[stylist] To all writers

Fri Feb 24 17:05:10 UTC 2017

Hello Writers, The 2017 Writing Contest put on by the National Federation
of the Blind Writers' Division is underway and accepting entries through
April 1st. This contest is for youth and adults. Blind as well as sighted
friends and family are encouraged to put your best forward and showcase
your talents.
The complete guidelines are attached and pasted below. Please read
carefully.
Myself, the division board members and the great judges are all looking
forward to reading your entries.
Good luck.
Eve Sanchez

President, National Federation of the Blind Writers' Division
Moderator, (CHANT) Community Hoping for Accessibility in Non-Abrahamic
Traditions
Member, Slate & Style Editing Team
Editor, Tapestry, a TAWN publication
"You do not need to have vision to see the stars."

2017 WRITING CONTEST GUIDELINES

The annual youth and adult writing contests sponsored by the NFB Writers’
Division will open January 1st and close April 1st for all aspiring writers
whether blind, sighted or visually impaired.

Adult contest categories are: short Fiction, non-fiction, stories for
youth, and poetry.

Youth contest categories are: Short fiction and poetry. The youth contest
is divided into three groups, determined by grade level – elementary,
middle, and high school.

As always, in both adult and youth contests, there may be up to three prize
winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd), and one or more receiving honorable mention.
Additionally, a prize winning entry may be published within the Writers’
Division’s magazine, Slate & Style.

All contest winners will be announced during the first week of July, at the
Writers' Division business meeting, during the NFB national convention to
be held in Orlando, Florida.

PRIZES

*Youth contest winners will receive $30 for 1st place, $20 for 2nd place,
and $10 for 3rd place.

*Adult contest winners will receive $100 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd place,
and $25 for 3rd place.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

YOUTH CONTESTS

*This is a contest for students who use Braille.

*Note: if you are 18 years old, or older, you must enter the adult contest.

*Entries must be submitted in hand embossed Braille, either with a slate
and stylus or Braille writer, and there are no exceptions.

*Submissions must be Brailled by the entrant.

*All submissions, no matter your grade level, must be in contracted
Braille. Let us know if you “know” or are “learning” contracted Braille.
Additionally, let us know if you have chosen to use UEB, or not.

*Each entrant must provide an identical electronic copy of the cover letter
and contest entry as a Microsoft Word file [doc] or as a Rich Text Format
[rtf] file).

*Attach the electronic copies to an email and send them to- EvaMarie
Sanchez at thirdeyeonlyinaz at gmail.com.

*Send your hardcopy Braille and cover letter to:

EvaMarie Sanchez

1901 N Wilmot Road apt 1239, Tucson, Arizona 85712

COVER LETTER

Entries must be accompanied by a cover letter containing entrant's
information: Name, address, phone, e-mail, title of the entry, school, and
grade of entrant.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

*We will consider only unpublished original entries.

*Youth short fiction stories submissions cannot be more than 1,000 words,
and poetry of no more than 50 lines.

*Authors of either poetry or fiction are encouraged to submit multiple
pieces.

Youth ENTRY FEES – None

Are you the best Brailler in the contest? Be sure to double check your
work. Remember to use Braille paper so the Braille is easy to read. Good
luck!

ADULT CONTEST

*Note: this contest is for everyone 18 years old, or older. One need not be
blind to enter.

*We will consider only unpublished original entries.

*Fiction short stories can be of any main stream genre, and cannot exceed
3,000 words.

*Non-fiction entries should be either a memoir or personal essay, and
cannot exceed 3,000 words.

*Stories for youth are stories with content written at an intellectual
level appropriate for the younger reader, and cannot exceed 3,000 words.

*Poetry: We will accept poetry of any length

*Authors of either poetry and/or prose are encouraged to submit multiple
pieces.

*Adults are required to submit all poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and
stories for youth as attachments to an E-mail message.

*The attachments must be in either Microsoft Word (doc) or Rich Text Format
(rtf).

*Fiction, non-fiction and stories for youth should be written in a normal
prose style, with paragraphs being left justified, lines are single spaced,
and having a 14 point font of Aerial, regular.

*No hard copy submissions will be accepted.

COVER LETTER

Along with your entry or entries, include a cover letter providing the
following:

*Your name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address.

*List the titles of all submissions, including the category in which they
are being entered.

*State your method of payment for the entry fee (check or PayPal).

*Finally, the cover letter could be your e-mail message, or a separate
document attached along with your submissions.

CONTEST ENTRY FEES PAYMENT AND METHODS

Adult Fees:

*The fee for each short story, non-fiction piece, or story for youth is
$15.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members.

 *The base fee for poetry will cover up to three poems, if the combined
line-count of all three pieces does not exceed 108 lines - additional poems
require a second fee, following the same fee payment scheme. Base fees are
$15.00 for members and $20.00 for non-members.

PAYMENT

*You may use PayPal from the Writers’ Division website,
http://writers.nfb.org

*Alternatively, you may mail a check made out to NFB Writers’ Division,
with a note in the memo line relating to the contest. Send to:

Shawn Jacobson

19541 Olney Mill Rd.

Olney, MD 20832.

*E-mail submissions should be sent to EvaMarie Sanchez at:
thirdeyeonlyinaz at gmail.com

****We look forward to seeing your words. ****

If you have questions write EvaMarie Sanchez, Writers’ Division President:
thirdeyeonlyinaz at gmail.com
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