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Writer’s Digest wants to recognize the hard work that you have been putting into your book. That’s why, every year, we look for the  best from authors in their self-publishing ventures. Whether you’re a professional writer, a part-time freelancer, or a self-starter, WD is looking for self-published books for the 22nd Annual Self-Published Book Awards, exclusively for self-published work.

No matter what your book is geared towards, we have a category for you. Enter today in Genre Fiction, Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Nonfiction, Inspirational (Spiritual, New Age), Life Stories (Autobiographies, Biographies, Family Histories, Memoirs), Children’s Picture Books, Middle Grade/Young Adult Fiction, Reference Books (Directories, Encyclopedias, Guide Books), and Poetry. The entry fee is just $110, and $85 for any additional entries. But hurry, the deadline is May 1!

A first-place winner will be chosen for each one of these categories (9 total). Each first-place winner will receive $1,000 in cash and promotion in Writer’s Digest (the March/April 2015 issue), along with numerous other prizes, including, a one-year membership to Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN) and a guaranteed review in Midwest Book Review.

One Grand Prize winner will receive $3,000 in cash, plus a trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference. The winner will also receive promotion in Writer’s Digest (the March/April 2015 issue), plus a one-year membership to Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), a Marketplace Readiness Assessment Consult ($450) value by Amy Collins, and much more.

Honorable mentions receive $50 worth of WD Books and promotion on www.writersdigest.com. All entrants receive a brief commentary from one of our judges, who are all current industry professionals.

Ember Reichgott Junge, who took home the grand prize in the 21st Annual Competition for her nonfiction book, Zero Chance of Passage: The Pioneering Charter School Story, called the award an inspiration to continue writing and an affirmation of her decision to self-publish. You can read her extended interview here, as well as a guest blog post on There Are No Rules. A list of last year’s winners is online!

Don’t miss out on this potentially career-altering opportunity! Get recognized for your hard work and launch your career today!

This self-published competition is co-sponsored by Book Marketing Works, LLC.

Please see the competition’s official page for the entry form, rules, and other details.

A couple of years ago a diminutive orange cat sprang into our hearts and homes courtesy of picture book creators, Alison Reynolds and Heath McKenzie. That cat was, Marmalade. He caused quite a sensation around our home, so when we heard he was on tour with Alison Reynolds, purrs of satisfaction reverberated throughout the house once more.

Alison Reynolds is no stranger to children’s fiction, but when she teams with illustrator, Heath McKenzie, her work is picture book paean.

A New Friend for Marmalade, sequel to the hugely successful, A Year with Marmalade, is a simple story about making new friends. But as we all know, the art of forming and maintaining friendships is seldom that straightforward. Hierarchy and the delicate differences between boys and girls all begin to surface in early primary years, making social interplay more of a challenge.

When Toby, the boy across the road attempts to join BFFs, Ella, Maddy and Marmalade, things go instantly awry. Toby’s endeavours to fit in are not particularly successful nor welcomed by Ella and Maddy. He is over-exuberant, clumsy and dresses funny. Marmalade, however, sees him differently.

In Marmalade’s moment of crisis, his gamble on Toby pays off and beautiful new friendships are forged all round.

I love the snappy, clean layout of this picture book. Swirling text works effectively against plenty of white space, giving readers the sensation of floating seamlessly along with the story.

The narrative itself is succinct and character driven, with enough repeating phraseology to prompt even the most modest beginner reader to join in the fun.

McKenzie’s soft smudges of pastel colour highlight significant aspects and emotions of the story: the girls’ cubby house and sand castle city, Toby’s cap and scooter, and of course, our little orange hero, Marmalade.

Acceptance, tolerance and making that leap of faith permeate appealingly through this dreamy picture book, resulting in a fine example of ‘less is more’. It certainly stacks up for me.

Uncover why sand-castle-city builders from the age of 4 years and up will treasure A New Friend for Marmalade, here.

Stick around with Alison and Marmalade for the rest of their tour and participate in the fantastic competitions listed below. You never know, you might just make few new friends along the way!

The Five Mile Press 2013

Alison Reynolds Blog Tour Dates

March 2014

11th Dee White – review and post http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/

11th Chris Bell – post http://christinemareebell.wordpress.com/

12th Angela Sunde – interview with Heath http://angelasunde.blogspot.com.au/

12th KBR – book giveaway http://www.kids-bookreview.com/

13th Boomerang Books – Post with Dimity Powell http://blog.boomerangbooks.com.au/author/dpowell

14th KBR Guest post http://www.kids-bookreview.com/

14th KBR Review http://www.kids-bookreview.com/

14th Sally Murphy – Meet my book http://aussiereviews.com/reviews/blog/

15th Buzz Words – Interview http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.com/

17th Ask the Bean Counter – Mr X http://www.alisonreynolds.com.au/

17th Pass-it-on Post and Review- Jackie Hosking http://jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com/school-magazine/

18th Ask the Publisher – Kay Scarlett http://www.alisonreynolds.com.au/

Pet contest for all ages!

Marmalade the cat is full of personality. Do you have a pet with personality? Win a piece of artwork by Heath McKenzie. Send along a photo of your personality-plus pet to www.alisonreynolds.com.au, [email protected] or upload to https://www.facebook.com/alison.reynolds.524

Random book giveaways!

Just leave a comment on one of the posts in the blog tour, comment on Facebook or even email Alison that you want to enter competition to win A New Friend for Marmalade.

Jump the Slush Pile!

Win a free pass to a Children’s editor’s desk. Just comment on this blog post or any other blog during the A New Friend for Marmalade blog tour and add the initials CB. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win the draw.

Jump the Slush Pile!

Win a free pass to a Non-fiction commissioning editor’s desk. Just comment on this blog post or any other blog during the A New Friend for Marmalade blog tour and add the initials NF. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win the draw.

Win an assessment of Chapter One of a chapter book by the fabulous mentor extraordinaire Dee White. http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/ Just comment on this blog post or any other blog during the A New Friend for Marmalade blog tour and add the initials DW. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win the draw.

Win a free picture book assessment by Alison! Just comment on this blog post or any other blog during the A New Friend for Marmalade blog tour and add the initials PB. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win the draw.

Read to the end of this post to find out how you could win an incredible Zambian safari for two worth over $12k!

