Category: Contests

Home > Contests

January Featured Author of of the Month: Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC

January 1, 2020 by in category Contests, Featured Author of the Month tagged as , , ,

The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC (BWG), founded in 2006, is a community of mutually supportive, fiction and nonfiction authors based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The members are as different from each other as their stories, spanning a range of genres including: children’s, fantasy, humor, inspiration, literary, memoir, mystery, paranormal, romance, science fiction, women’s fiction, and young adult.

BWG has published five anthologies. Each anthology has an overall theme—broadly interpreted—but includes a variety of genres, and all but the first anthology include stories from the winner(s) of The Bethlehem Writers Short Story Award. Their first anthology, A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (2009), won two Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Best Anthology and Best Short Fiction.

Besides anthologies and yearly writing contests, the group publishes a quarterly literary journal, The Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, and hosts twice monthly writing workshops and a critique groups for local members.  You can see the schedule of BWG meetings and events, including author signings  here.

A CHRISTMAS SAMPLER: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales
Buy from Amazon Kindle
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Barnes and Noble
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from IndieBound

About A Christmas Sampler

Christmas is a time for love, laughter, and wonder. A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales, is an award-winning compilation of twenty-three Christmas stories commissioned by the Bethlehem Writers Group to capture all of Christmas’s myriad possibilities.

Paul Weidknecht’s “Those Things Remembered” is about a long-time mall Santa who realizes he has forgotten a child’s name. Courtney Annicchiarico believes against all evidence that she is pregnant in “Mis-conceptions.” Hilarity reigns in Headley Hauser’s explanation of a bachelor’s Christmas traditions in “A Modern Single Holiday.” In Carol L. Wright’s “You Better Watch Out” a small-town lawyer takes on a mystery when Santa falls from her roof three weeks before Christmas. In “Walter and Stella,” by Ralph Hieb, Walter finds himself dead on Christmas Eve, but refuses to leave his beloved alone for the holiday. And in “The Perfect Gift,” Emily P. W. Murphy explores that moment in a relationship when one partner is ready for marriage, and the other seems not to notice.

This premier anthology also features stories by Jeff Baird, Carol A. Hanzl Birkas, Cindy Kelly, Jerome W. McFadden, Stanley W. McFarland, Sally Wyman Paradysz, Jo Ann Schaffer, and Will Wright.
These heartwarming, hope-filled, and hilarious tales will delight readers of any age.


Next up for BWG

BWG is working on their sixth anthology, Fur, Feathers, & Scales: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales. 

In connection with this anthology, they are hosting The Bethlehem Writers 2020 Short Story Award

The 2020 Short Story Award will open on January 1, 2020.  The theme will be Animal Stories,broadly interpreted. Stories of 2,000 words or fewer about WILD ANIMALSPETS, or IMAGINARY BEASTS will be welcome (so long as an animal is an important character or element of the story).

The winner will receive $200 and may be offered publication in the above mentioned upcoming anthology. The 2020 Guest Judge is Edgar Award winning and NYT best-selling author Peter Abrahams/Spenser Quinn.

0 0 Read more

2019 Orange Rose Contest

March 8, 2019 by in category Writing Contest tagged as ,
Orange Roses and Title 2019 Orange Rose Contest

The Orange Rose Contest is entering its 36th year! This storied contest has in its roster many finalists who are now published.

Why has the ORC enjoyed this level of success? It’s in large part due to the exceptional judges, both first round published author and final editor/agent judges, and their comprehensive score sheets.

Charlotte Lobb | The Orange Rose Contest | A Slice of Orange
Charolott Lobb

The top prize, the coveted Charlotte Award, is given in honor of long-time OCC member Charlotte Lobb, who passed away in 2013. Charlotte was a tireless volunteer and supporter of this chapter and its members, as well as a multi-published author of over 60 books. She was known for her generosity of spirit and great sense of humor. It is fitting that we present this top award to an unpublished writer in honor of Charlotte’s mentorship and encouragement of fledgling writers. One more thing, Charlotte herself was an Orange Rose finalist back in the day.

The contest opens January 15, 2019 and closes April 30, 2019.

RWA-OCC/EVA/LARA/SD members $25

All other RWA members $35

For more information or to enter the contest: http://occrwa.org/contests/orange-rose-contest/contest-registration/

0 0 Read more

The Bethlehem Writers Round Table 2019 Short Story Award

March 4, 2019 by in category Writing Contest tagged as , , ,

The 2019 Short Story Award will open on January 1, 2019

Our theme will be Animal Stories, broadly interpreted.

Stories of 2,000 words or fewer about WILD ANIMALS,PETS, or IMAGINARY BEASTS will be welcome (so long as an animal is an important character or element of the story).


The winner will receive $200 and may be offered publication in our upcoming anthology.

For more information or to enter follow this link.

A few writing promts to help you come up with a winning story.

0 0 Read more

Melody of Love Romance Novel Contest

February 23, 2019 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Contests, Writing Contest

2019 Melody of Love 

Sponsor: Music City Romance Writers
Fees: $22 for MCRW Members, $27 for other RWA Members, $32 for Non-RWA Members

Deadline: February 28, 2019

Eligibility: Open to published and unpublished authors over the age of 18. The manuscript entered must be the author’s original work and be unpublished and uncontracted at the time of deadline and unpublished during the contest itself. Manuscript must also meet minimum word count lengths.

Entry: First 25 pages with a maximum of 7,500 words.

Categories: Contemporary, Mainstream/Women’s Fiction, FF&P (Futuristic, Fantasy, & Paranormal), Historical, Young Adult. All heat levels welcome.

Judges: Judging is on a point basis, with all manuscripts judged by three authors from a pool of PAN, PRO, and trained general members. Judges are highly encouraged to comment and critique each entry.

FMI, check out our full rules at https://musiccityrwa.blogspot.com/p/melody-of-love-2019-rules-in-full.htmland the simplified registration page at: https://musiccityrwa.blogspot.com/p/contest-registration.html  It is recommended you read the full rules and category descriptions and such before entering.

0 0 Read more

The 2019 Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award

February 7, 2019 by in category Contests, Writing Contest tagged as , , , ,
Short Story Contest | Bethlehem Writers Group | A Slice of Orange

The 2019 Short Story Award Is Now Accepting Entries

The theme is  Animal Stories, broadly interpreted.
Stories of 2,000 words or fewer about

WILD ANIMALSPETS, or IMAGINARY BEASTS

are welcome
(so long as an animal is an important
character or element of the story)
The winner will receive $200 
and may be offered publication in BWG’s upcoming anthology,

Fur, Feathers & Scales
Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales.

For more information or to enter the contest go to The 2019 Short Story Award.

Just in case you need some ideas, here are a few writing prompts.

0 0 Read more

Copyright ©2017 A Slice of Orange. All Rights Reserved. ~PROUDLY POWERED BY WORDPRESS ~ CREATED BY ISHYOBOY.COM

>