Category Archives: Contests

Feb 1 2012

Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award

Thanks so much to Sonya Weiss, an inspiring blogger and fellow writer, who sent me this wonderful award. First, I had to learn to spell it. Is the suffix ibly or ably?

Then, I had to drool on the picture. (Don’t worry, I wiped the image clean.)

Strawberry shortcake, Irresistibly sweet awardNext, I must tell you seven random facts about me, things you never realized you wanted to know.

  1. I love, love, love, strawberries and cream. (That’s why the picture got droolie.)
  2. I love, love, love, writing in bed. (Sounds, kinky, I know. I’m typing in bed right now.) Something about having a nice warm quilt around me as I sit criss-cross applesauce helps the words flow faster.
  3. One of my first jobs was as a hotel maid. I lasted two weeks. Someone told me I would get tips, and I believed them. (Gullible me.) No amount of tips will make up for that kind of work. No love, love, love, here.
  4. I love, love, love, swimming. I once fell asleep in a swimming pool, underwater, breathing with a snorkel. Impossible? No. The story is true.
  5. I love, love, love, baseball. Once, when my hubby and I were at a RiverCats game, one of my students was interviewed on the big screen and won a prize. The next day, I told him, “Jimmy, I saw you at the game.” He said, “Let me know if you ever want to sit in our box seats with us, Mrs. Pitner.” Suh-weet!
  6. When my children were little, I worked at home for a designer, sewing tropical skirts and camisoles. I used to love, love, love, sewing, but that experience, with crushing deadlines and massive amounts of work, took some of the joy away.
  7. My first labor was a total of one and one half hours long. Don’t be angry at me. The next two weren’t nearly as breezy. In fact, during my last labor, I came to understand how women die in childbirth. I had an emergency c-section, and told my husband, “No more kids for you, buddy!” To which he fervently agreed. I love, love, love, that guy.

Thanks again to the irresistibly sweet Sonya Weiss for giving me this award. Here are my nominations of ten more fabulous bloggers.

LouCinda McGary, Jansen Schmidt, Cathy C. Hall, Jennifer Anderson, Dawn Montgomery, Julie Glover, Julie Anne Lindsey, Bridgette Booth, VB Tremper, and kenziekay. Congratulations all of you! You brighten my days.

Rules for the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award:

  • Post 7 random facts about yourself.
  • Pass the award on to 10 more wonderful bloggers.

See you on Wednesday and Sundays for my #ROW80 updates!

Jan 20 2012

Let’s Celebrate! Fascination Award 2011 Nomination

Every now and then we bloggers get some great news. I was pleasantly surprised to find an email earlier this week saying I had been nominated for the Fascination Award 2011 for teacher blogs. A blog is nominated when it shows interesting content and a sense of community evidenced by comments and conversations.

Obviously, I couldn’t have done this without you wonderful readers and commenters. You’re what makes this blogging gig fun! Thank you!

Let’s celebrate the good news! I want to share the wealth. Let’s get this party started with someParty balloons with a smiley face. door prizes! Here are the prizes you could win:

I’m giving gift certificates to two people who comment on this blog between now and January 27, 2012, just to say thank you.

Because you rock!

Here’s how to enter:
  • Leave a comment on this blog between January 20, 2012 and January 27, 2012. You’ll be entered to win one of two celebration prizes:
    1. $50 gift certificate from Restaurant.com. (Just in time for Valentine’s Day!)
    2. $10 gift certificate from Amazon.com. (It’s always time for a good book.)
  • Earn one extra entry into the drawing! In your comment, share the link where you tweeted about this or posted it to G+, Facebook, or your own blog.
  • Subscribe to follow my blog by RSS or email for another extra entry into the drawing!
  • I’ll announce the winners here on the blog the weekend of the 28th.

It’s my way of saying thank you, fabulous readers, followers, commenters, and friends! You make this blog fantastic!

The Fascination Awards allow readers to vote for their favorite blogs. The voting is going on between January 21 and January 26, 2012. If you’d like to take a minute to cast a vote for the TeacherWriter blog, that would be exceptionally awesome. If not, that’s okay, I’ll still welcome you when you come to visit. Here’s where to vote or click on the logo below.

