Won a writing contest!

[Benzadmiral]

Late last year my local library sponsored a "Winter Writing Contest." Entries could be short story, essay, or poem, less than 1500 words, with the theme of "Noo Awlins [sic] Turns 300!" They gave us ten infuriatingly abstract words, at least of seven of which had to be in your submission (revelry, anniversary, inheritance, and commemorate were some of them). I had no idea what I could possibly say about this place. Then my lady friend Miss Linda said, "Ghosts." And I was off and running, and even managed to use eight of the ten words.

Well! I won first prize, can ya believe it? A "$100 value prize pack," they say, is what I've won. I'm slated to read my selection aloud tonight at one of the library branches with the other two winners.

A selection:
*
*
Jean-Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, grinned back. “Huey, mon ami! Glad I am that you could join us. Permit me to introduce a countryman of mine, the esteemed governor of our colony before I built my city: Antoine de La Mothe.”

“I prefer to be known as Sieur de la Cadillac.” The older ghost pointedly ignored the thick-fingered hand that the newcomer held out.

“Well, Monsieur Caddy-ack, I’m Huey P. Long. Everybody around here calls me the Kingfish.” Huey grinned. “One thing about bein’ dead, cigars cain’t hurt you any more. Care for a Cuban, Antoine?”
*
*
The contest flyer stressed originality, and that's what I gave 'em. (I hope the prize pack isn't a hundred bucks' worth of bubble gum.)

 

[YKMV]

@Benzadmiral
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Sounds like a great story you wrote and I would love to read the rest..

 

[Macfrommichigan]

You are now a man of letters, a published author, and, as always, a gentleman. Congrats, sir!

 

[August West]

“Well, Monsieur Caddy-ack, I’m Huey P. Long. Everybody around here calls me the Kingfish.” Huey grinned. “One thing about bein’ dead, cigars cain’t hurt you any more. Care for a Cuban, Antoine?”

Gold.

 

[emwolf]

I used to judge a writing contest when I worked at a newspaper in Champaign, IL. It was really a pleasure because most of them were pretty good. Some of them were actually excellent. I miss doing that.

 

[Benzadmiral]

“Well, Monsieur Caddy-ack, I’m Huey P. Long. Everybody around here calls me the Kingfish.” Huey grinned. “One thing about bein’ dead, cigars cain’t hurt you any more. Care for a Cuban, Antoine?”

Gold.

Thank you, monsieur! I think I'll have fun tonight reading it. Oral interp; haven't done it in a few years. Should be fun playing Bienville, Cadillac, and the rollicking Huey.

The positive element I managed to find and bring out was that the people who colonized Louisiana had to be tough. The ones who played it safe stayed home in France or Spain, but the ones who came here and dealt with fires, floods, hurricanes, and yellow fever were tough -- real survivors.

 

[August West]

The positive element I managed to find and bring out was that the people who colonized Louisiana had to be tough. The ones who played it safe stayed home in France or Spain, but the ones who came here and dealt with fires, floods, hurricanes, and yellow fever were tough -- real survivors.

Some were runnin' from something.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Some were runnin' from something.

True. But even they had to be tough to survive the long sea passage!

 

[August West]

True. But even they had to be tough to survive the long sea passage!

Absolutely!

 

[Raissermesser]

Late last year my local library sponsored a "Winter Writing Contest." Entries could be short story, essay, or poem, less than 1500 words, with the theme of "Noo Awlins [sic] Turns 300!" They gave us ten infuriatingly abstract words, at least of seven of which had to be in your submission (revelry, anniversary, inheritance, and commemorate were some of them). I had no idea what I could possibly say about this place. Then my lady friend Miss Linda said, "Ghosts." And I was off and running, and even managed to use eight of the ten words.

Well! I won first prize, can ya believe it? A "$100 value prize pack," they say, is what I've won. I'm slated to read my selection aloud tonight at one of the library branches with the other two winners.

