They put in dozens and dozens and dozens of hours to give each story careful consideration. ALL are avid readers, seasoned writers, and dear friends. Please join me in thanking our wonderful hard-working judges. Please please please promise me that if you love your story, you will keep going with it – get feedback from critique buddies – and never ever give up! Or she falls in love with it and then another story comes across her desk and she loves that one even more. But just like the manuscripts we send to an editor, the editor may fall in love with it but the acquisitions team needs to fall in love with it also. And in my opinion, EVERY STORY had merit. And even if you don’t see your name on either of these lists, please know that EVERY story received some judge love. If your story snagged an Honorable Mention, it means that several judges loved it. If your story won a prize, it means lots of the judges loved it. Some of the stories felt like books already! And many are books in the making. Every year there are thousands of comments on the contest blog post – and all of them are encouraging and supportive and positive – and that’s not something you find in many places these days.Īnd I know it sounds corny – but it’s very true: If you participated and submitted an entry, YOU ARE A WINNER! Because writing, revising and submitting are the steps we all need to take, no matter where we are on the path to publication. I love the enthusiasm and positive energy that this contest generates. #200+ Books Purchased for the Literacy Initiative #3745 Encouraging, Positive and Supportive Comments on the Blog Post Please let me share my joy for your participation in the

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