Submission rules for 2017 NOWW Writers Contest

19th Annual NOWW Writing Contest

•  Poetry 
  One entry consists of 3-5 poems
  
•  Poems may be in any style or theme
  
•  Combined line count from all poems must be between 50-100 lines
  
  Short Fiction
    A complete piece of literary fiction
    Entry must be between 2000-3500 words

• Novel Excerpt – Speculative Fiction
   A first chapter (or part of a chapter) from a novel
   Entry may be up to 3000 words
  Central to the work are elements, settings and characters that are speculative and stem fromgenres such as (but not limited to) science fiction, fantasy, science fantasy, horror, alternative history and magic realism.

• Creative Nonfiction
  A complete piece of creative nonfiction; note that memoir and personal essay can be considered creative nonfiction
  Entry must be between 1500-3000 words

• Bill MacDonald Prize for Prose
  A complete piece of literary fiction
  This prize will alternate yearly between creative nonfiction and fiction
   A Northwestern Ontario setting must be central to the work. Northwestern Ontario comprisesthe districts of Thunder Bay, Rainy River, and Kenora.
  An entry submitted to this category may not be submitted to any other category
  Entry must be between 1500-3000 words

• Eligible Writers
  This contest is open to individuals (Canadian and International) aged 18 and over
  Deadline
  Entries must be emailed no later than midnight E.S.T March 31st, 2017
  
  Rules
  Entries must be original and unpublished
  Entries must be written in English
    Entries must not bear authors’ name; entries that do will be disqualified

•   Authors agree that winning entries may be read at NOWW’s year-end celebration and published online on NOWW’s website and in the NOWW newsletter without compensation to the author beyond that of the awarded prize money. With these exceptions, the author retains copyright in all work submitted. Winning entries may be edited prior to publication.
  
•   Winners must provide a photo and brief biography
  Judging Process
  

•   Judging is blind
  
•   Screeners will select six finalists per category to be sent to a final judge
  
•   Final judges reserve the right not to select winners if, in their opinion, none of the entries is of
  publishable quality
  
  Results
    Winners will be announced at NOWW’s year-end celebration and on the NOWW website on or after May 13th, 2017
  The finalists for each category will be notified by email on or after May 13th, 2017 that their entries were shortlisted

• Prizes
  
•   The categories of poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, and novel excerpt-speculative fiction are each awarded a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize
  
•   1st prize is awarded $125
  
•   2nd prize is awarded $75
  
•   3rd prize is awarded $50
  
•   The Bill MacDonald Prize for Prose will be awarded one prize of $125 each year
  
•   Each poetry prize winner will include a complete entry (not an individual poem)
  
  Entry Fee
  Entry is free for NOWW members in good standing
  Non-members must pay a fee of $10 in Canadian funds per entry
  Payment may be made online through PayPal at the time of submission
  Cheques must be payable to NOWW and must be received by regular mail or hand delivered no later than midnight March 31st, 2017

• How to Submit
  

•   Up to two (2) entries may be made per category
  
•   Only electronic submissions will be accepted
  
•   We prefer submissions in Microsoft Word. If your work was created in another word processor,
  you can convert the file to Microsoft Word and check the document for conversion errors. We
  will also accept RTF or PDF files.
  
  

All files are to be labelled with the category and the submission title of your entry.

o

Examples: "Novel Excerpt Dracula is Back.doc" or "Poetry Dreaming of Summer.doc
Prose manuscripts must be double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 point font with one-inch margins on all sides and the pages numbered
Poetry must be single-spaced in Times New Roman 12 point font with one-inch (or greater) margins on all sides and the pages numbered.  Each entry must include a cover page in a separate file:

o Name
o Emailaddress
o Mailingaddress
o Phonenumber
o Titleofentry
o Category
o Linecount(poetryonly)
o Word count (all prose categories) o Howyouheardaboutthecontest

•   If your name appears anywhere besides the cover page, the entry will be disqualified
  
•   Counts must be exact, not estimates (do not include the title in the word count)
  
•   Send entries to: admin@nowwwriters.ca
  
•   Pay entry fees via PayPal on our website
  
•   Send entry fees by cheque to: NOWW Writing Contest
  Box 425
  1100 Memorial Avenue Thunder Bay, ON
  P7B 4A3
  
•   For more information, contact Don at admin@nowwwriters.ca