2010 Young Writers Award

I just heard about the 2010 Young Writers Award from a friend of mine. I know some of you out there who should definitely enter the contest. The award is for writers 21 years old or younger. The details about the award, including how to submit are below.

About

The Young Writers Award is an award given to the best young writer for the year, whether the writer in question is a poet, short fiction writer, or novelist. The contest will be judged on merit and execution and will serve to highlight the exceptional talents of one writer. Our hope is to make the award annual.

Prize

$250 (other prizes will be announced in the future, which may include books and other items)

Judge

The award will be judged by author Jason Sanford. His work has appeared in Interzone, Analogy Science Fiction and Fact, Tales of the Unanticipated, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Pindeldyboz, The Mississippi Review, and 3:AM Magazine. He is a recent Nebula Award finalist (for “Sublimation Angels” in Interzone #224), winner of the Interzone Readers’ Poll two years in a row, and a nominee for the Pushcart Prize. He is also founder of storySouth, a magazine that focuses on literature from the New South.

Award Rules

--Writers must be: a. 21 years old or younger AND b. Active members of Young Writers Online at the time of the deadline for the award. The definition of "active" is left to the discretion of the owners of Young Writers Online and will take into account post and critique frequency. It should be assumed that posting less than once a day (in sheer numbers), whether in the discussion sections or writing sections, does not constitute "active."

--Writers may submit up to a total of 10,000 words of unpublished fiction in up to five short stories OR up to a total of 120 lines of unpublished poetry in up to 6 poems OR a combination of fiction and poetry not to exceed 5,000 words of unpublished fiction (in no more than 3 stories) and 60 lines of unpublished poetry (in no more than 4 poems). Quality over quantity is a rule of thumb.

--Fiction may be of any genre and must either be completed short stories or completed chapters of novels.

--Poetry may be in any style.

--Submissions for the award should be sent as .doc or .rtf files (no .docx, .pages, or any other file types, and do not post your submission in the body of the email) to sbsmag [at] yahoo [dot] com with the subject "Young Writers Award." Provide your real name and your YWO account name. Please follow standard manuscript format with the following alterations: a. The text of your submission should start on the second page with the name of your submission and the page number in the header. Your first page should contain your name, your YWO account name, the title of your submission, and the word count. b. Do not put your last name in the header of your submission. We intend for all entries to be judged blindly and will cut out the first page for submission to our judge.

--Submissions must be sent no later than Sept. 1st, 2010. Winners will be announced in October and the award will be distributed via Paypal (other arrangements can be made in the event that the winner cannot use Paypal).

--Questions should be sent to sbsmag [at] yahoo [dot] com or posted in the forum section for the award.

http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=5233