WRiTE CLUB - the tournament-style writing contest - is back for its
ninth year and needs your assistance!
How does
WRiTE CLUB work? It's simple. Contestants submit a 500-word sample of their writing (previously unpublished or posted on the internet) and the top 30 submissions are chosen to battle against one another in daily bouts with the winners chosen by the
WRiTE CLUB readers. The last writer standing wins free admission to the
DFW Writers Conference (among other things).
The backbone of the contest is the work that our
slushpile readers put in before the bell rings on the first bout - and that's where we need volunteers. In order to narrow
down what is estimated to be 200-225 entries (500-word samples) in a
fair and unbiased manner, we need a selection committee of 20 judges (I
like to call them my
slushpile readers) to read all of the entries and
vote for their favorites, which I will then use to select the top 30.
Before you raise your hand, I need to fully explain what you would be
volunteering for. This is a big commitment! First, you must be open to
installing and using Dropbox (a free file sharing program that I will
provide complete instructions on how to use). After the submission
window opens on March 23rd and closes on April 19th, you will have until
May 3rd to read the entries (which equates to the length of a small book), select 30
of what you believe are the best ones -- then rank those 30 in order of
most liked.
Most importantly – you cannot be a WRiTE CLUB contestant if you do this.
One other thing. After the contest is over the applicants who were not chosen to compete in the ring can request a mini-critique from the slushpile readers who are willing - provided the contestants voted in 2/3 of the bouts. Last year that ended up being 30 writers.
The
slushpile readers serve as promoters for the contest as well,
so you'll need to be willing to hit the social media trail when you can to help raise
interest leading up its start. In this vein, we'll hold a couple of
Twitter Parties during the open submission window to help spark
participation.
So, what do you say? Interested in helping shape how the competition plays out – without officially participating? If so, send an email to
writeclub2020@gmail.com and I will be in touch.
If you’ve been a slushpile reader in the past, do me a favor and leave a
comment below letting everyone what a favorable experience it can be.
Thank you in advance.
DL
Oh…and it’s never too early to start promoting. Submissions for
WRiTE CLUB will open on March
23rd. Tell your friends!