Much has happened since my last South Luangwa post so a follow-up is long overdue! The dry season is now well and truly over. I will never forget 1st November, the day the rains arrived…

That day I awoke to find a veil of cloud had descended over the valley. There was a sense of anticipation as the parched earth and thirsty animals waited for the first raindrops to fall. However, there was also another cause for excitement that day; I had heard rumours that wild dogs had been spotted in the area! Ever since arriving in Zambia I had been searching for African wild dogs, a species that has always managed to evade me on previous trips. I set off in search of them, hoping that I wouldn’t be thwarted by the rain.

I found the pack after a couple of hours and enjoyed spending the rest of the morning with them. It was wonderful to watch them as they played around boisterously. After taking some shots with my long lens, I deployed BeetleCam. The dogs’ curiosity was instantly aroused and they crowded around the camera. I had always dreamed of photographing wild dogs from this perspective and the resulting shots were exactly what I had hoped for…

This was one of my last shots of the dry season… a few hours later, the heavens opened. Over the next 12 hours, 110mm of rain fell (approximately 10% of region’s annual rainfall)!

The bush camps have usually closed by the time the heavy rains arrive as the surrounding roads become completely impassable. However, this year the first deluge caught everyone off guard and as a result we were marooned in the bush for several days whilst we waited for the sodden landscape to dry out.

On the third day it was time to attempt an escape. This was easier said than done as the roads had turned into rivers of mud! Fortunately there was a four-wheel drive tractor on hand to tow me out of the boggiest areas. After several hours of battling mud we eventually made it out of the park. The next challenge was going to be cleaning my car!

Emerald Season

Over the following days and weeks, South Luangwa underwent a radical transformation; the hazy atmosphere and dusty colours of dry season were replaced with beautiful clear light and vibrant greens. Watery lagoons and lush plains appeared in areas that had been dust bowls a few weeks earlier.

Now the “Emerald Season” is here and the valley seems to be bursting with life. The herbivores are fat and healthy and baby impalas have taken over the valley. Times are also good for Luangwa’s leopards as the dense bush and tall grass afford plenty of cover for hunting. The cats stand out beautifully against the verdant backdrop.

Dazzling jewels also stud the greenery as colourful migrant birds arrive and residents flaunt their breeding plumage…

…and there are kingfishers everywhere!

River Safaris

In the last few weeks, the Luangwa River has risen enough to make river safaris possible. This has allowed me to photograph the park from a different perspective. Exploring the river by boat has also bought me face to face with some truly monstrous crocs!

Luangwa is famous for the astonishing density of hippos that it supports and the boat was forever dodging them as we cruised up and down the river.

On one occasion, we came round a corner to find a newborn baby hippo and its mother on a sandbank. We cut the engine so that we could drift past quietly. I had my lens focussed on the adorable baby when I became aware of a frantic pattering noise emanating from my right. I swung my lens round and was greeted by a terrifying sight… an angry mother hippo in full charge. We had no time to start the engine and escape. Fortunately she stopped a few metres away and we were able to beat a hasty retreat!

Win a Safari!

I have partnered with Norman Carr Safaris, Chongwe Safaris and Proflight Zambia to bring you an incredible new holiday giveaway! This is your chance to win a luxury 8-day safari for two in Zambia worth over $12k! You will start by spending 4 nights with Norman Carr Safaris in South Luangwa National Park and then fly down to Lower Zambezi National Park for 4 nights with Chongwe Safaris! Whether it’s tracking lion on foot, catching (and releasing) a tiger fish, photographing the elusive leopard, or sipping a cool gin and tonic overlooking the river, you’re guaranteed to create lasting memories as you switch off from the rest of the world.

» Click here to enter! «

Here are the results of the 2012 Travel Photo Competition. Thank you to everyone who entered and well done to the talented photographers whose images appear in the final selection below.

Thank you to Committed Photography for providing the following prizes:

• Winner: 16×24 framed print of your winning shot (estimated value of $250)
• Runners up x 2: 16×24 prints unframed (value of $50 each)

Winner

Our travel photo contest winner is Felix Hug with his atmospheric image of a balloon over temples in Myanmar. Congratulations Felix!

Balloon over Bagan by Felix Huge

Balloon over Bagan by Felix Hug

“Early morning Balloon flight over Bagan, Myanmar.”

Equipment: Canon 5DM2 DSLR

Felix Hug was born in Switzerland at the beginning of the carneval (Fasnacht) season in 1964, the 11th day of the 11th month, at almost at 11.11 am to be precise.

How much that indicated, what would become, an unconventional lifestyle is unknown, but heavily influenced by his late father (who was passionate about painting) he followed his passion for design and the arts.

In the 1980s he started a career in design and architecture, only to be interrupted when an offer to shoot hoops in a basketball team in Europe was too interesting to turn down.

Felix then began his journey as a professional basketball player, and with basketball came lots of traveling. Armed with the Konica he had inherited from his beloved father his first travel images were born.

However, it took Felix until 2003 to turn his back completely on his attempt at a traditional career in Project Management to decide that travel photography is what he loved and would be doing for a living.

Since then he has tirelessly worked on a career in travel & destination photography that has brought him worldwide recognition in the field. He has won Best Image Awards in the following competitions: The Asian Geographic Grand Prize, Singapore; The International Photography Awards, USA; American Photo, Image of the Year, USA; Travel Photographer Of The Year, GB; The New York Photography Awards, USA

In 2007 he founded together with Jamie Boyd Eyes on Asia in Singapore. Jamie brought to the team experience in production and representation, as well as experience in the modeling business. Their clients include Singapore Airlines (Silk Air), Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts and others. His images have been published in countless magazines, Including GEO, GEO Saison, PHOTOGRAPHIE, Nat Geo Traveler, Australian Traveler, Conde Nast, Travel & Leisure.

Jamie and Felix now run travel photography workshops in Singapore and travel photography Getaways the region. The aim: Inspire people through positive travel images to have an alternative view on life.

Website: www.eyesonasia.net

Runners-up

Congratulations to our runners-up, Luke Popwell and Francesco Riccardo Iacomin!

Snell’s Window with Diver by Luke Popwell

Snell’s window with Diver by Luke Popwell

“A diver inside of a bubble ring with sun flare shining through the water. Also, showing a visual representation of a Snell’s Window”

Equipment: 5d mark ii

Luke Popwell – I am a photographer in the florida keys. I shoot event and underwater photography.

