‘Twas Thanksgiving Eve
Up on Blueberry Hill
When I suddenly thought of
A task to fulfill.

A mere fourteen days
Until writers must spar
To determine who’ll be
This year’s Holiday Star.

But the brainstorms can’t start
Until you know the rules!
So I’d better hop to it
And give you your tools!

I crafted the guidelines
With painstaking care
To spark inspiration
In brains everywhere.

So fill up your coffee cup!
Snatch up a pen!
Prizes await!
Let’s get writing again!

It’s time to get started on your entry for the. . .

13th Annual Holiday Writing Contest

~ for children’s writers ~

The Contest:  Write a maximum 250 word children’s holiday story (children here defined as age 12 and under) about a Holiday Countdown!

• The countdown can cause emotion – anticipation, excitement, confusion, worry, dread or anything else
• Anything and everything can be counted down:
  • – months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds
  • – people, animals, gifts, snowmen, fruitcakes, Christmas trees, candles, stars
  • – things being hidden, wrapped, baked, purchased, handmade, eaten
  • – people, animals, or items disappearing or being “picked off” one by one. . .
  • – Think 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed, or 10 in the bed, or 3 wisemen, or 8 candles, or 8 reindeer or anything else with numbers for countdown inspiration.
• Anything goes – the more imaginative the better! 😊

Your story may be poetry or prose, silly or serious or sweet, religious or not, based on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year’s or whatever you celebrate during the Holiday Season, but is not to exceed 250 words (I know! So much freedom after the Halloweensie Contest 😊 )  (It can be as short as you like (the judges will be grateful 😊 , you are welcome and encouraged to write shorter, but no more than 250!  Title not included in word count.)  The field is wide open!  Have fun!  The more creative the better!  No illustration notes please. (And yes, if you feel compelled to submit more than one entry you may, just remember you’re competing against yourself!)

Post:  Your entry should be posted between 12:01 AM EST Wednesday December 6th and Friday December 8th at 11:59 PM EST, and must be posted in the comment section of the Official Contest Post which will go up here on my blog on Wednesday December 6th and should include title, byline, and word count. (This is NOT that post – this post is just for the rules so you have time to write!) The Official Contest Post that goes up on Wednesday December 6th will remain up for your reading pleasure until I post the finalists.  There will be no regular posts (Tuesday Debut or Perfect Picture Book) for the duration of the contest so everyone will have plenty of time to visit and enjoy all the entries.  Do not submit any entries before the opening of the contest on December 6th! They will not be accepted or read!

The Judging: My lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to approximately 12 finalists.  Due to the busy-ness of the holiday season, I am not going to hazard a guess as to exactly when the finalists will be posted – they’ll be up as soon as I can get them up!

Judging criteria will be as follows:

• 1. Kid-appeal! – These stories are intended for a young audience (ages 12 and under), so we’re looking for stories that children will enjoy and relate to.
• 2.  Holiday Countdown! – the rules state a Holiday Countdown story, so your story must be centered around a countdown of some kind and it must be crystal clear that the story in some way relates to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year’s, or whatever seasonal winter holiday you choose.  Your countdown must be central to the story  – not just an offhand mention/reference in a story about something else.
• 3. Quality of story – entries must tell a story, including a main character of some kind and a true story arc even if it’s tiny 😊  Entries must not be merely descriptions or mood pieces.
• 4. Quality of Writing: check your spelling, grammar, punctuation etc.  If you’re going to rhyme, give us your best 😊  Overall writing quality and use of language are also important. Please proofread! A typo may be the difference between being considered and being set aside. (Please see note below!)
• 5. Originality and creativity – because that is often what sets one story above another. And in a contest of countdowns, you will want yours to stand out from the crowd!
• 6. PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! Large numbers of entries make it easy to cut entries that haven’t been entered as we asked.

NOTE after this year’s Halloweensie: we got so many FABULOUS entries, but more than usual with heartbreaking small errors – the kind that made us have to cut some of the best stories when we were down to the wire. When it comes to choosing finalists, we cannot choose an entry that has mistakes in it over one without them! It is PAINFUL to have to cut great stories with little errors that could have been avoided! We had entries that didn’t mention Halloween in any way. We had entries that didn’t use “superstition”! We had entries with run-on sentences, misspelled words, punctuation and capitalization errors. We had entries that failed to include title, byline, and/or word count. So please, please, please follow the guidelines, PROOFREAD, and if you’re writing in rhyme, make sure of your meter in every line!

The Prizes!: Oh WOW!!! (and yes, I’m still working on this section!)

⭐️ Ask Me Anything Zoom Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Sandra Foreman Sutter, owner and “top gnome” at Gnome Road Publishing, and author of STAN’S FRIGHTFUL HALLOWEEN (Spork, September 2020) and THE REAL FARMER IN THE DELL (Spork, March 2019)!!! Not only will Sandra read and critique your manuscript, you will get to talk to discuss it with her!