FascinationVote-For-Me-Emblem

If it seems as if I’m using far too many exclamation points in this post, you’re right. I am. Because I’m really, really, really, excited. For all my readers, followers, commenters, and friends, have some virtual chocolate hugs and kisses!

Chocolate kisses

Image by ppdigital via Morguefile.com

Jan 19 2012

NAESP Children’s Book of the Year Contest 2012

Entry Fee: $45

Deadline: March 1, 2012

Guidelines: NAESP Foundation

This is a contest I first blogged about last year, and I feel it’s good enough to mention again this year. The competition highlights talented unpublished writers of children’s books. It’s judged by Charlesbridge Publishing and the National Association of Elementary School Principals Foundation. An endorsement by them will go far for your writing reputation.

Last year, they received 1,000 entries. The deadline this year is stated as March 1, 2012 on the website, which is an extension from the deadline listed in the application packet.

You may submit picture books or chapter books. Entries are only by snail mail with their entry form that you can print off the website. Winners will receive a publishing contract and will be announced March 23, 2012 at the NAESP 2012 Annual Convention in Seattle. The entry form is a bit confusing, so it might be worth a phone call or email to clear up any questions you have when you look at it.

Take a bit of time now to polish up that manuscript and send it in. Additional entries have a reduced rate of $25, so if you have more than one manuscript ready, go for it.

Charlesbridge Publishing is well known for publishing quality books for children and teachers. They run interesting contests for kids. One of my students once finaled in a dragon drawing contest they sponsored and received a nice book and certificate as a prize. Be sure to stop by their site and get a feel for the house style.

Happy writing!

Dec 5 2011

Second Wind Publishing Short Story Contest

Entry fee: FREE

Deadline: December 31, 2011

Guidelines: Second Wind Publishing

Second Wind Publishing is running this contest to fill an anthology. If you dream of being published, this may be the chance for you. The contest ends December 31, and they hope to have the book ready for publication and on sale by April 2012. That’s a fast turnaround.

The thing that makes this contest different from others, is they are posting the contest entries online right now. You can read the entries from other writers. The bad news is, once it’s been published on their blog, you’ve given up first electronic rights. That will limit the places you’ll be able to sell your work if it doesn’t win the contest.

That being said, if you’re still interested, head on over and check out the guidelines and the other entries.

Happy writing!

Nov 22 2011

Christmas Chillers Writing Contest 2011

Entry Fee: Still just 5 pounds

Deadline: December 31, 2011

Guidelines: Christmas Chillers website

Can you write a Christmas story that will send chills down your readers’ spines? You know I don’t mean from the cold. I mean from the macabre.

As you can tell from the title of the contest, the tale doesn’t take the warm, fuzzy route. Have fun with this twist on Christmas with a scary holiday story in 1,200 words.

According to the website, many stories don’t make the final cut because of basic problems. Too many spelling or grammar errors, not having a good opening, or not following directions are mentioned. So be sure to read the rules, send in your best work, and have the best of luck in this contest.

You might want to bookmark the site. They have quarterly writing challenges, so if you don’t have time to get into this one, you might want to try the next.

Happy writing!

Nov 15 2011

WOW! Women on Writing Fall 2011 Contest

Entry Fee: $10.00

Deadline: November 30, 2011

Guidelines: WOW! Women on Writing

If you want to get noticed by an editor of a publishing house, the WOW! Women on Writing quarterly contests are one way to do it. They are judged by editors, agents, and seasoned writers. The contests are friendly and fun, and still are able to be professional.

Read the WOW! website, and you’ll get a feel for the quirky, upbeat, and fun, (yes, I used the “f” word again) atmosphere. The same writing style goes over well with the contests. But don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just an easy does it contest. The competition is quite fierce, as the site has a fabulous reputation among female writers.

