1. The competition is open to manuscripts of 1,500 words or fewer (title not included). Entries outside the word limitation will be disqualified. For entries submitted via regular mail, type the word count on the first page of your entry along with your name, address, phone number and email address. No refunds will be issued for disqualified entries.
2. The entry fee is $20 per manuscript. You may enter as many manuscripts as you wish. If you are submitting your entry via regular mail, you may send one check (in U.S. funds) and one entry form for all entries. We accept checks or money orders, Visa, American Express, Discover, and Mastercard for all entries submitted online or via regular mail. Checks should be made out to F+W Media, Inc. Credit cards will be charged within 90 days of the contest deadline. Charges will appear on your statement as “F+W Contests.”
3. All entries must be in English, original, unpublished, and not submitted or accepted elsewhere at the time of submission. Writer’s Digest reserves one-time publication rights to the 1st- through 25th-place winning entries to be published in a Writer’s Digest publication.
4. If you are submitting your entry via regular mail, all entries must be typewritten and double-spaced on one side of 8-1/2 x 11 or A4 white paper. Manuscripts will not be returned. Entries must be stapled.
5. Entries must be postmarked or submitted online by December 17, 2012 (11:59 pm EST).
6. Winners will be notified by February 28, 2013. If you have not been contacted by this date, you may assume that your entry is not a finalist and may be marketed elsewhere.
7. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard with your entry if you want to be notified of its receipt. We cannot notify you personally of your story’s status before the winners are announced. If entering online, you will receive a confirmation email for your entries.
8. Winners’ names will appear in the July/August 2013 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. Afterwards, their names and story titles will be posted at www.writersdigest.com.
9. The following are not permitted to enter the competition: employees of F+W Media, Inc., and their immediate families and Writer’s Digest contributing editors and correspondents as listed on the masthead.
Have the winners been notified yet?
Sondra
Is it too late to enter? If not, how do you enter because Iv tried pushing the submit entry buttons and it doesnt do anything at all.. :/
How long do we have to wait after entry before we can submit elsewhere or self publish? Do we have to wait until the 28 February announcements?
Just curious, thanks.
Can we post these stories to our personal websites after entering them? They would be posted as free stories.
If I posted my entry in the forums to be critiqued, would that be considered published as well?
1- Can we pay with a paypal account if we submit online?
2- Is the contest open only to US residents?
I am in the process of writing a longer version of the story I want to submit. Who will own the rights to the story once published in Writer’s Digest?
Do the title and byline count as words?
For an online submission, should our entry be double-spaced (as in a physical entry), or is single-spacing acceptable?
Just the title. Your name and contact information will be included in the form. Good luck.
For an online submission do we include our name and contact info on the short short story or just the title? Thanks.
Question: if my story has been published in a literary journal, but the rights have been returned to me, may I enter this contest?
Tanya
Technically, this story is published, so it is ineligible for entry.