Any member of the Baldwin Writers Group with a paid membership may submit as many entries as they like at $10 per submission.

The contest is also open to writers who live in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Texas. Writers other than BWG members may submit as many entries as they like at $15 per submission.

Categories are Short Story, Essay and Poetry.

The theme for the contest is courage and endurance. Entries that do not follow the theme are unlikely to win.

• The first, second and third place winners of all three categories will be printed in a BWG anthology to be sold locally and on Amazon.com.
• First prize (for each category) is $50 and one copy of the BWG anthology.
• Second and Third prizewinners (for each category) receive one copy of the BWG anthology.
• Short stories should be 3500 words or less.
• Essays should be 1500 words or less.
• There are no word length limitations on poems.
• The deadline is March 31, 2012.
• The deadline for payment is April 7, 2012.
• Winners will be announced by May 15, 2012.
• The BWG book will be printed by June 30, 2012.

Submission Guidelines:

All entries must be original and unpublished. Entries must not have been a winner of any previous Baldwin Writers Group Contests. Writers who have won previous BWG contests are welcome to submit an entry so long as the entry is original, unpublished and not a winning entry of a previous BWG contest.

All entries must be in Microsoft Word (.doc) format, 10pt. Times New Roman font, double-spaced (poetry may be single-spaced). 8.5 wide x 11 tall. 1 inch margins (top, bottom, left, right). Gutter 0, Header and footer .5 each. Entries not following these guidelines are less likely to win.

For each entry include a cover page with the following:

1. Title of Entry
2. Category (Short Story, Essay, Poetry)
3. Word count (Poetry may exclude word count)
4. Name
5. Address
6. Phone Number
7. E-Mail address
8. Indicate if over or under 18 years of age. If under 18, the entry must be accompanied with the name of parent or legal guardian submitted as follows: I, (name of parent or legal guardian), am the (parent/legal guardian) of (name of writer) and give permission to the Baldwin Writers Group to enter this work into their writing contest and to use it as indicated in their rules for the contest.

On each entry put title and page # at the top of each page. Do not include your name due to blind judging.

Submissions will not be returned. Keep a copy of your submission.

BWG retains the rights to publish the winning entries in print and on the Internet. All other rights are retained by the author. Entrants agree to allow BWG to use their name and entry for promotions of this and following events.

Multiple entries in all categories are welcome. Please submit all entries separately.

E-mail your entry AS AN ATTACHMENT to steven@baldwinwritersgroup.com. E-mailed entries should be in Word document (.doc) format. All other criteria are the same as listed above. No e-mail will be processed until the entry fee is received. If the entry fee is not received by one week after the deadline, the submission will be considered late even if the document is received prior to the deadline.

Mail payment to:

Baldwin Writers Group
c/o Writing Contest
23870 County Road 55
Loxley, AL 36551

Include the following information with your payment:

• Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• E-Mail Address
• Title and Category (Short Story, Essay, Poetry) of each entry

All entries must be "family friendly". Any writing with adult content will not be entered into the contest.

Please note that all BWG officers are volunteers and participate out of love and dedication to the craft of writing. BWG is a not-for-profit organization. The funds collected cover operating and publishing expenses. All profits for this project go to the J. Nolan White family to help them recover from the fire loss of their home.