This contest has an open prompt, which means you can write about any topic you love in any genre, keeping it between 250 and 750 words. The $10 entry fee pays for the awards and the tons of swag that go to the winners. Best of all, WOW! is eager to promote the winners on their website with interviews and pictures.

Happy writing!

Nov 8 2011

$780 Prizes in Writers’ Village Story Contest Winter 2011

Fee: $15 for two entries

Deadline: December 31, 2011

Guidelines: Writers’ Village

I love to get notes telling me about contests. This one came in to my email box at Suite101 and it looks like a interesting one. As their website states, “Every entrant wins because…everyone, winner or not, gets back personal tips.”

Here are the details from the email.

Prizes totalling $780 can be won for short fiction in any genre in the winter 2011 round of the Writers’ Village ‘Best Writing’ award. The top award is $400 (£250), with a $155 (£100) second prize and third prize of $75 (£50) plus five runner-up prizes of $30 (£20).

All entrants, winners or not, gain a helpful critique of their story – a feature thought to be unique among low-fee writing contests.

Winners will be awarded the title ‘Winner, the Writers’ Village Best Writing winter 2011 Award’ and see their work showcased online.

Any genre of prose fiction may be submitted up to 3000 words, except playscripts and poetry. Entries are welcomed world-wide. The fee is $15 (£10) for two entries and multiple entries are permitted. Deadline is 31st December 2011. Entry rules plus all winning stories since 2009 can be found at the Writers’ Village website.

Happy writing!

 

Nov 1 2011

Seventeen Magazine Fiction Contest

Entry Fee: Free, but you must register at the Figment website

Deadline: December 31, 2011

Guidelines: Seventeen Magazine Official Rules

This is for all you younger friends. Seventeen Magazine and Figment.com are offering this creative writing contest for young women between the ages of 13 and 21. Figment is a fun-looking online writer’s community where you can post your work and get noticed. Think Riley Carney, and you’ve got an idea of what Figment is all about. Youthful, fun, engaging.

Just write a story longer than 500 words, (but not the same as the dreaded 1000 word essay you do in English class.) It must be completely new and never been published. If you use real people in your story, disguise them well. Don’t leave any clue to the true identities of the characters in your story.

Readers of the stories may vote on their favorites, but the final judging by the official judges comes down to this criteria:

  • 34% writing ability
  • 33% originality
  • 33% creativity

Guess What You Win?

The first place winner receives a cool $5,000, publication of her story on the Seventeen Magazine website, and a call from Maggie Stiefvater. Who is this Maggie Stiefvater person, you ask? Only the amazing author of Shiver, Linger, The Books of Faerie, and The Scorpio Races. Check out Maggie’s awesome website.

Important Stuff from the Seventeen Magazine Official Rules

To enter the Promotion you must submit one (1) original fiction story (the “Submission”). You will write the Submission on Figment.com and click on “Publish Now”. On the “Details” page, put “seventeenmag” in “Tags.” Limit of one (1) Submission per person during the Promotion Entry Period.

Okay, now, why are you still here? Get cracking on that story! This isn’t like a homework assignment you put off till the night before it’s due. This is the big time, friend. Go wow the judges with your inspiring wit and word flair.

Happy writing!

Oct 24 2011

Ghost Story Writing Contest

Entry Fee: Free

Deadline: November 18, 2011

Guidelines: Glass Woman Prize

Okay, so you started your Halloween ghost story late, and now you’ve missed the deadline for entries. Never fear! The Glass Woman Prize has a ghost story contest that’s accepting entries until November 18, 2011. There is a $100 cash prize and it’s open to women writing in English. (Sorry, guys.)

What’s the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you? I could tell you some spine tinglers about my second apartment. Never mind, maybe I’ll write a story for the contest, too.

Happy writing!

Oct 12 2011

The First Line Literary Journal, Winter 2011

“It had been a long year.”

This is the first line of the story you’re going to write and submit. What about the long year? What made it long? Why? What was really happening? Write well and surprise the editors with your originality, and you may see your story in print.

Deadline: November 1, 2011

Entry Fee: Free. This is a quarterly journal taking submissions on a regular basis.

Guidelines: The First Line