Website: www.offaxisproduction.com

Toscana by Francesco Riccardo Iacomino

Toscana by Francesco Riccardo Iacomino

“A beautiful farmhouse in Tuscany, Italy, surrounded by cypress trees and the golden hills of Val d’Orcia, photographed on early morning with the very first, warm light.”

Equipment: Canon eos 550d – Canon 55-250mm IS

Francesco Riccardo Iacomino – I’m a 26 years old photographer from Modena, Italy.
I started taking pictures after a great journey in the Southwest USA when I was 18…and since then I’ve never stopped.

When I shoot I’m not trying to reproduce just what I see.
The challenge for me is to photograph what I’ll remember having seen… so strongly evocative images.

My pictures are on sale on the most important stock photo sites, like Shutterstock, Dreamstime, Istockphoto, Fotolia, etc.

Hope you’ll enjoy my work!

Website: www.francescoriccardoiacomino.com

Highly Commended Images

Our highly commended images are fantastic shots that illustrate the amazing variety of entries we received. Well done to everyone who made it onto this list!

Netting Fish by Steve Harrison

“Netting Fish, HoiAn Vietnam”

Equipment: Canon 5D Mk 2

Steve Harrison – Camera happy light chaser with gorgeous young children.

Website: www.sleepygeckohoian.com

Three Fishermen on Inle Lake by David Lazar

“Three fishermen on Inle Lake, Myanmar. The fisherman of this region have a unique rowing technique, where they stand on the stern on one leg and wrap the other leg around the oar allowing for fine paddle control.”

Equipment: Nikon D700

David Lazar – David Lazar is a travel photographer and musician from Brisbane, Australia, who loves to capture moments of life, beauty and culture through photography. He is drawn to locations which have a rich cultural background and he is especially interested in portrait and landscape photography.

Website: www.davidlazarphoto.com

Reflection by Partha Roy

“Blue Hour Reflection, Singapore”

Equipment: Olympus OMD EM-5, Samyang 8mm Fisheye Lens

Partha Roy – By profession I am an I.T engineer and working as a Software Analyst in a Bank. I have a passion towards photography from my childhood and I like to capture each and every moment of life and beauty of nature by the help of a small hole. The passion and the hobby towards photography gradually make me a photographer and I always like to spend my free time with my camera and photography. My wife knows that photography is my second wife in my life. But in spite of that she always support and appreciate my work with a big smile on her face which inspires me and give lots of motivation. I believe each life and every element and object has its own capability to create a magical moment. The moments that you want to keep forever and you want to treasure in your heart and mind. You should prepare and keep your eyes open to capture those moments. Basically I’m a picture-taker, fun-lover and fun-maker photographer who like to capture and freeze the moment of each and every aspect of life to make it unforgettable with help of my black box. I do like to take landscape, cityscape, architecture and street shots mainly.

Website: 500px.com/mypixelmagic

Thule Eskimo by Justin Lewis

“Thomas Martika Qujaukitsoq was born in Qaanaaq, Greenland. He wears a reindeer jacket his grandmother hand-stitched when he was a young man. He travels with his nine sled dogs across the sea ice during April’s midnight sun.”

Equipment: Canon 5D markII

Justin Lewis – Mendocino, California native Justin Lewis was nurtured in the raw and rustic Pacific Northwest, where he honed a keen eye for capturing images that instill wonder and inspire action. At age 16, Lewis set off on the first of many solo international photo excursions, igniting a lifelong passion for adventure and cross-cultural exploration through photography. Having traveled to over forty five countries, Justin has woven photography seamlessly into his lifestyle of exploration and conservation. After graduating from Brooks Institute of Photography Justin made San Francisco his home base and began shooting commercial and editorial assignments for clients including; Islands, Sport Diver, AsianDiver, Trans-World Surf, Scuba Diver Australasia, The Undersea Journal and Caribbean Travel & Life magazineâ’s, PADI, Body Glove, The Ritz Carlton, Stanford University, Smithsonian, and The New Yorker. Justinâ’s imagery sells world wide through Getty Images and has been seen on billboards in Time Square, Seattle and Bangkok, on the side of buses, in national ad campaigns, magazine covers, and on television.

Website: www.justinlewis.com

Kirkjufell Panorama by Christopher Waddell

“Taken during my first night in Iceland, in very strong winds. This panorama is made up of 6 vertical images (3 for the land, 3 for the sky). On the left the sun is setting and on the right I managed to capture the moon rising.”

Equipment: Canon 5D Mark III, 24-70mm 2.8L, Lee Grad ND Filters

Norway’s beauty by Matthias Stoll

“The Panorama is composed out of 4 pictures, taken after a day of rain in Alesund. The dramatic sky and the long exposure light pollution in the city combined to a breathtaking atmosphere.
The shots were taken with the following parameters:
ISO 100, 30sec exposure @ f11″

Equipment: Canon 600D + Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC (@35mm)

Matthias Stoll – Student of Business Administration & Engineering with an obsession to travel and a passion for photography

Askari by Mario Pereda

“A masai boy carrying a lamp at dusk. Near Masai Mara National Park (Kenya).”

Mario Pereda – Mario Pereda was born in Bilbao (Spain) in 1973. In 1996 he started his studies in the ‘Escuela Superior de Tenicos de la Imagen’ (EFTI) of Madrid, where he attended General, Professional and Master in Photography courses. Currently he works as a freelance photographer. His pictures have been published in several tour guides and press magazines like ‘Revista Osaca’ and ‘AZ. Revista del Empresario’. Moreover, he develops several personal photo projects. His work has been distinguished with more than 30 awards in several photo competitions and he has made two solo exhibitions in Madrid and Burgos.

Website: mpereda.photoshelter.com

Lesotho Cow Herder by David Lazar

“A boy from Semonkong, Lesotho, herds his cows across mountainous terrain, and past the highest waterfall in southern Africa, the Maletsunyane Falls.”

Equipment: Nikon D700

David Lazar – David Lazar is a travel photographer and musician from Brisbane, Australia, who loves to capture moments of life, beauty and culture through photography. He is drawn to locations which have a rich cultural background and he is especially interested in portrait and landscape photography.

