Cheryl Cowtan on Writing

What Motivates People Other people, of course!  So today, I want you to read through my contest blogs and follow the instructions. I want you to find a contest that matches a piece of writing you have sitting somewhere collecting dust. Then I want you to polish it according to the submission guidelines of the contest and submit to the contest.  Then, post everything in a reply to this blog. Tell me what you sent, where you sent it etc.  Looking forward to hearing from you. :)  Need a little more help?  Let's look at a contest together.  First, here is a list of Canadian writing contests.  http://www.canauthors-ottawa.org/contests.shtml From here, I'm going to choose Red Tuque Books because:  http://www.redtuquebooks.ca/RTevents/ShortStoryCompetition.pdf   I'm hopelessly patriotic I do wear Tuques The contest deadline is not over until December I have written short stories about Canada, and I am Cana...

How to Keep Track of your Contest Submissions Keeping track of your writing submissions is smart. Keeping track allows you to stay organized and on task with your submission strategy. You'll need to provide a list of published work to some publishing companies, you also need to keep track of your submissions so you don't double submit, or miss timelines. You won't always get a rejection, but if two months go by, past the publisher's response time, then you know it's time to submit that piece to another publication. Don't let your work sit and collect dust. Once you start submitting your work, you should keep track of the following: title of work submission date submitted to (URL to access site/publisher/magazine you submitted to) estimated reply time from publisher other details (contest closes, reading price paid, winning amount, accepts simultaneous submissions?) Outcome (published, rejected etc.) Make sure to keep track of published date (you'...

How to Choose the Writing Contest for You You can read many informative articles on this subject and those articles will tell you how to choose viable writing contests. Read that here: http://www.writing-world.com/basics/win.shtml I'm going to share experience. Step 1: Search google for "writing contests year genre location" For example: writing contests 2012 poetry canada. Add "online submission" if you want - see how that changes your results. The more you match your writing to the contest, the better chance you have of winning. For example: Live in Winniville, Winnipeg? Try a local contest instead of competing against the highly populated US of A. Step 2: Scroll down and eyeball the results. If you see a list of contests , open that in a new tab within the browser window . For individual contests that match your search, open them in new tabs as well. Step 3: Check the list of contests. Open all that seem to match your style (what you have written...

How Technology has made Writing Contests better for Writers Modern technology has made it so easy to find and submit to writing contests. Here's how: Contests are searchable online, which means a) contests are accessible, and b) contests can be narrowed down to fit your writing style, topic, geographic region, etc.,  Contest submission guidelines are available on Web sites, which means a) you don't have to write to the publisher for their guidelines and wait weeks/months to receive them. Previous contest winners and their work are often published on Web sites, which means you can read previous winners and see if a) your writing is good enough and b) you have writing that matches previous winner's style and topic. Contest submissions can be uploaded online, which means a) you don't have to print off your submission, b) you don't have to put out costs for envelopes and stamps, c) you don't have to figure out the ins and outs of international return stamps,...

Winning a writing contest: 1. Tells publishers and agents that : you are professional you can write you can compete you can follow submission guidelines people want to read your writing 2. Proves to you that you're good enough--that you are a writer. 3. Gets you free publicity 4. Pays you a contest divident. (That's cold hard cash people)! So, start looking for contests to enter... see upcoming blogs for more details.

I am about to invest a lot of my time to my writing career. As I teach myself about the publishing industry, I will share the best of what I learn here on my blog. Why would that be good for you? a) I have a career background in publishing and internet marketing b) I'm a teacher and I know how to break down complicated concepts into easy to read and understand instruction c) I'm an A type personality which means I will do what I set out to do and I will do it well Stay tuned. Let me do the reading and searching for you. Let's succeed together. Cheryl