Entry Fee | Cathy C. Hall Writes

When I sat down, my hair was wet. Now it’s dry. It’s not easy finding a good contest for those of us who write children’s stories. But perseverance paid off!

The Kay Snow Writing Contest, sponsored by the Willamette Writers, is looking for juvenile fiction (short stories), book excerpts, or an article, as long as it doesn’t go over 1500 words. Easy-weezy, right? Well-l-l-l, you only have till Aprill 23, 2009.

I know. I’m sorry to spring it on you like this ’cause there’s a fifteen dollar entry fee (unless you’re a Willamette Writer). That’s a bit of money that you want to spend wisely, right? So, check out the guidelines here and for heaven’s sakes, follow the guidelines carefully!

I have a story I want to send but it needs some spit and polish. And I intend to polish that fiction till it shines like, um, something really, really shiny.

Hmm. I better write better than that if I hope to win this contest.

I have a rule about trying one writing contest a month. Although, I don’t always find one that’s worthwhile. (Guess that “one contest a month” is technically not a rule, huh?)

BUT, here’s a contest that I think is worthwhile and reputable (even if they’ve gone and changed the name). It’s the 2009 Writers-Editors Network 26th Annual International Writing Competition (formerly CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition). Now you see why I didn’t put the whole title in the post title.

And if you think the name of the title is long, you should see the guidelines/info. So, I’m just going to give you the gist and you can go check out all the added whatnot here.

The contest has several categories I could enter, but what interests me the most is the children’s category. It’s technically called the Children’s Literature Division: Unpublished or self-published Short Story/Article/Book Chapter/Poem (all in one category).

The entry fee is $10.00 for non-members as long as the entry is under 3,000 words. That’s in my financial comfort zone. Now, I just need to decide whether to send my book chapter or a short story. Or I suppose I could send an article, too. As long as I send something in by March 15, 2009.

That’s just a few weeks away. I better start writing. And finish reading those guidelines. I have a rule about reading contest guidelines very carefully (and that’s one rule I do follow!).