Website: www.davidlazarphoto.com

Black Flamingos by Bhavya

“On Christmas Day 2011, I decided to meet flamingos. so I gear up my Car and Went To Khadir Island in Kutch district, about 410 kilometres (256 miles) India. Every year tens of thousands of Greater flamingos arrive to breed in the marshes of the Rann of Kutch region of Gujarat state. Its a wonderful place for birds and we can seen in image.. totally heavens for birds.
It was late Morning, Harsh opposite Light. so i decided to make this image Creative.. something Unique.
Just basic PP work (Lighting- Highlights, darken ) in Picasa.
I don’t have large telephoto lens for Birding, but Still I am Satisfied with this small lens. I believe that if we cannot reach the Subject than make subject creative, use your Imagination and than that looks more Unique.”

Equipment: Canon 550D-Tamron 70-300mm Macro

Bhavya – I am Passionate Wild life photographer

Website: www.flickr.com/photos/bhavya_joshi/

Venetian contrasts by Andre Viegas

“Small gondolas, huge cruises, that’s Venice! Italy.”

Equipment: D300s

Andre Viegas – amateur photographer from Portugal

Rainbow Falls Of Watkins Glen by Mark Papke

“Winding up the glen, the trail leads visitors through an assortment of cliffs and abutments that can best be described as natural sculptures. Each breathtaking scene after another is unique in sight and sound, and seemingly isolated from the rest of the gorge. The trail presents each scene perfectly, as if displaying landscape paintings lined up in a row. The aptly-named Glen Cathedral widens like a gothic church, with a natural pool, dubbed the Baptismal Font, facing the “cathedral’s” pulpit: a beautiful stone arch bridge and 60 ft Central Cascade. There’s no surprise that over the last hundred years or so, each segment of the glen, vista, rock feature, and waterfall has been nicknamed. Continue on to the Glen of Pools, and what many consider to be the “main attraction”: Rainbow Falls and Triple Cascade. Such a generic name does little justice to this majestic dreamscape. It has to be seen to be appreciated. “

Equipment: Nikon D7000, Nikon 17-55mm dx lens, Sijngh-ray vari-n-duo

Mark Papke – I am an amateur photographer trying to learn as many new things as possible hoping to someday maybe going beyond amateur status.

Website: mark-papke.artistwebsites.com/

Summer 2009 by Abhineet Seth

“This was shot at “Meerzapur” in Uttar Pradesh, India. I got the shot in the drought summers of 2009.”

Equipment: Fuji film fine pix s5700

Abhineet Seth – I am a free lance photographer,loves to do photography on NATURE, PLACES…etc

Congratulations once again to all the finalists!

We look forward to seeing more of your wonderful photographs in the next photo contest. To ensure you are notified when future contests open for entries, you can subscribe to my free email newsletter (or via rss).

Short Story Competition Longlist

Ali Smith, Toby Litt, Mark Haddon, Orange prize-winning Helen Dunmore, Adam Foulds, Sarah Hall and Booker Prize-winning Graham Swift, are among those in the running for the £30,000 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award - the richest prize in the world for an individual short story.

12 out of the 16 stories on the longlist come from UK- based authors. In its previous three years, the Award has not yet been won by a Briton, with the top prize going to New Zealand, the USA and Ireland so far.

From over 500 entries the judges have arrived at a longlist of 16 - six women and ten men.

The 16 longlisted writers and the titles of their short stories:

Caroline Adderson - 'Erection Man'   
Junot Diaz - 'Miss Lora' 
Helen Dunmore - 'Spotted Dick'
Adam Foulds - 'Tunnelling'
Mark Haddon - 'The Gun'
Sarah Hall - 'Evie'
Cynan Jones - 'The Dig'
Philomena Kearney Byrne - 'Honda Fifty'
Toby Litt - 'Call it "The Bug" Because I Have No Time to Think of a Better Title'
Belinda McKeon - 'Eyes on Me, Eyes on You'
Mark McNay - 'Ten Years Too Late'
C D Rose - 'Arkady Who Couldn't See and Artem Who Couldn't Hear'
Ali Smith - 'The Beholder'
Graham Swift - 'I Live Alone'
Claire Vaye Watkins - 'Rondine al Nido'
Samuel Wright - 'Best Friend'
 
The winner will receive £30,000, and the five other shortlisted writers will each receive £1,000. The shortlist will be announced in The Sunday Times on 24 February.

The winner will be announced at a gala dinner at The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival on 22 March.

The Untangled Tales website is the best  of the Summer Reading sites. Going over the site, was like being in one of the famous ‘But WAIT, there’s more!’ advertisements! At every click of the mouse, there was more! There is something here for children of all ages [preschool, primary, secondary], for their parents, teachers and librarians. The site is gorgeous [literally] to look at, easy to navigate, entertaining in content and layout and engagingly informative!

The Celebrity Corner  questions brought out the creative quirkiness of authors and illustrators in a very entertaining way and featured a very diverse group of creatives!

The Untangled Tales game is a blast – great fun! It challenges memory and  prods research capabilities and informs about other cultures, their customs and attitudes as reflected in their  fairytales and legends.

Check out the  side tabs and their drop down menus – there is heaps and heaps of  fun activity, fantastic tales, playful poetry and fanciful stories, arty opportunities, creative competitions in writing and art activities and painless learning along the way!!

Here are the results of my 2012 Wildlife Photo Competition. Thank you to everyone who entered and well done to the talented photographers whose images appear in the final selection below.

Thank you to Committed Photography for providing the following prizes:

• Winner: 16×24 framed print of your winning shot (estimated value of $250)
• Runners up x 2: 16×24 prints unframed (value of $50 each)

Winner

Our wildlife photo contest winner is Chris Minihane with his atmospheric image of a rhino in Kenya. Congratulations Chris!

The Rhino by Chris Minihane

The Rhino by Chris Minihane

“A lone rhino stands on the dusty shores of Lake Naivasha at dusk, Kenya.”

Equipment: Nikon D300 12MM lens

Chris Minihane originally hails from the Bay Area in California, eventually spending 14 years in North and East Africa photographing the Maasai in Kenya and delving wholeheartedly into photojournalism for the United Nations.
An award-winning photographer, Chris is represented by Getty, Alamy and National Geographic and has been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries and juried exhibits in Paris, New York, London, Washington DC, Hong Kong, Sydney, San Francisco and more.
Chris’ work has graced the pages of several books and magazines and most recently was awarded a coveted honor for outstanding achievement in high dynamic range photography.

