Top 100! 79th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition

In May, I entered a 2000 word excerpt from my book in the Memoirs/Personal Essay category of the 79th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition. A few days ago, I received this email:

Dear Bonnie N. James,

One of my most enjoyable tasks as editor of Writer’s Digest is passing along good news to writers. This is one of those fun occasions. It is my pleasure to tell you that your entry, Our Final Hours, has been awarded 21st place in Memoirs/Personal Essay category of the 79th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. You will receive your Certificate of Achievement which honors your accomplishment in the near future. Finishing among the top 100 entries is an accomplishment you can be proud of.  Your success in the face of such formidable competition speaks highly of your writing talent, and should be a source of great pride as you continue in your writing career.

All 1,001 winners will be listed at www.writersdigest.com after the December issue is published. The Grand Prize manuscript, the First Place manuscript in each category, and the names of the top 100 winners in each category will be printed in a special competition collection. If you would like to order copies of the Competition Collection, please use the order form which will be included in the envelope with your certificate. The Competition Collections are scheduled to begin mailing in December.

I congratulate you again on your accomplishment, and wish you the best of luck in your future writing.

Respectfully,

Jessica Strawser, Editor

Writer’s Digest

Is that awesome, or what? I just couldn't believe it. My name is going to appear in Writer's Digest! To make it even sweeter, Our Final Hours is one of my letters to Gabriel.

The contest has 10 categories. I don't know how many entries were in this year's competition, but I know there were 13,000 entries last year. So, 21st place in my category means I was 210th out of probably 10,000-15,000 people. That is top 1 to 2%! Hopefully this acheivement will increase my chances of getting my manuscript published. 

To increase my chances even more, I got myself a little congratulatory gift . . .