In 1984, I founded the original Windy City Writers Club in order to pass the time during three detentions I had to serve. I was sixteen. Little did I know my passion for writing and the friendships I formed with the other four who came that day would inspire the coast-to-coast creation of clubs 35-years later. I am humbled. I am also the last surviving original member. Black & White is in their honor and memory.
During those honeymoon meetings, we realized that each one of us had something unique to offer the club. So, instead of assigning club officer titles, we each assumed a specific type of critiquing.
Matt had a gift of describing the "little things" in a story with a whit of a few choice words and always provided the direction of how to make them bigger in order to convey the true wisdom of the piece. He was our athlete and died while serving in Iraq. That was in 2004 and when I decided to launch North Avenue Publishing. The Athlete Award recognizes creative works that embodies Matt's precision of word selection, insightfulness, and wisdom.
Award recipients will receive a cash prize, a wooden plaque, publication, a dedicated author bio page, and several complimentary paperback copies of Black & White to showcase their success.
Carl not only had a tremendous mastery of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but he had a gift of perfecting prose to provide those much needed moments of pause and reflection. He was our brain and later worked for a number of newspapers as a copy editor and journalist until he was killed by a drunk driver a few years after Matt passed away. The Brain Award recognizes creative works that exemplifies the highest levels of a true wordsmith.
Award recipients will receive a cash prize, a wooden plaque, publication, a dedicated author bio page, and several complimentary paperback copies of Black & White to showcase their success.
Andrea’s life-saving gift was finding continuity issues, plot holes, and sculpting away the redundancy. Her attention to those fine details were only matched by her God given artistic talents and crazy sense of adventure. She was our basket case and passed away a few months after Carl. The Basket Case Award recognizes creative works that personifies her insane spirit of living in the moment and attention to detail.
Award recipients will receive a cash prize, a wooden plaque, publication, a dedicated author bio page, and several complimentary paperback copies of Black & White to showcase their success.
Marci’s gift improved the romance, emotion, and dialogue of our creative efforts over the decades by making us see how each written page should been viewed as movie scene. She was our princess and passed away a few years ago from a blood clot that should have never been there in the first place. The Princess Award recognizes works with the romance, emotion, and dialogue that not even Marci could improve.
Award recipients will receive a cash prize, a wooden plaque, publication, a dedicated author bio page, and several complimentary paperback copies of Black & White to showcase their success.
I was the bad guy—the criminal—charged with having to be brutally honest, unmerciful, but always magnanimous to the essence of truth being shared. I demanded members be brave in their writings so that someone somewhere someday will simply read their works and simply say, "That was good." The Criminal Award recognizes works with the raw and revealing honesty that resonates with readers who have experienced life in Black & White.
Award recipients will receive a cash prize, a wooden plaque, publication, a dedicated author bio page, and several complimentary paperback copies of Black & White to showcase their success.
- It is important to understand that the awards are bestowed upon the first entry that scores 100 points during judging, or the highest score per award category at the conclusion of judging.
- Submissions must be your work. Previously published and self-published works will be considered, including chapter excerpts from longer works.
- Works limited to 2,000 words, but a single submission can exceed this amount within reason. That means a single story can be up to 6,000 words based on our 3 title policy. So do the math! You can submit 1-3 titles as long as the total word count does not greatly exceed 6,000 words.
- The extended registration deadline is 5:00 PM (CST) Sep. 14, 2019.
- Judging expected to conclude Oct. 31, 2019 or sooner as noted above.
- Publication release slated for the week of Nov. 24 – 30, 2019.
- You can submit up to 3 pieces (including chapter excerpts) that adhere to the above guidelines and final word count parameters per piece. The benefit of submitting a chapter excerpt from one of your longer forms (such as your introductory chapter) is the increased visibility you can gain by reaching more readers who will want to read (and buy) your entire piece.
- There is a nominal $25 registration fee per author (not title), which includes having your work(s) professional critiqued by one of our editors (contest judges) looking to discover and develop new talent. This fee also builds the prize pool that will be awarded to each winner. Please download the free files for complete details including helpful hints to score higher during judging, submission forms, a short sample, and our Word Template.
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