The $2,500 annual Margaret Reid prizes for traditional verse are now incorporated in the annual $5,650 Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest.
The Amazon Kindle links on this page are the ones that carry no price information.
Annual Writing Contests for Prose and Poetry
Please click on the above links for some useful, budget-priced guides by the Chief Judge of this annual contest. We particularly recommend "7 Solid Roads To Writing Success", which will be available FREE at Amazon on May 18 and 25, June 22, July 20 and 27, 2013. We also recommend "Poetry Pitfalls". This essential 99 cents guide will also be available from Amazon FREE on May 25, June 8 and 9, June 22 and 23.
Another useful little e-booklet, "Correct Writing Formats for Contests and Publishers", will be available free of charge on May 18 and 25, June 22 and 29, and July 6.
Finally, we recommend "How Writers Win Favor with Judges and Editors". This will be FREE at Amazon Kindle on May 25, June 15, 16 and 29, and July 13, 2013.. Normal price: 99 cents.
"Nibbles of Nonsense Hilarious Comic Verse" will be FREE on May 4, 25 and 26, plus June 8 and 9. All six books including "7 Solid Roads to Writing Success", "Poetry Pitfalls", "How NOT To Write Short Stories", "Correct Writing Formats for Contests and Publishers" and "How Writers Win Favor with Judges and Editors" are also available free of charge on roughly the same days in the U.K., Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Brazil and Spain, but you will need to do a search for them at local Amazon Kindle stores.
Visit http://johnreid.exactpages.com for a complete list of all JHR's FREE E-BOOKS.
Annual Writing Contests
Each year, John Howard Reid and Tom Howard Books sponsor two annual
Writing Contests. These Contests are open to all writers worldwide, although please note that all entries must be written in English.
In order of annual closing dates, these contests are:
2. The Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Verse in All Styles & Genres and for Traditional Verse Genres such as rhyming verse, metrical verse, etc. is now open. The contest will close on September 30, 2013.
Total prize money will amount to at least $5,650. (When we say, "at least", we mean "at least". Total prize money for the 2012 contest actually amounted to $6,800. That's right: $6,800!) You'll find full details if you scroll down this page. You can also use this link http://www.tomhowardpoetry.bravepages.com
A New, Expanded Edition of my highly acclaimed handbook "WRITE WAYS TO WIN WRITING CONTESTS: How to Join the Winners' Circle for Prose and Poetry Awards" is now available from Amazon. To write this book, I entered 80 contests in an 18-month period and came away with three First Prizes, one Second Prize, one Third Prize; and 29 various grades of Commended citations. That's better than a one-in-three success rate! With right-up-to-date
information, 20 extra pages, including an extra chapter on "Maximizing Poetry Entries", this book is a must-have item. And the really good news is that, despite all the additional information, the publisher has reduced the price of the paperback to only $12.50. Nook and other stores have the e-book on sale for only $3.99. And the Kindle edition sells for only $2.99! Here's the Kindle link: Write Ways to WIN WRITING CONTESTS
Here
is another tip for a winning entry from WRITE WAYS TO WIN WRITING CONTESTS: "A catchy but appropriate title. Remember that first impressions count and your title is the first thing the judge sees. In large contests, the chief judge will select the entries he or she wants to read simply by their titles. If the chief judge likes your work, he or she will go to bat for it with the other judges."So how do you find a striking and effective title? This book not only lists 3,000 movie titles, but can be used to discover how successful or unsuccessful they are. The more times a word is used in a movie title, the more potent it is in inducing sales! I once write a novel titled "Prophet, Priest and King". The book sold only a few hundred copies. On the other hand, "All Possible Avenues" sold out in two weeks. Ditto four more hardcover printings. Paperback rights were purchased for $25,000. So why? "Hollywood Classics Title Index..." provides the answer. "Prophet" is a negative word. Not a single one of over 3,000 movie titles employs that word. "All", on the other hand, is a very attractive, positive word. Nine movie titles begin with the word, "All", and no less than three of those movies, printed in bold type in the book, were colossal box-office successes!
So check out your title and put yourself on the winning track! The e-book will set you back only 99 cents. You can buy from Kindle (that's the Amazon link above with no price info), Barnes and Noble, Sony, Apple, etc.
The 22nd annual John Howard Reid & Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest will open on July 15, 2013!
The Contest offers
a
$5,550
total prize pool!
Second
Prize: $1,000
Third
Prize: $400. Fourth prize: $250
Plus six High Distinction Awards of $150 each.