A selection:
*
*
Jean-Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, grinned back. “Huey, mon ami! Glad I am that you could join us. Permit me to introduce a countryman of mine, the esteemed governor of our colony before I built my city: Antoine de La Mothe.”

“I prefer to be known as Sieur de la Cadillac.” The older ghost pointedly ignored the thick-fingered hand that the newcomer held out.

“Well, Monsieur Caddy-ack, I’m Huey P. Long. Everybody around here calls me the Kingfish.” Huey grinned. “One thing about bein’ dead, cigars cain’t hurt you any more. Care for a Cuban, Antoine?”
*
*
The contest flyer stressed originality, and that's what I gave 'em. (I hope the prize pack isn't a hundred bucks' worth of bubble gum.)

Congratulations! Will the library publish it online anywhere? Would be nice to read it.

 

[KeenDogg]

Bravo!!!! So happy for you!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[Benzadmiral]

Congratulations! Will the library publish it online anywhere? Would be nice to read it.

I dunno if they will. I can post the text here -- it's only 980 words -- but I'm not sure if the site's rules permit it.

 

[ajkel64]

Congratulations @Benzadmiral, well done.

 

[oc_in_fw]

I was hoping you’d won a major award.

 

[Raissermesser]

I dunno if they will. I can post the text here -- it's only 980 words -- but I'm not sure if the site's rules permit it.

Word of caution: If the library doesn't publish it and you want to submit it somewhere, putting it on a public forum usually counts as publication. That means the best you could get from a publication is 2nd publication rights.

 

[simon1]

I dunno if they will. I can post the text here -- it's only 980 words -- but I'm not sure if the site's rules permit it.

If it's only 980 words...make several posts. Like a series. 1,500 words was the minimum for what I had to write. 980 words is a pretty tight frame to put a good story in...you did well. I read a little novel about Huey as an assignment...talk about corruption. I still remember a line from the book about his womanizing..."He stuck his #### in so many trash cans."

I want to read it.

Post It...Post It...Post It!

 

[oc_in_fw]

Word of caution: If the library doesn't publish it and you want to submit it somewhere, putting it on a public forum usually counts as publication. That means the best you could get from a publication is 2nd publication rights.

Great point. I have a friend that writes poetry, and she never shares online until after the fact (though she sends it to me via PM) for that reason. Once you post it, it’s no longer yours.

 

[simon1]

Great point. I have a friend that writes poetry, and she never shares online until after the fact (though she sends it to me via PM) for that reason. Once you post it, it’s no longer yours.

That is a valid point...very valid.

 

[Raissermesser]

Great point. I have a friend that writes poetry, and she never shares online until after the fact (though she sends it to me via PM) for that reason. Once you post it, it’s no longer yours.

Well...this depends on things like Terms of Service and the country where it's posted. In the US, once you write something, you have the copyright. You can register your work with the US Copyright Office by filling out forms and sending them a sample, but I'm not aware of anyone who actually does that. But unless you waive your copyright (always check Terms of Service, especially for your e-mail), a big issue is first publication rights. As a rule of thumb, when a work appears in public, it counts as publication. Once that happens, the best a writer can hope to get is to sell for republication, like a previously published short story that shows up in an anthology.

If a writer intends to self-publish a work through something like Amazon, posting it elsewhere for free can affect pricing. Amazon direct publication has price matching, so if you had a work for $4.99 US there, but free elsewhere, Amazon is going to drop the price to free.

 

[Raissermesser]

Great point. I have a friend that writes poetry, and she never shares online until after the fact (though she sends it to me via PM) for that reason. Once you post it, it’s no longer yours.

BTW, this holds for photos and cute mems, too, and if people are in the photo, they also have rights, unless they signed a waiver. So if you want to use artwork found on the Internet, make sure you have permission, or the artwork is specifically released for reuse and/or reuse with modification, and, if it's something you selling, for commercial use as well.