Angela and I have received many excited emails from contestants who are literally dancing in their pants waiting to hear the final results. We love how proud you all are of your submissions and we're looking forward to revealing the winners in our April issue which should be live by Monday, the 7th (that's all in the hands of our webmaster).So you know, the Top 10 have already been notified. The first, second, and third place winners have been chosen by literary agent, Kristin Nelson who had some very nice things to say about the writer she chose for 1st place. (Personally, if I were that contestant, I'd immediately follow up on that!) So, how's that for a little added excitement to carry you all through the weekend? ;-)
The Top 3 winners and the 7 runners up will have their pictures, bios, and stories featured, and the 25 honorable mentions will also be named and congratulated in our April issue.
I will say that it was a VERY tough decision picking only 35 winners out of all the entries we received. It took weeks of reading, tallying, rereading, and deliberating. There were so many phenomenal entries that, literally, some of the choices came down to judging between two great stories, and the one with the correct punctuation was chosen. So, everything counts!
I will give you a little hint about the winners... The Top 35 winning stories crossed every possible genre from romance to sci-fi. There were stories that made us laugh, cry, cheer, think, see things from a different perspective, and examine a small incident or moment in time. We were saddened, inspired, and moved in so many ways. There were stories with clever twists and very simple stories telling simple truths about what it sometimes means to be a woman. But there was just something in the winning entries that resonated with us.
Honestly, every story that was submitted, even the stories that didn't make it into the Top 35, had something about them that enriched our lives from having read them. For those of you who did not win, please keep writing, and never, ever, give up on your dream. You are all winners just for believing in yourselves and sending your stories out into the world.
Much love and admiration,
Annette & Angela
Hi! Have the Honorable Mentions been notified?
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThe Honorable Mentions have NOT been notified yet. Please sit tight. I will try my best and collect all the information from the guest judges and send that info out before the issue goes live on Monday.
Thank you all for being so patient. We've been moving as fast as humanly possible -- tallying all the scores, double-checking, and finding the email addys and snail mail addys from the blind judging, and making sure they match up. It's a very involved process. We check, double-check, and triple-check, to make sure we have all the proper scores and results. We want to ensure that everything submitted to us by the guest judges is correct, fair, and unbiased. I appreciate your patience, and we are very close!
Warmest,
Angela
Thank you. I feel like a little kid, "Are we there yet, Are we there yet?" You must be exhausted by the time limit you've had between finding out the top ten later than usual and needing to get the April issue out. I think we all understand that it is a hard job. But it's not a thankless job...we all love you guys for doing it!
ReplyDeleteYes, we really appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteThank you ladies, again, for encouraging women writers to submit and hone their abilities. This was my first entry to one of your contests but it won't be my last.
ReplyDeleteMy best,
Colleen Cook
Yes, thank you for all of the time and effort you put into providing this writing contest for us. You are greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Sarah
Hi! Did I miss the announcement of the winners or am I maybe looking in the wrong place? Or are we still waiting? No pressure - just want to make sure I'm not overlooking it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm pretty sure the announcement is not available until the April issue is up. I don't know if honorable mentions have been notified, but the top 10 have been.
ReplyDeleteHave any of the other top 10 been notified that they got 1st, 2nd or 3rd?
ReplyDelete