CONTEST: Sleeping Beauty Story

Exciting news, word nerds! Today marks the beginning of my first ever contest!

As you may know, I’ve recently been posting a short story. I wrote it for a contest last year, but unfortunately missed the submission deadline. But guess what! The publishing house that ran the contest is doing another one! This time, it’s retellings of Sleeping Beauty.

But this post isn’t just to tell you about the contest. (Though for all you writers out there, go for it!) No, I am asking for your help. I want to enter, but I want you to come up with the premise. (And no, this is in no way me being lazy because I can’t think of an idea. At least, not entirely.)

But Kate, you might be asking, what’s in it for me?

Well, clever reader, I’ll tell you what. The winner will receive A PRIZE!

And what is that prize? Well, I will be in contact with the winner throughout the writing process, getting input and sharing my ideas. In addition, the winner will get the option of either A) naming one of the main characters or B) having a character named after them. He or she will also receive a copy of the story before anyone else gets to see it. Finally, should I win the writing contest, the winner will get a copy of the book the story appears in. I’ll even sign it!

Now that I have your attention, I’ll explain how it’s all going to work. To enter, you need to send me a one-sentence premise. For example, my short story, Nova’s Test, has the following premise: An enchantress-in-training must help a prince break the curse she cast on him.

Before you all go crazy, here are a few ground rules (for the actual guidelines, check out the Contest Rules).

1. The premise must be based on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. You can find the Charles Perrault version here and the Brothers Grimm version here.

2. All entries should be made through the submission form on my Contact page. This is for my own sanity. I don’t want to have to keep track of submissions in five different places.

3. You can enter more than one idea. But I will only pick one. In this case, one really good idea has a better chance of winning than a lot of weak entries.

4. Include a genre. Do you imagine the story as sci-fi, fantasy, a modernization? Let me know!

5. You can enter ideas until Friday, July 3rd. I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, July 7th.

So, to enter, head over to my Contact page. Fill out the contact form at the bottom with your name and e-mail address. Then, specify the genre of story you imagine. Finally, wow me with a one-sentence premise for a winning story.

I think that’s all. But let me know if you have any questions or if I need to clarify anything.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Until next time, word nerds!