1. Five contest categories to suit your interests.

This year we’re hosting 5 contests as part of the Write to Inspire conference! The categories include: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Children’s, and our very popular One Sheet Pitching Contest. You may enter as many categories as you like!

2. Top Winners will receive great prizes!

Winners in all categories will receive free conference registration for next year’s conference. Fiction and Non-Fiction winners will receive valuable manuscript critiques. The top 20 Poetry winners will have their work published in a Poetry anthology published by Inspire Press. Children’s winners will have one-on-one consultations on their projects with author Christine Tangvald. Our One Sheet winners will pitch their projects to Jessica Kristie of Winter Goose Publishing/Hallway Publishing. We also have Amazon gift cards for runners-up in several categories. Be sure to check out our Contest Page for all the details.

3. Get feedback on your writing.

This can save you a lot of time and heartache as you’ll find out if your project is market-worthy and reader-ready. Better to find out in a fun, friendly way what your writing needs than to hear it in the form of a rejection by an agent or editor later. Doing well in a contest may also give you the confidence you need to take your writing to the next level.

4. Contests help hone your skills and practice tight writing.

As you polish your entry and re-work it until it is the best you can produce, you’ll improve your craft. You’ll want to write tight to meet contest rules—great practice for writing for publication.

5. Entering a contest challenges you to believe in yourself and your writing gift.

Submitting to a contest says, “I’m a writer.” For those of you who haven’t told yourself this yet, now’s the time!

6. Contests teach you to write to a deadline, which will help you manage your time when you’re writing under a contract.

It’s great practice for publishing deadlines. And speaking of deadlines…

7. We’ve just extended our contest deadlines to July 8.

This gives you a little more time to get your piece(s) entered.

Now that you know WHY to enter the 2013 Write to Inspire Contests, all you need to do is follow the instructions on our contest pages and get those entries in by July 8.

Which contest are you entering? What have you gained from previous contest experiences?

Elizabeth M. Thompson leads Inspire Christian Writers. When she’s not writing devotionals or planning the next Write to Inspire conference, she’s learning to write more transparently with her Inspire Fair Oaks/Rancho Cordova group. She enjoys connecting with other writers via Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

She has an active home which she shares with her fabulous husband Mike, three children, two dogs and a few errant dust bunnies.