Judges for First Tier of Golden Nib Contest Announced; Deadline is July 15

Write by the Rails, the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club (VWC) announces the call for submissions for the first tier of VWC’s Golden Nib Writing Contest.

Fiction, non-fiction and poetry entries are due July 15 and will be judged by a first-tier panel that includes Lillian Orlich, Osbourn Park High School guidance counselor who is completing 60 years of service in Prince William County Public Schools; Kari Pugh, Editor, Prince William Today, Northern Virginia Media Services; and Sofia Starnes, current Poet Laureate of Virginia.

About the VWC Golden Nib Writing Contest

The Golden Nib is a two-tier writing competition. Entries are submitted and judged at the VWC chapter level first. Each chapter submits only its first-place winning entries for VWC statewide judging (second tier). Entrants who live within the jurisdiction of a VWC chapter must enter the first tier of the competition through that chapter. Residents living in an area where no chapter exists must submit their entries to the chapter located closest to them. First-place chapter winners must either be a current member of the VWC or must join the VWC to advance to the state-level competition – a membership application and payment of $15 first year dues must accompany the entry.

Write by the Rails Contest Rules

Write by the Rails’ first tier contest rules mirror the VWC contest requirements – further information on the state-level process is available at: www.virginiawritersclub.org.  Entries will be accepted in the categories of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Write by the Rails will recognize 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd place winners in each category.

1. Manuscripts must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant, and must not have won a prize at any level in any other competition. Submissions can come from entries published in your personal blogs. Writing published in blogs other than your own or on social network sites or in an online publication are ineligible and should not be submitted.

2. Entrants may submit one entry per category of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Fiction and non-fiction entries must be no longer than 3,500 words. Poetry entries must be no longer than 50 lines.

3. Format: Submissions not in accord with this format and other rules will be disqualified:

      a. Detachable cover sheet including author’s name, address, telephone number, email address (if available), category (fiction, non-fiction, poetry), title of entry and word count.

      b. All other pages must show contest category, title and page number in the header. If the author’s name appears on any other page of the manuscript, the entry will be disqualified.

      c. Prose (fiction and non-fiction) manuscripts must be printed in a plain and legible font, such as Times New Roman in 12-to 14- pitch. Manuscripts must be printed on 8 ½ by 11-inch white paper, double-spaced, with one-inch margins top, bottom and left, and a ragged right margin.

      d. Poetry manuscripts must be printed in a plain, legible font, such as Times New Roman in 12- to 13-pitch, Manuscripts must be printed on 8 ½ by 11-inch white paper with 1-inch margins top and bottom.

4. Submissions must include an original and one copy of the manuscript.

5. VWC state-level awards are 1^st Place, $100; 2^nd Place, $50; and 3^rd Place, $25. State winning entries in each category will be published in Portable Data File (*.pdf) format, on the VWC Web site. All other rights remain the property of the author.

There are ten VWC chapters in the state. Only first-place winners from the chapters will be eligible for the state contest. That means only 30 entries will be forwarded for the State competition – 10 entries total per category (fiction, non-fiction, poetry) – by the state deadline of Sept. 3. Winners of State VWC Contest will be announced and awards presented at the State VWC Annual Meeting on November 2.

Deadline for the first tier of the competition is July 15, 2013.  Send entries to: 2013 VWC Golden Nib Contest, c/o June Forte, 12702 Valleywood Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22192.  No electronic entries will be accepted.