Website: chrisminihanephotography.wordpress.com

Runners-up

Congratulations to our runners-up, Mark Bridger and Paul Cowell!

Dusk by Mark Bridger

Dusk by Mark Bridger

“A wild barn owl hunting over the Norfolk Marshes at dusk.”

Equipment: Canon 1Dmk4 Canon 500f4 IS L + 1.4TC

Mark Bridger – I am 43 years old and live in the UK. I have been taking mainly wildlife photos for about three years now, I love to photograph all animals from the smallest of bugs to the largest of beasts.

Website: www.bridgephotography.co.uk

Breaking a Ball by Paul Cowell

Breaking a Ball by Paul Cowell

“White tip reef shark breaking into a sardine ball – South Africa”

Equipment: Canon Eos 5D mk 1

Paul Cowell – Keen amateur photographer and scuba diver

Website: www.flickr.com/photos/paulcowell/

Highly Commended Images

Our highly commended images are fantastic shots that illustrate the amazing variety of entries we received. Well done to everyone who made it onto this list!

Deep Drink and a Blue Sky by Mike Dexter

“Cloud and water are rare commodities in the dry season on Mashatu Game Reserve. An elephant quenches its thirst at a small waterhole while cloud overhead provides a seldom seen backdrop in this part of the world.”

Equipment: Canon 7D, Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS

Mike Dexter – I’m a professional wildlife photographer based in Botswana. For the last year much of my photography has been from an underground hide just meters from a very productive waterhole in the dry and remote north eastern corner of the country.

Website: www.mikedexter.com

Snorting Hippo by Kurt Jay Bertels

“When hippos want to protect their water form perceived intruders, they put on a great display, usually culminating in the classic yawn. I wanted to show a different stage of the display, and captured the start of the display – the snort that precedes the yawn.”

Kurt Jay Bertels – I started photography at the age of 9, and have focused mainly on wildlife. I have spent the last 8 years working in the game parks of Africa, and now lead photographic safaris throughout the world.

Website: www.50safaris.com

Night Butterfly by Arseniy

“Young butterfly”

Equipment: Nikon D3s + Nikkor 105 2,8 VR

Arseniy – Student, make photos since 2006.

Hoopoe by Giovanni Frescura

“Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300 f.2.8, iso 800, 1/2500, f.3.2″

Giovanni Frescura – Wildlife, silent, nature ..what more could you want?

Chameleon Lunch by Simone Sbaraglia

“Panther Chameleon in the Andasibe rainforest of Madagascar”

Equipment: Nikon D300, Nikon 70-200 VR

Simone Sbaraglia – Simone Sbaraglia is a professional nature and wildlife photographer based in Rome. His work aims at highlighting the beauty, harmony and uniqueness of our planet, in the hope that it can be preserved for the future generations.

Website: www.simonesbaraglia.com

Maldina and her Spiderlings by Olivier Roland

“A 15mm female Amaurobius spider protecting her recently hatched spiderlings.”

Equipment: Pentax K5 with a reversed 50mm lens on extension tubes

Olivier Roland – I am a belgian graphic designer and photographer, I take photos of everything but the spiders are my favourite subjects, it’s probably their bad reputation that made me want to look into it, for finally realizing how ridiculous and disproportionate is the phobia they can generate in us.

Website: www.riprod.net

Stormy Romance by Kurt Jay Bertels

“Mating lions have been photographed over and over again, so when I found a mating pair, I went for something a little different. I used a polecam, and hours of patiently edging close enough until the lions filled the frame, and changed the angle on a ‘tired shot’, which gave a great new perspective.”

Kurt Jay Bertels – I started photography at the age of 9, and have focused mainly on wildlife. I have spent the last 8 years working in the game parks of Africa, and now lead photographic safaris throughout the world.

Website: www.50safaris.com

Blesbok Silhouette by Phil Perry

“Group of Blesbok silhouetted against the Malolotja mountains.”

Equipment: Canon EOS 40D + Canon 100-400mm @ 100mm

Phil Perry – A lifelong naturalist, I have taken wildlife photographs for many years. I currently live in Swaziland in Southern Africa.

Website: www.pperrywildlifephotos.org.sz

Skimming a Wave by Bill Klipp

“The seas of the Southern Ocean suddenly flattened and became smooth as glass. I positioned myself on the side of the ship to photograph the Petrels and other sea bids as they glided alongside us. After an hour plus and hundreds of shots this one of a Pintado Petrel’s wing tip skimming the surface was my favorite.”

Equipment: Nikon D300 with nikkor 70-200mm f2.8

Bill Klipp – Hi my name is Bill Klipp and after spending what felt like a life time in the Financial Services Industry my wife Linda and I were able to retire and turn our life long interests into a passions and obsessions. Our intense interest in the natural world couples well with our passion for photography and our love of exotic travel. Our hope is to create compelling images to promote an appreciation of the Natural World to help safeguard the biodiversity of the planet and the integrity of its natural ecosystems.
As you wander through our online photo galleries you will quickly see that we focus on Nature and Travel images. Our website highlights some of our favorite images taken over the last several years. Our photo galleries will take you to places like Namibia and other Southern African countries, Cuba, the Amazon, The Galapagos Islands, East Africa, The Baja, Machu Pichu, Brazil’s Pantanal, Alaska, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe the Arctic and Antarctica as well as local images from near our homes in Key West Florida and Discovery Bay California.

Website: www.wkimages.net

Whale Sharks Passing by Steve De Neef

“Two whale sharks pass by in the Visayan region of the Philippines. This area is an important place for migrating whale sharks as in the right season, food is abundant. “

Equipment: Canon 5D markIII, Canon 16-35mm f2.8, Nauticam Housing

Steve De Neef – I’m an aspiring underwater/documentary photographer trying to share the beauty of our blue planet. Currently I’m working around Asia as a freelance photographer.

Website: www.stevedeneef.com

Congratulations once again to all the finalists!

We look forward to seeing more of your wonderful wildlife photographs in next year’s wildlife photo contest. To ensure you are notified when future contests open for entries, you can subscribe to my free email newsletter (or via rss).

Enter the current photo contest: Travel Photo Competition

The final competition in our 2012 photo contest series is now open for entries! The theme is “Travel”. We are looking for striking, original and beautiful travel photographs that reveal the wonders of our planet. You are not limited to any subject matter in particular; travel photography can portray many things including an area’s people, cultures, customs, history or landscape. For some inspiration, check out the results of previous years’ contests: 2009, 2010 & 2011. The deadline for this contest is 31st December 2012.

