GOLDIE AWARDS & WRITING CONTEST

Welcome to the WCCW Goldie Awards & Writing Contest!

The writing contest is FREE to enter, and is part of our Goldie Awards, which will be given out at the conference in the final general session on Friday afternoon, Oct 20, 2023. You must be a registered attendee, either in-person or digital, to enter the writing contest. The Goldie Awards are named after the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, featured in the WCCW logo.

Writing Contest Finalists

WCCW Writing Contest Rules & Guidelines 

WCCW is thrilled to announce The Goldie Awards Writing Contest for 2023! This annual contest is for original, unpublished submissions by attendees of the upcoming West Coast Christian Writers Conference, Oct 19-20, 2023,  (both in-person and virtual). Here’s your chance to let your literary light shine!

 Whether you’re writing fiction, nonfiction, poetry or children’s/YA, it’s nice to receive an extra does of encouragement and validation. Here is your chance to have your work read and evaluated by a panel of judges, made up of seasoned professionals in writing and publishing. Entries can be pages from a completed (but unpublished) work, a work in progress, or something uniquely new just for WCCW. Just choose your category and send us your best!

WRITING CATEGORIES 

Please choose one of the categories for your entry (one entry per person, except for the bad writing contest—anyone can enter!). Please submit unpublished work only* (see below for definition of “unpublished work”)

1. Nonfiction (except memoir)
2. Fiction 
3. Memoir
4. Poetry
5. Children’s & YA (Young Adult)
6. BAD WRITING: The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Writing Contest (250 words)

(Yes, we want you to write a very short, bad story on purpose, but in a clever way. You can include story inconsistencies, tired clichés, appalling dialogue, plot issues, and the like. Anyone can enter this contest—even if you entered one of the above categories.) 

WORD COUNT

1. Poetry or Bad Writing (up to 250 words)
2. All other categories (up to 2500 words or 10 pages double-spaced)

FORMAT:

• Please include your name, title, and word count at the top of your submission.
• Submit as a Word doc (or something equivalent). No PDFs.
• Times New Roman, double-spaced, 12 pt font, with 1 inch margins
• Clearly mark which category you are entering: Nonfiction, Fiction, Memoir, Poetry, Children’s/YA or Bad Writing.

COST: Free!

AWARDS

All winners will receive a special, original contest certificate, digital group photo (if physically present), gold seal graphic, recognition on the WCCW website and social media, and a WCCW press release to share.

CATEGORY WINNERS: Winners in each category will receive:

• 1st place — Goldie Awards trophy, personalized Goldie Awards Certificate & other goodies

• 2nd and 3rd place – Personalized Goldie Awards Certificate

SPECIAL AWARDS:

• The Call Me Ishmael award: Best opening line – Personalized Goldie Awards Certificate

• Best in Conference – Best writing of all of the category winners:  Certificate & FREE registration to West Coast Christian Writers Conference 2023, plus a free pitch session/consultation with a faculty member.

HOW TO ENTER

Deadline to enter: October 1, 2023

Send entries, following the guidelines above, to: [email protected]

∙Put “WCCW Writing Contest” AND your genre in the subject line of your e-mail

∙  Each submission will be evaluated by a panel of judges

∙  To enter, you must be registered for the 2023 WCCW Conference (in-person OR digital access)

∙  Questions? Email: [email protected]

Finalists will be announced on the WCCW website on October 10, 2023. Winners will be announced at the afternoon general session at the conference on October 20, 2023.

Final results will be posted on the Conference website and in the newsletter immediately after the conference, and announced on social media.

Let your voice be heard. We can’t wait to read your work!

* Copyright Alliance defines unpublished work in this way: “Unpublished works are those which have not been distributed in any manner.” Work that has been read by a critique partner or critique group is considered unpublished. Work that has been self-published in book or booklet form, including e-books or audiobooks, or accepted by a newsletter or blog that is not solely your own, is considered published work.