Contest! | Cathy C. Hall Writes

I’m ending 2009 with a great way to start 2010: The Highlights Fiction Contest!

With three (Yes, three!) prizes worth $1,000 each (Yes, $1,000!) AND no entry fee, it’s crazy not to give this contest a try. Which is why every year, between January 1 and 31st, I write a story and send it to the folks at Highlights.

I haven’t won this contest yet, but the stories I’ve written for the Highlights Fiction Contest have won in other children’s fiction contests. So, technically, that’s a win, right? Which is why I’m starting my year, thinking about family stories (the theme for this year’s contest). As the saying goes, I’ve got a million of ’em.

I just have to clean them up a bit for the kiddies!

(Find all the details here, and read EVERYTHING! Including a couple of issues of Highlights Magazine for Kids!)

I like to participate in contests. It ties in nicely with my need for immediate gratification. Not that I always win. But at least I find out the contest results in a semi-timely manner. (When you freelance, sending out articles and stories that float around for MONTHS, sometimes YEARS, immediate gratification becomes an issue.)

The Abilene Writers Guild sponsors an annual contest with a very reasonable entry fee ($5.00 for shorts, $10.00 for novel entries) and lots of categories. But the one that will interest readers here at F & K is the “Children’s Stories for readers ages 3 to 8.” You have 1,000 words to wow the judges (though you may not need that many at all) and postmark that brilliant entry by November 30th.

And you might have another story hanging about that would be pefect for other categories. So, go to their site here or peruse abilenewritersguild.org for other interesting writing bits you’ll want to keep.

Oh, and by the end of March, you’ll know whether you won or not. Which is a lot better than waiting a year, right?