We have some fantastic prizes on offer including the chance to win a Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR camera (more info).

Prizes

The Canon EOS 60D is designed for photographers who want to take their skills to the next level, offering high performance, a series of creative features, a Vari-angle LCD screen and enhanced ergonomics, this camera empowers photography enthusiasts to capture outstanding stills and Full High Definition (HD) video for unique, creative results. The EOS 60D has an incredible feature set including an 18 MP APS-C CMOS sensor, a Vari-angle 7.7cm 3:2 ratio LCD, Full HD movies, ISO 100-6400 (H:12800), 5.3fps shooting for up to 58 JPEGs, 9-point cross type AF System and more!

We also have the following additional prizes kindly donated by Committed Photography:

• Winner: 16×24 framed print of your winning shot (estimated value of $250)
• Runners up x 2: 16×24 prints unframed (value of $50 each)

Committed Photography is an easy way for semi-pro and pro photographers to promote and sell their work. You receive unlimited uploads, full control on pricing your work, and an 80% commission on sales. Click here for more information and to create your free account.

Rules

• The contest theme is Travel.
• This competition is open to participants worldwide.
• There is no entry fee.
• You must be the photographer and owner of the copyright for any image entered.
• Entrants can submit a maximum of three images to this contest.
• Please keep digital manipulation such as cloning and compositing to a minimum; your photograph should faithfully represent the scene as you saw it. HDR images and stitched panoramas are allowed.
• Submitted images should be 1024 pixels along the long edge and less than 800kb in size.
• Please do not include a border.
• A subtle watermark may be included but it must not detract from the image.
• You will retain copyright of your entries at all times and will always be credited alongside your picture.
• By entering this competition, you grant us a non-exclusive license to display your photograph in connection with this contest. Photographers will always be credited alongside their image.
• We may allow other websites to display a selection of the winning/highly commended images in order to publicise the results of this contest. Photographers will always be credited alongside their image.
• Under no-circumstance will we use submitted images for commercial gain unless it has been agreed on a case by case basis with the photographer.
• Please note that entries are kept private (i.e. you cannot browse the other submissions).
• The deadline for entry is 31st December 2012.
• Winners will be announced by 1st January 2013.

» Click here to Enter this Contest «

To receive notification when the winners are announced, and to find out about future contests, please subscribe to our free newsletter. You can either subscribe by email or via RSS.

Nearly 2,300 poems were submitted in the seventh annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards, and Linda Neal Rising’s “An Educated Woman Explains Why She Likes Bluegrass” claimed the No. 1 spot. Her prize: $500, a copy of the 2012 Poet’s Market and a trip to the WD Conference in New York City.

“I fell for Rising’s poem from the opening lines,” says final-round judge Robert Lee Brewer, editor of Poet’s Market and WD’s Poetic Asides column (Page 11) and blog. “Whether through the repetition of because to open every stanza or using perfect metaphors to describe the individual elements of a bluegrass tune, this poem takes a familiar topic and plays with it—making the whole enterprise more beautiful in the process.”

The contest was open to original poems of any style that were unpublished and 32 lines or fewer. The top 50 poems will be printed in a special collection, available here for $11.95. To find out how to enter next year’s contest, visit Writer’s Digest Competitions.

“An Educated Woman Explains Why She Likes Bluegrass”

by Linda Neal Rising

Because a fiddle can cry honey
or shapeshift into the Wabash Cannonball,
chugging its arrival
or whistling through a crossing
in some by-passed Ozark town.
Because a banjo plunks
like hail on a tin roof,
covering a barn with weathered sides.
Or like drops, fat and dull,
plopping into a zinc bucket, set below
the eaves to catch rain water.
Because a guitar can speak
with a country accent,
hum about mockingbirds and murders,
long for girls with names
like Sally Goodin, Liza Jane, Sweet Fern.
Because a mandolin quivers,
a timid soul, fluttering
like the wings of a blackbird
trapped inside a stone chimney.
Because the voices lift so high
and lonesome they drift,
suspended like Blue Ridge fog
just before fading to sun.

The Top 10

1. “An Educated Woman Explains Why She Likes
Bluegrass” by Linda Neal Rising

2. “Last Chair” by Maggie Morely

3. “A Holding Time” by Barbra Simpson

4. “Hands Together” by Ace (A. Charles) Baker

5. “Listening to the Ocean” by Kathleen Olive Palmer

6.“34” by Jack Libert

7. “This is how you ready for it” by Roberta
Guthrie Kowald

8. “Prayer for Mother” by Carol Despeaux

9. “Cracked” by Chris Warner

10. “Grah Nade!” by John J. Zerr

Here are the results of our 2012 Landscape Photo Competition. Thank you to everyone who entered and well done to the talented photographers whose images appear in the final selection below.

A big thank you to Committed Photography for providing the following prizes:

• Winner: 16×24 framed print of your winning shot (estimated value of $250)
• Runners up x 2: 16×24 prints unframed (value of $50 each)

Winner

Our landscape photo contest winner is Lijah Hanley. His incredible image of flowers in front of a stormy sky at sunset almost seemed too good to be real! On investigation we confirmed that the image really is representative of the scene that was in front of the photographer. In order to get all of the elements sharp and correctly exposed, the final image is made up of an exposure blend of two bracketed shots taken from exactly the same spot in quick succession. It is an excellent example of using modern digital techniques to capture a challenging scene. Congratulations Lijah!

Zeus by Lijah Hanley

Zeus by Lijah Hanley

“Balsamroot and lupine flowers watch as violent skies unleash their wrath over the Columbia Hills in Washington state.”

Equipment: Canon 5d Mark 2, Canon 17-40mm

Lijah Hanley – Hi, I’m Lijah Hanley and I am 16 years old. My work was recognized by National Geographic in 2009 and they gave me the amazing opportunity to travel to Peru and the Amazon Jungle with National Geographic photographers Bruce Dale and Amy Toensing. My eyes were opened to a whole new world of opportunities in the world of photography and it’s been my obsession ever since. I hope you enjoy my photos from what I hope to be the beginning of a life-long adventure.

Website: lijahhanley.com

Runners-up

Congratulations to our runners-up, Alamsyah Rauf and Florian Breuer!

Old Bridge by Alamsyah Rauf

Old Bridge by Alamsyah Rauf

“Taken in Indonesia, an old pier that was destroyed”

Equipment: Canon 5d mark 2

Alamsyah Rauf – I am freelance photographer

Quiver Trees by Night by Florian Breuer

Quiver Trees by Night by Florian Breuer

“The warm glow of the distant lights of Keetmanshoop contrasts with the cool of the night sky as the Milky Way arches gracefully over a grove of quiver trees. These trees are actually giant aloes, and grow amongst dolerite boulders in hot and dry conditions. Panoramic stitch of 6 exposures, each at 30s, f/2.8, ISO 3200″

Equipment: Canon 40D, Tokina 11-16mm, Nodal Ninja 3 panoramic head

Florian Breuer – Born in 1977, I am a Mathematician, teaching at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
I have been taking pictures (mostly snapshots of my many travels) since I was a teenager, but have only started photographing more seriously since 2

The third competition in our 2012 photo contest series is now open for entries! The theme is “Wildlife”. We are looking for striking, original and beautiful wildlife photographs that reveal the character or behaviour of the subject. Photographs of animals in captivity are eligible for entry but the circumstances must be disclosed in the caption. Photos of pets and domesticated animals may not be entered. For some inspiration, check out the results previous years’ contests: 2009, 2010 & 2011. The deadline for this contest is 30th September 2012.

We have some fantastic prizes on offer including the chance to win a Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR camera (more info).

Prizes

The Canon EOS 60D is designed for photographers who want to take their skills to the next level, offering high performance, a series of creative features, a Vari-angle LCD screen and enhanced ergonomics, this camera empowers photography enthusiasts to capture outstanding stills and Full High Definition (HD) video for unique, creative results. The EOS 60D has an incredible feature set including an 18 MP APS-C CMOS sensor, a Vari-angle 7.7cm 3:2 ratio LCD, Full HD movies, ISO 100-6400 (H:12800), 5.3fps shooting for up to 58 JPEGs, 9-point cross type AF System and more!

We also have the following additional prizes kindly donated by Committed Photography:

• Winner: 16×24 framed print of your winning shot (estimated value of $250)
• Runners up x 2: 16×24 prints unframed (value of $50 each)

Rules

• The contest theme is Wildlife. Photographs of animals in captivity are eligible for entry but the circumstances must be disclosed in the caption. Photos of pets and domesticated animals may not be entered.
• This competition is open to participants worldwide.
• There is no entry fee.
• You must be the photographer and owner of the copyright for any image entered.
• Entrants can submit a maximum of three images to this contest.
• Please keep digital manipulation such as cloning and compositing to a minimum; your photograph should faithfully represent the scene as you saw it. HDR images and stitched panoramas are allowed.
• Submitted images should be 1024 pixels along the long edge and less than 800kb in size.
• Please do not include a border.
• A subtle watermark may be included but it must not detract from the image.
• You will retain copyright of your entries at all times and will always be credited alongside your picture.
• By entering this competition, you grant us a non-exclusive license to display your photograph in connection with this contest. Photographers will always be credited alongside their image.
• We may allow other websites to display a selection of the winning/highly commended images in order to publicise the results of this contest. Photographers will always be credited
  Add a Comment

Horrid Henry Competition

See YOUR character written into a Horrid Henry book and drawn by Tony Ross!

Macmillan Prize Now Includes Digital

as reported by The Bookseller:

The Macmillan Prize, which rewards illustration, has introduced a digital category for the first time, with the deadline approaching on 11th May. The prize now has two separate categories, one for a physical picture book, and one rewarding a storyboard for an enhanced e-book. Students must show interactions such as simple animation, sound effects, tap-and-response effects and other multimedia such as video and audio. The winners of both categories will receive £1,000 and the chance to be published by Macmillan Children's Books. ... The judging panel is chaired by publishing director for Illustrated Publishing Macmillan Children's Books, Suzanne Carnell, with the other judges being children's book illustrators Emily Gravett and Polly Dunbar; children's bookseller Julie Gamble of Blackwell Edinburgh; Lorna Bradbury, children's reviewer at the Daily Telegraph; and Pan Macmillan digital director Sara Lloyd. The prizes will be awarded on 28th May at Foyles Gallery, with the winners' and highly-commended students' work to be exhibited there from 28th May to 1st June.  

Greenhouse Funny Prize Launched

In an effort to attract more humorous submission, the Greenhouse Literary Agency has launched a new prize open to all unagented authors.

For full details follow the link but here are the essentails:

The Greenhouse Funny prize is open to un-agented writers who are currently resident in the UK and Ireland. Entries will be judged by me (that's Julia Chrchill) and guest judge Leah Thaxton, Publisher of Egmont Children's Books (and discoverer of Andy Stanton).

The winner will get an offer of representation from the Greenhouse and a full weekend ticket to the wonderful Festival of Writing that runs 7-9 September '12 (worth £525). The winner will also be presented with a bottle of champagne at the Festival's gala dinner on the Saturday night. The runners up will each get five of my favourite funny books, and maybe even a comedy mug.
...

Entry guidelines:

To get a good sense of the voice and where the character is headed, we'd like to see the first 5,000 words PLUS a short description (a few lines) of the book AND a one page outline that shows the spine of the plot.

If you are submitting a picture book (or shorter fiction that comes in under 5,000 words), then send the complete text.

Please send your entries to [email protected]

Here are the results of our 2012 Pet Photo Competition. Thank you to everyone who entered and well done to the talented photographers whose images appear in the final selection below.

A big thank you to Committed Photography for providing the following prizes:

• Winner: 16×24 framed print of your winning shot (estimated value of $250)
• Runners up x 2: 16×24 prints unframed (value of $50 each)

Winner

Our pet photo contest winner is Donfer Lu, congratulations!

Fly me out of the City by Donfer Lu

“In Taiwan Taipei city, the pressures of life are too heavy. This photo show a French Bulldog hope she fly like her Pigeon friends “

Equipment: Nikon

Donfer Lu – I am a pet photographer from Taiwan. and I have 4 dog girls, I love them. They are the sweetest babies in the world.

Website: dtouchphotography.blogspot.com

Runners-up

Congratulations to our runners-up, Hanne Grønnestad and Heather Buckley!

