www.thewritehelper.com/id68.html

It’s the dead of winter. Your hands are cold. Your feet are cold. Your earlobes are cold. Everything is cold. Outside, the landscape is a frozen whitish-blue. Dreary, if you think about it. But inside you beats a writer’s heart, warm with thoughts of stories, old and new. Fond reminisces, important ideas, strong opinions. Send them our way. We’re waiting for a good read over a steaming cup of hot chocolate!

Guidelines

NOTE: Open theme. Dead of Winter is the name of the contest, NOT the theme.

Every entry receives a free critique!

(Optional: To receive a thorough line edit, enclose an additional $5 per story, plus 9 X 12 SASE with enough postage for returning your story.)

DEADLINE: Postmarked by February 10, 2009.

ENTRY FEE: $5 per entry, maximum of three entries. Submissions without entry fee or inadequate fee will be returned to contestant if SASE is provided.

PRIZES: 1st Place $70
2nd Place $35
3rd Place $20

RULES:

1. Open subject, open genre. (Nonfiction only—memoir, essay, articles, opinion piece, prose, etc.)Facts must be verifiable. (If you feel the need to make things up to “enhance” the story, then this contest is not for you.)
2. Unpublished at time of submission, original work of contestant.
3. Standard manuscript form: 81/2 x 11 paper, typed and double-spaced, pages numbered, 12 point Times New Roman.
4. No more than 2,000 words, excluding title.
5. Attach paper clip to your story, no staples.
6. Cover sheet for each story, with contestant’s name, address, phone number, email (if you have one), and title of entry. (Name may only appear on cover sheet, not manuscript.)
7. Postmarked no later than February 10, 2009. DO NOT SEND BY CERTIFIED MAIL!
8. Mail flat, not folded, with sufficient postage to:
Dead of Winter Nonfiction Contest
c/o Amy Harke-Moore
104 Harke Lane
Old Monroe, MO 63369
9. Checks payable to: The Write Helper.
10. For free critique, provide either an email address or business-sized SASE so we can get your critique to you. For optional $5 line edit, enclose 9 X 12 SASE with enough postage to return your story.
11. For online entry, click on the PayPal button below for the number of stories you are entering and then send your stories to amy@thewritehelper.com. Don’t forget contact information!

For a list of winners, check our website: thewritehelper.com after March 1, 2009.

Decision of the judges is final. Not responsible for lost or misdirected entries. Winning entry has the opportunity to be published on our website, along with a profile of the author. Manuscripts will not be returned.

To enter contest online, visit

www.thewritehelper.com/id68.html