I should have mentioned above that a little book I'm especially fond of, "AMAZING ADVENTURES OF TOBY", will be available at Amazon Kindle FREE OF CHARGE on May 4, 2013. Although it has always been misleadingly classed as Wisdom literature, TOBY in my opinion is the world's best short story ever. Even if you don't like detective stoties, this one will make you laugh, and it will make you cry. It will bring joy to your heart. In the time of Jesus, it was, after the Exodus, the most popular story in the Bible. So I didn't write it. All I did was to translate it from the Greek. But it is indeed a really great short story which brilliantly combines a murder mystery with romance, travel, love and healing. By way of contrast, my own latest writing guide is "How NOT To Write Short Stories: Seven Errors To Avoid". The normal price is 99 cents, but this little book will be available from Amazon FREE OF CHARGE on June 8 and 9.
Your
story or prose piece should be no longer than 5,000 words. There is no minimum
length. Closing date is April 30, 2014. You can enter a story that has already been
published or even won prizes in other contests (so long as you hold the online publication rights). Unpublished stories are certainly
most welcome too! The judges are positively anxious to discover talented writers.
Entry
forms are not necessary, but by entering this contest you agree to abide by
all its conditions. Decisions by the chief judge are final. You retain all rights and are free to accept or decline any offers of print publication.
ENTRY FEE: $16 per story/essay.
Maximum
length: 5,000 words.
No
minimum length requirements. No restrictions on the type or theme of the
stories or prose pieces you may submit. Send as many entries as you like!
Entries
must be postmarked on or before April 30, 2013, or lodged online before
midnight, April 30, 2014, Pacific Time.
Online submission using your credit card or PayPal for the $16 Entry Fee is available at Winning Writers. Please use this link: http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tomstory/ts_guidelines.php
Postal submissions may be sent to Winning Writers, Attention Tom Howard Short Story Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060-3961, USA.
Please note that if your entry has won a cash prize in a previous Tom Howard Prose Contest, it will not be eligible to win cash again. Chief judge: John Howard Reid. Associate judge: Dee C. Konrad.
The Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
for Poetry and Verse
in all styles and genres, plus Special Awards for the best two entries in traditional verse forms such as rhyming verse and metrical verse
CLOSING SEPTEMBER 30, 2013!
The 11th annual Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest IS NOW OPEN. For the 11th Contest, a total of at least $5,650 will be awarded in prize-money for all styles and genres of poetry and verse as follows:
First Prize (all genres): $2,000. First Prize (traditional verse such as rhyming poetry and metrical poems): $2,000. Second Prize (all genres): $500. Second Prize (metrical and traditional verse): $500. Third Prize (any genre): $150. PLUS five High Distinction awards (any genre) of $100 each. Ten cash awards in all, including those two First Prizes of $2,000 each.
Grand total: $5,650.
In short, this Contest is a Premier Literary Competition for Original Creative Writing in Poetry or Verse in both traditional and non-traditional styles, using any Themes.
US$5,650 in Cash Prizes, plus online publication for the top nine winners.
Closing date for this Contest: September 30, 2013
Entries may be submitted online at http://winningwriters.com/contests/tompoetry/tp_guidelines.php
Visit the above site for email, PayPal and snail mail options.
Entry forms are not required for this Contest, however, by entering you agree to abide by the judge's decisions, and that those decisions are final. If you win a cash prize you agree to allow John H. Reid and Winning Writers to publish your poem online.
Entry fees are US$8 for every 25 lines (or part thereof).
There is no maximum limit on the number of lines (or number of entries) you may submit. There are no restrictions on subject matter and, unlike many other contests, humorous poems and comic verses are most welcome. In fact, you will find some excellent, winning examples of comic poems in our printed anthologies such as SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME.
TO REPEAT: All types and genres of poetry are accepted. There are no restrictions on previous publication. Prize-winning and commended entries from other contests are welcome, so long as you have retained online publishing rights.
Please note that the entry fee of US$8 per 25 lines is calculated on the total number of lines. (Headings and spaces are not counted). If you submit two short poems, one of ten lines and one of 14 lines, the total fee is US$8. If, however, you submit two sonnets (14 lines each), the fee is US$16. If you submit a long poem of 100 lines, the fee is US$32.
If you have any questions, please email johnreid at 37.com
The prizes are pegged in U.S. dollars. Prizes will be paid in other currencies (if required) at equivalent rates of exchange.
Please note that entries which won cash prizes in previous Tom Howard or Margaret Reid contests are not eligible for further cash awards. The chief judge of all entries in the Contest is John H. Reid. Associate judge is Professor D.C. Konrad.
A beautiful collection of poetry by John Howard Reid (including a number of prize-winning poems) is now on sale at Amazon.
The Kindle e-book with its newly designed cover sells for only $2.99. Please click the first link below:
