Poetry and Prose Contests -- Call for Submissions

From time to time, I get updates on contests for literary artists and other folks. From now on, I'll be posting them here when they arrive. If you're running a contest that has been around a while, feel free to add me to your mailing list. Just be sure to put Votre Vray Artist Contest in the subject line to make sure it doesn't end up in my spam folder.
Below is a notification from John, also of Lulu.com.
-Mel.
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Both The Margaret Reid Poetry Prize and The Tom Howard Short Story, Essay & Prose Contest are now open for entries. For this coming year, the prize pool for each of these contests has been increased to $5,350 (including a First Prize of $2,000), yet entry fees remain pegged at $7 for every 25 lines for the Poetry Contest, and $15 for each short story or essay up to 5,000 words in length.

You'll find full details at respectively http://poetrycontests.exactpages.com and http://shortstorycontest.0catch.com Alternative sites are http://www.geocities.com/rastar330 (for poetry) and http://www.geocities.com/rastar330/prose.htm

As these contests are sure to attract many hundreds of entries from around the world, I'll make three suggestions to help you enter the Winners' Circle:

1. Submit your entries early. The judges will have more time to really appreciate and evaluate your work.

2. Submit more than one entry. Don't pin all your hopes on just the one. The judges are only human, after all. They may not like the way you've treated your subject matter. In fact, they may not even find your subject appealing at all. For instance, it's no use sending the greatest baseball story ever written to some judge who doesn't know Babe Ruth from King Kong. However, we like baseball stories. Comic and humorous stories and essays too. Mystery, science fiction, romance and other genres are also most welcome! (And the same goes for poems!)

3. Take a look at some of the entries that have won prizes in previous contests. The latest anthology of prize-winning poetry is "Sailing in the Mist of Time". This beautifully printed, large format book actually contains 106 poems, including 50 major award winners, and usually retails for $16.50. Even the publisher is selling copies for this price. Currently, however, it is still "on special" at Amazon for only $9.95. I don't know how long this "special" will continue, but it's probably a good idea to use this link direct to Amazon and buy your copy right now. If you are one of the contributors (you'll find a link to the list of authors at http://poetrycontests.exactpages.com ), here's a book that will make an ideal present for friends and relations.

Only $9.95 at Amazon: SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME: Fifty Award-Winning Poems

The latest short story anthology is "Watching Time". This also can purchased from Amazon at this link: WATCHING TIME: Anthology of Prizewinning Essays & Short Stories

All my very best to you all!

John