A Bit About the Rooglewood Contest

. One of my readers told me that she didn't know about the Rooglewood contest. So, on the chance that some of the rest of you are also new to the contest, let me share what I know about it.  This is merely for the sake of those of you who haven't heard about this before -- so that, in all fairness, you know what I know.
. Since the rules for this have not been released yet, I can only share what I remember from previous years. On June 1st, Rooglewood Press announces which fairy tale they are featuring. Writers are commissioned to write their own version, being as creative as they like, while still including enough elements of the original tale to be recognizable. Stories are to be between 5k and 20k words. The deadline for entering your name was mid-December, and the deadline for submission of the story was at the very end of December.
. The stories are judged by a panel of judges, and five stories are chosen as winners. There is a small monetary prize, but the biggest prize is that your story is submitted to Rooglewood Press for publishing. And I don't mean that is appears in a one-time magazine. It, along with the other four winners, is published in a book. Winners go through the editing process with the publisher to make their story "book-ready".
. The first year, the stories were based on Cinderella, and the resulting anthology has been published (Five Glass Slippers). The second year, they did Beauty and the Beast (Five Enchanted Roses -- still in the editing stage). This year...who knows? It will be announced on June 1st.
. Anne Elisabeth Stengl (who orchestrates the contest, at least in part) says that they will do fairy tale retellings for a total of five years. She knows what all five fairy tales are (but it's top secret, and she won't give any of us an unfair advantage by telling). After five years, they will continue the contest, but switch themes. And yes, she knows what it will be then, too, and she's not telling us that either. :)
. I didn't enter the first year, but I did the second. I did not win but found the contest well worth my time and money. It was fun to be a part of it. It was fun to try my hand at it. I learned a lot from the time I spent working on my story. Anne had a hard job, picking from all the fabulous stories that are submitted. And she not only has to pick five great stories, but the five stories must be able to compliment each other in an anthology. She does a fantastic job, though, and it is fun to see the stories that win.
I am not a writer of magic, so it pleased me to see that three of the winners in Five Glass Slippers were non-magic.
. So, if writing short stories for contests is something of interest to you, you should give this one a try!