Let’s Dance To Joy Division by Hanne Grønnestad

Let’s Dance To Joy Division by Hanne Grønnestad

“Photo is taken by Mr. Selftimer, and the models are myself and my rabbit, Pelle. “

Equipment: Canon 450D

Hanne Grønnestad – I am a 19 year old girl from Kopervik, a small town in Western Norway. Presently, I am a senior high school student where I study natural sciences. After graduation I plan to study photography in Norway for a year.
In my spare time I like to photograph, mostly portraits, landscapes and animals. When I am not busy photographing, I like to be in activity and do sports such as running, swimming, climbing and playing tennis.
Furthermore, whenever I have time and money I like to travel to see new exciting places, often where there is an opportunity for good photography locations.
My photography interest started when I was fifteen years old, and received my reflex camera. I started from basics, taking pictures of flowers for example. I developed my knowledge through self -study and with help from friends who volunteered as models. I like when the pictures tell a story, and explain more than meets the eye.

Website: Flickr

Filby at the Park by Heather Buckley

Filby at the Park by Heather Buckley

“Shadow Play”

Equipment: panasonic GH2

Heather Buckley – Been taking pictures for quite a few years now, do not take pictures commercially but just for the love of it.

Website: www.heatherbuckley.co.uk

Highly Commended Images

Our highly commended images are fantastic shots that illustrate the amaz

New "Young Person's" Writing Prize

from The Bookseller:

Hot Keys Books has partnered with the Guardian to launch a new young person's writing prize. The publisher says it is on the hunt for two "passionate young writers" between the ages of 18 and 25, providing the winners with the "chance to be published" and editorial support and advice. The entrants can either write for children aged nine-12 or for young adults aged 13 to 19.

From hardboiled detectives to murderers, leprechauns, spies and even giraffe narrators, when it comes to the diverse and unique entries in our free Your Story contest, the gang’s all here.

If you have a spare moment this weekend for a writing challenge, take five minutes and give it a whirl.

Basically, in every issue we give our readers a chance to get published in Writer’s Digest by running a prompt and asking them to do one of two things in response to it: Write a full short story, or write a one-sentence opener to a short story.

For our March/April 2012 issue, we invited our readers to go the one-sentence route for this writing prompt:

Write the first line to a story incorporating these three words: Cinderella, midnight, and behave.

Want in? Post your entry in the Comments section of this post, and it’ll automatically be entered in the competition.

The rules:

• Your sentence (just one!) must be 25 words or fewer. Entries of 26 words will be DQ’d (even though it’s my lucky number).
• The deadline is April 10, 2012.
• One entry per person, please.
• How it all works: We’ll select the top 10 entries and post them here. In mid-April, readers will vote for their favorites to help rank the winners.
• This is a free writing competition. The prize is publication in WD.
• You can also submit your sentence via the form here.
• Finally, as we say about this publication contest in the magazine: “You can be funny, poignant, witty, etc. It is, after all, your story.”

Good luck! One of the most fun things we get to do around here every issue is read them all, and we appreciate every single word that comes in.

I’ll be back next Friday with my series on vintage discoveries from the WD archives—and some free books. Stay tuned.

(And if you landed here looking for general advice on submitting short fiction to publications, check out my colleague Scott Francis’ excellent post on 10 rules for submitting short stories.)

Happy Friday.

The second competition in our 2012 photo contest series is now open for entries! The theme is “Landscapes”. We are looking for striking, original and beautiful landscape photographs taken anywhere in the world. For some inspiration, checkout the results of last year’s Landscape Photo Contest. The deadline for this contest is 30th June 2012.

We have some fantastic prizes on offer including the chance to win a Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR camera (more info).

Prizes

The Canon EOS 60D is designed for photographers who want to take their skills to the next level, offering high performance, a series of creative features, a Vari-angle LCD screen and enhanced ergonomics, this camera empowers photography enthusiasts to capture outstanding stills and Full High Definition (HD) video for unique, creative results. The EOS 60D has an incredible feature set including an 18 MP APS-C CMOS sensor, a Vari-angle 7.7cm 3:2 ratio LCD, Full HD movies, ISO 100-6400 (H:12800), 5.3fps shooting for up to 58 JPEGs, 9-point cross type AF System and more!

We also have the following additional prizes kindly donated by Committed Photography:

• Winner: 16×24 framed print of your winning shot (estimated value of $250)
• Runners up x 2: 16×24 prints unframed (value of $50 each)

Rules

• The contest theme is Landscapes.
• This competition is open to participants worldwide.
• There is no entry fee.
• You must be the photographer and owner of the copyright for any image entered.
• Entrants can submit a maximum of three images to this contest.
• Please keep digital manipulation such as cloning and compositing to a minimum; your photograph should faithfully represent the scene as you saw it. HDR images and stitched panoramas are allowed.
• Submitted images should be 1024 pixels along the long edge and less than 800kb in size.
• Please do not include a border.
• A subtle watermark may be included but it must not detract from the image.
• You will retain copyright of your entries at all times and will always be credited alongside your picture.
• By entering this competition, you grant us a non-exclusive license to display your photograph in connection with this contest. Photographers will always be credited alongside their image.
• We may allow other websites to display a selection of the winning/highly commended images in order to publicise the results of this contest. Photographers will always be credited alongside their image.
• Under no-circumstance will we use submitted images for commercial gain unless it has been agreed on a case by case basis with the photographer.
• Please note that entries are kept private (i.e. you cannot browse the other submissions).
• The deadline for entry is 30th June 2012.
• Winners will be announced by 31st July 2012.

» Click here to Enter this Contest «

The very narrow annual submission window is now open for the much-buzzed-about Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (learn about it here). If you’re an unpublished or self-published first-time novelist, you’re eligible to enter … Read more

Win A Visit from Jan Brett - Anywhere In The World!

New York Times #1 bestselling and beloved children's author/ artist, Jan Brett, launched her second annual Facebook contest through Wizehive's Online Contest Manager; . The online contest encourages parents, teachers, and librarians to enter to win a school or library visit from Brett during the 2012-2013 school year. Jan Brett's use of social media is a case study worthy example of connecting directly with fans. Within an hour of opening, the contest had already accrued hundreds of entries. Tens of thousands of entries are expected by the time the contest ends on April 9, 2012.

Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the 100 Television/Movie Script winners of the 80th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition! Read more