you may write about:

• “The Protectionist,” by Meg Cabot.
• “Pearl’s Fateful Wish,” by Jeanne DuPrau.
• “Nell,” by Karen Hesse.
• “The Lost Art of Letter Writing,” by Ann M. Martin.
• “The Rules for Wishing,” by Francisco X. Stork..
• “The Stepsister,” by Cynthia Voigt.

You may submit essays about more than one story for a chance to win more than one critique (2). Essays and winners’ manuscripts must be written in English.  To Enter:
Essays must be emailed to contest at …. no later than February 1, 2012, either pasted into the body of the email or attached as a Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, or PDF file. Essays must include the name and email address of the entrant. Book Wish Foundation staff will judge the initial round of the contest and recommend finalists to the agents or authors, who will select the winners. Winners will be notified by email and announced on bookwish.org on or about March 1, 2012. Winners’ manuscripts must be received by September 1, 2012. Manuscript critiques will be sent to winners within six months of receipt.

Essays may be published on bookwish.org (3). By submitting an essay, you grant to Book Wish Foundation the right to edit, publish, copy, display, and otherwise use your essay, and to further use your name, likeness, and biographical information in advertising and promotional materials, without further compensation or permission (4), except where prohibited by law. The preceding applies to the contest essays, not winners’ manuscripts. Winners retain all rights to the manuscripts they submit for critique.(5)”

My conclusions when reading this “offer”:
(1)     To understand the story and to understand refugee camps you will have to BUY the book, it is not easily available in libraries or bookstores.

(2)     If you really want a good chance to win, you might have to write several essays – this way “donating” all your essays that will not be considered a winner.

(3)     Essays may be published on bookwish.org. You can look at it as a donation or a way to get your name out (also bookwish.org is not a popular website per se) but it is not given that you have a link to your authors website.

(4)     You give them permission to alter, publish, copy the essay and use your name in ads and PR WITHOUT COMPENSATION.

(5)     Only winners retain all rights to their manuscript – also it does not specify if they are compensated in any way other then the critique.

A really clever roguish PR trick to get free content - for the agency – not for the authors.  What is really in for you as an author?  Or am I too critical?  Do you partizipate in writing contests, no matter how benefitial it is for the other party and no matter if they profit from your writing without compensatingyou?

 

 

Author, Beware of these Paragraphs

Writing Contest Antique Typewriter

 

Even though you find frequently information about writing contests on this blog:
Before you enter any competitions / writing contests carefully read their terms before signing up and submitting your manuscript. I just stumpled over these paragraphs in one of the contests when I was about to add to my blog:

Competition entries and material submitted in connection with any competition (whether written, audio, electronic or visual form, or a combination of those) or any photographs, video and/or film footage and/or audio recording taken of competitors are assigned to …… upon submission and become the property of ….company……. which may use the material in any medium in any reasonable manner it sees fit. Copyright in any such material remains the sole property of ……company…………. All such entries and material remain the property of ……company………….. (subject to the limits contained in the Privacy Statement).  Each entrant warrants that he or she owns the copyright and any other intellectual property rights in any such material submitted in connection with any competition and has full power and authority to agree to and grant the above assignment, consents and other rights to ……………

Doesn’t it sound they can publish and make money with your manuscript???  Even though this can be challenged in legal procedures, avoid any headache from the beginning or ask for clarification in writing before you sign up.

If you know of any other terms in contests or author’s contracts – please feel free to send a guest blog in order to help all authors “to beware”.

 

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