The KidPub Writing Contest

Hey! Where'd the Internet Go?

KidPub is happy to announce our February 2010 writing contest! We hope that by participating in the contest, you will have a lot of fun and improve your writing at the same time.

Prizes

KidPub will award one $50 Amazon Gift Certificate to the winner. The winner may also choose a 5-Book Publishing Package from KidPub Press (a $69 value) instead of the gift certificate.

Two runners-up will each be awarded a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate. One runner-up will be chosen from entries by authors aged 12 and older, and one runner-up will be chosen from entries by authors under 12 years old.

Topic

It's the weekend, and you've just finished breakfast and are settling down in front of your computer for a quick web-surfing session to catch up on the day. Hmm, that's odd, none of your favorite web pages will come up. You check email...another odd thing, you haven't received any email since yesterday. Normally on a Saturday morning your inbox is full of notes from friends.

No problem, you'll just send a couple quick IMs out to see what everyone is doing. Uh-oh, instant messaging isn't working. Now you are starting to worry. A quick check of your phone shows no new messages there, either.

Dazed, you wander downstairs and find your entire family huddled around a transistor radio, listening to a news broadcast. Apparently, late last night all of the equipment that runs the Internet shut down simultaneously, and efforts to restart them have been unsuccessful. According to the news report, it will be at least a year before any kind of Internet is restored, possibly longer.

Your story topic: How does your life change without any access to the Internet for over a year?

Format

Your entry should be in the form of a short story.

Rules

These are the official contest rules. Once you've read the rules, use the link at the bottom of the page to submit your entry.

Eligibility

The contest is open only to members of the KidPub Author's Club. If you would like to become a member, click here to join KidPub. All contest entries must be your own, original work. You may submit ONLY ONE entry to the contest. We suggest that you work on your story on your own computer, then copy and paste it into the entry form.

Deadline

All contest entries must be submitted by midnight EDT on Sunday, February 28th, 2010. Entries must be submitted using the official contest form (the link is below). Entries that are emailed to KidPub, or posted on the KidPub site before the winners are announced, will not be considered.

How winners will be picked

The management of KidPub Press, along with select judges, will choose three entries (one winner and two runners-up) that they feel best meet the topic of the contest, and that they feel are clever, well-written, and insightful. The decision of the KidPub contest judges will be final.

Notification

Winners will be notified by email, and the winning entries will be announced on KidPub on or about March 13th, 2010. Winning entries will be published on KidPub on a special contest page. Entries that are not winners in the contest will not be published, however the author may choose to post the story on KidPub on their own after the contest is over.

Entry form

Only entries submitted on the official entry for will be considered.

Good luck to everyone!