“A WINTER IN STORYLAND”

Winter Tales To Warm Your Heart

Short Story Writing Contest

Update 5 (08/Feb/2017): All the winning entries have been included in our anthology and thus removed from the website.

Update 4 (29/Feb/2016): Winning entries are as under –

First Prize: A Winter Morning Musing by Kala Ravi

Second Prize: Just One Short by Tanu Shree Singh

Third Prize: The Soldier At Ease by Ameya Vinayaraj

Update 3 (29/Feb/2016): Winners Announced! (Check our Facebook Page)

Update 2 (06/Feb/2016): Social voting on the shortlisted entries is open till Feb 20, 2016. Social votes will have a weightage of 20% in the final results. Rest 80% will be the weightage of judge’s score. The final results will be declared on Feb 29, 2016. Social votes would be defined as the number of likes and shares on various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Reddit.

Update 1 (27/Jan/2016): This contest is now closed. Shortlisted entries have been uploaded here.

There’s nothing better than a good story to battle a cold winter evening. What were the stories that warmed your heart in the cold? Share with us stories about winter. These stories can be your own creations or folklore that you may have heard from your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles.

 

How to Participate

1. Write a story which includes at least 6 of the words given below.
   • Snow
   • Snowflakes
   • Fog
   • Firewood
   • Fireplace
   • Zero
   • Boot(s)
   • Chimney
   • Blanket(s)
   • Eggnog
   • Frost
   • Gloves
   • Hot chocolate
   • Muffler
   • Shiver
   • Shovel
   • Snowman
2. Send your story as a Word document attachment by email to editor@tell-a-tale.com. We’d love to know you as well, so don’t forget to add a brief 100 word biography about yourself in the mail.
3. That’s it!

Rules of The Contest

1. The entry should be between 500-1500 words long. Entries shorter than 500 words will be rejected.
2. You stories can be for any audience, not necessarily kids. However, any kind of explicit content will be rejected.
3. Shortlisted stories will be published on Tell-A-Tale along with your biography. Final winners will be chosen based on post popularity and judges’ score.
4. Once shortlisted, you can re-publish the story on your own blog. Do remember to include the following line in your post on your website. “This story is written as part of A Winter in Storyland contest on Tell-A-Tale – Bringing stories back into lives.”
5. The contest starts on 23^th December, 2015 and will remain open till 24^th January, 2016, 9PM IST.
6. Only original stories written for the contest will be chosen. If your story is a folklore, it should be a re-telling and not copied. Stories attributed to previously published authors will not be accepted. Please note that failure to follow this will result in rejection of your entry.
7. Multiple entries (up to 3 entries) are allowed. However, only one will be considered for a prize.
8. Judges’ decision shall be final and binding on all.

Prizes

Shortlisted entries will be published on Tell-A-Tale with credit to the author and a link to the author’s personal blog.

1^st Prize – A book combo consisting of Bestseller “Winds of Hastinapur” by Sharath Komarraju and his latest title “The Rise of Hastinapur” (released 25^th November 2015) alongwith an Amazon voucher worth Rs. 300.

2^nd Prize – Amazon voucher worth Rs. 300.

^3rd Prize – Amazon voucher worth Rs. 100.

3 Best Stories will become a part of an anthology of short stories published by Tell-A-Tale. That’s right, your chance to become a published author!

Shipping the prizes – The winners need to notify us of their mailing address within 15 days of declaration of winner. If we do not receive the address within 15 days, another winner will be chosen.