Life of A Writer: writing contests

Showing posts with label writing contests. Show all posts

Free Fiction by Misti Sandefur (Me) for Your Reading Pleasure

January 13, 2009 Labels: contests, free fiction by Misti Sandefur, writing contests 0 comments

I entered a short story competition at Daily Writing Tips. While the prize is not money, they're giving away two full licenses to an executive edition of WhiteSmoke's writing software, which has a value of $310 each.

When I enter free writing contests, I usually enter the ones for a cash prize, but I'm familiar with the WhiteSmoke writing software, and my budget hasn't allowed me to purchase any of the software yet. Therefore, I knew I'd be extremely satisfied with the prize offered by Daily Writing Tips -- that is if my fiction piece is engaging enough to gain readers' votes and win this short story competition. In fact, if I win, I plan to write a review about the writing software here at Life of a Writer. I've heard good things about WhiteSmoke's writing software, so I'm anxious to try it.

That said, I'd love it if you'd head over to the Daily Writing Tips short story competition and read my fiction piece entitled Last Words. Then, if you enjoyed my short fiction piece and believe it deserves to move on to the next round, please vote for it using the poll that follows the entries. My entry is number 7.

Thank you in advance! Happy reading!

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Winner of the Mentoring Session Contest

July 18, 2008 Labels: contests, fiction writing tips series, writing contests 2 comments

Edited on July 19, 2007 to announce a new winner and briefly explain why Lillie did not accept the prize.

Lillie earned her entry by commenting on posts that were a part of my Fiction Writing Tips series, but in her e-mail to me she stated that she’d love to take advantage of the prize herself, but since she’s not planning to write another fiction novel in the near future, she’d rather pass the mentoring opportunity on to someone else.

“My primary reason for commenting on your blog was simply to participate in the conversation and thank you for all the good information you’ve been sharing,” Lillie added.

Before I announce the name of the new winner, I’d like to thank Lillie for her comments and wish her the very best with all her writing, marketing and editing endeavors. And, of course, I look forward to more of her comments here at Life of a Writer.

With that out of the way, the new winner of the Mentoring Session Contest is Eliza Wyatt. Congratulations, Eliza, I look forward to working with you on your fiction novel!

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Drum roll, please… Lillie Ammann!

Congratulations, Lillie! You’ll be receiving an e-mail from me shortly explaining all the details. I can hardly wait to get started helping you write, publish and market your next fiction novel.

Lillie has been a regular reader here at Life of a Writer for quite some time now, and she frequently comments, so I was both surprised and happy when I drew her name from the hat, which consisted of 11 entries.

I hope she doesn’t, but if Lillie declines because she’s not working on a fiction novel and has no plans to write one in the near future, then I’ll draw another name from the hat and announce that winner’s name here, as well as notify him or her via e-mail.

I’d like to thank everyone who entered my Mentoring Session Contest, and even though you didn’t win, I wish you the very best and encourage not to give up on your fiction novel. While I only have time to mentor one writer, I’ll still be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Keep reading Life of a Writer for more contests or subscribe free via e-mail for immediate notification of new contests, upcoming contests, new posts and more. Do you prefer reading updates from your favorite blogs through your RSS reader instead? No problem, just subscribe to my RSS feed, which is also free.

Let’s celebrate with cake and ice-cream, shall we? Lillie, you get the first piece.

Photo credit: Traveling Fools of America

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Update: Mentoring Session Contest

July 1, 2008 Labels: contests, fiction writing tips series, writing contests 0 comments

Today was supposed to be the day when the winner of the Mentoring Session Contest was announced, but since I still have three more posts to go in the Fiction Writing Tips series, the winner of the Mentoring Session Contest will be extended to July 18, 2008. So the good news is if you haven't received an entry yet, you can still do so. All the ways to enter can be found here. Remember, one of the ways to receive an entry is to comment on any of the posts in my Fiction Writing Tips series, and the next post for that series is scheduled for Thursday, July 3, 2008.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments area and I'll answer them there.

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Mentoring Session Contest: Entry Details & Additional Information

May 20, 2008 Labels: contests, writers, writing contests 2 comments

Deadline for entries: June 30, 2008 (Midnight, CST)
Drawing date: July 1, 2008

If you're currently working on a fiction novel or planning to write one soon, then I encourage you to enter my Mentoring Session Contest, which is open to all writers -- aspiring and veteran.

What the lucky winner will receive:

1. Encouragement.

2. Honest (but gentle) criticism of your writing, query, synopsis, chapter by chapter outline and press release.

3. Free editing.

4. List of possible publishers to market your book to.

5. List of possible book reviewers.

6. A review of your book from me. The review will be published here as well as on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

7. An interview with you that will be published here at Life of a Writer.

8. Marketing advice.

9. A special gift valued at $30. This special gift will be announced at a later date, because I need to check to see how I can purchase a gift subscription first.

10. In addition to everything above, you'll receive mentoring from me until you've written the last word in your book. If it continues over three years, though, I might have to announce an expiration date.

How to enter:

1.Post an announcement about the Fiction Writing Tips series along with the Mentoring Session Contest on your blog. Please link the words Fiction Writing Tips to http://mistisandefur.blogspot.com/search/label/fiction writing tips series
Next, link the words Mentoring Session Contest to this post.

After you've placed the announcement and links, return here and leave a comment with the link to your post. Once I confirm that you've followed the directions above, I'll place your name in the hat for the Mentoring Session Contest.

2. Comment on any of the posts in the Fiction Writing Tips series, which will begin May 25, 2008.

3. Follow me on Twitter. Once you've completed this task, return to this post and leave a comment letting me know what name you go by on Twitter, so I'll know it was you that followed me. You won't be entered if you "follow" me but don't return here to let me know your Twitter name, so make sure you return here and let me know the name you use on Twitter immediately after you follow me.

4. Subscribe to Life of a Writer via e-mail. Soon after you subscribe, I'll send you an e-mail to let you know you've been entered. At this time, I'll ask for your name, because your name is what I'll use when I announce the winner. Furthermore, I'll also ask you for the link to your writing-related blog or website.

Perform all four tasks and you'll receive four entries in to the Mentoring Session Contest, increasing your chances of winning!

In regards to commenting on the Fiction Writing Tips series, if your comment is of a spam nature, then it won't be published, nor will you receive an entry into the Mentoring Session Contest. If you post an actual comment that adds value and is not spam, then you'll be just fine.

The winner of the Mentoring Session Contest will be announced here at Life of a Writer on July 1, 2008, and I'll also notify you via e-mail so we can get the mentoring session started. In addition to announcing your name as the winner, I'll also link to your writing-related blog or website. The winner will be drawn from a hat after Midnight (CST) on June 30, 2008.

Questions? Contact me or leave your question in the comments area and I'll answer you there.

Don't be shy, enter today!

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