⭐️ Rhyme & Meter Self Study Course – Renee LaTulippe Renée M. LaTulippe is the author of The Crab Ballet (Cameron Kids/Abrams, 2022) and Limelight: Theater Poems to Perform (Charlesbridge, 2024) and has poems published in many anthologies including No World Too Big, Night Wishes, School People, National Geographic’s The Poetry of US, One Minute Till Bedtime, Poems Are Teachers, ThankU: Poems of Gratitude, and A World Full of Poems.

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique with Penny Parker Klostermann, talented author of THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT (Random House 2015) and A COOKED-UP FAIRY TALE (Random House 2017) as well as the forthcoming SPIDER LADY: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid WWII Army (Astra/Calkins Creek 2025) and MERRY CHRISTMAS, DEAR MARS, September 3, 2024 from Macmillan/Godwin Books – a story that placed 2nd in the 2011 Holiday Contest! (How’s that for inspiring?) 😊

⭐️ Winner’s Choice of either a Picture Book Manuscript Critique (750 words or less) OR a signed copy of WINTER SOLSTICE (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, October 10, 2023) (US addresses only) from author Kelsey Gross. WINTER SOLSTICE was inspired by the 2020 Holiday Contest in which the original version of this book, a story entitled The Solstice Tree, placed 6th! (How’s that for more inspiration? 😊)

⭐️ Winner’s Choice of either an Ask Infowoman: A Library Consult 45 min. Zoom session to discuss questions on school visits or review of a school visit presentation (PowerPoint/slide deck) OR A Conference Proposal Consult, Kathy’s brand new service offering advice on writing winning conference proposals for NCTE, TLA, SCBWI, and other educational and library conferences. Regardless of where you are in your writing career – brand new or seasoned author – Kathy Halsey has a wealth of information to help you! From insight into what books school librarians need/want in their collections (which can help you target your writing for success) to helping you create an engaging school visit and all kinds of things between…and beyond… check out her website to see what this fantastic prize can offer you! Please visit her website to see her many, many qualifications!

⭐️ 20 Minute Coaching Session from Kirsti Call, multi-published author, book coach and life coach! Kirsti is the author of SMARTY ANTS, MOOTILDA’S BAD MOOD, THE BIG SCREAM, COW SAYS MEOW, COLD TURKEY, and THE RAINDROP WHO COULDN’T FALL, and she has a depth of knowledge and experience to help you on your writing journey and in your life. Together you can talk about where you are, where you want to be, and how to get you there!

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming) from Kari Ann Gonzalez, author of HOW TO HATCH A READER (Gnome Road Publishing, August 15, 2023)

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Laura Jensen Bower, author of THE IMPOSTER (forthcoming from Gnome Road, March 5, 2024) and EMILY SNOOK, THE WORLD’S SMALLEST COOK (forthcoming from Little Gnome, Fall 2024)

⭐️ a first read-through recording package from children’s author and poet Sarah Meade, contributor to HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING (Pomelo Books, 2020!) where she will read aloud and record up to five PB manuscripts for one author (1,000 words or less each, fiction or nonfiction, rhyming or non-rhyming) so you can hear how your stories sound to someone who is unfamiliar with them on a first read-through! Very helpful and enlightening!

⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming) from Danielle Sharkan, author of SHARING SHALOM (forthcoming from Holiday House, Fall 2024)

⭐️ A Signed Copy of Jilanne Hoffman’s gorgeous A RIVER OF DUST: The Life-Giving Link Between North Africa and the Amazon. Jilanne Hoffman is the author of 2 board books, THE HONEY BEAR HIVE (Mudpuppy January 2023), HAPPY CAMPER (Mudpuppy January 2022), and A RIVER OF DUST (Chronicle Books, July 25, 2023)

PLUS A Copy of ALPHABEDTIME generously gifted by an anonymous donor (Thank you so much! You know who you are 😊❤️)

⭐️ Signed Copy of Winner’s Choice of One of Barb Seregi‘s Picture Books: THE TRUTH ABOUT HAZEL’S COOKIE (Hope Freelancing, November 23, 2017), OLIVER’S RATTLE (Barbara Seregi, October 19, 2022), or TOMMY AND THE GOOD NEWS SHOES (Bowker, October 24, 2023)

PLUS A Signed Copy of Candace Spizzirri‘s delightful FINLEY: A MOOSE ON THE CABOOSE (Gnome Road, April 18, 2023)

Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for birthday, holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school and library visits, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊

So! Butt in chair! Snack and beverage near to hand! Writing implement ready! Creative Countdown Thinking Caps on!

Three. . .

Two. . .

One. . .

WRITE!!!!!!!