IFW Blogging Contest 2013 - An Unexpected Success!

Let me begin by thanking all those who have participated in this contest so enthusiastically and made it a success. Quite honestly, I didn't think it would receive such a phenomenal response. In fact, I was a bit apprehensive in the beginning when some of the entries I received were barely "readable". I thought - "Oh God! Who am I going to give the prizes to?" But thankfully, as the contest picked up momentum, some interesting and well-written pieces also started pouring in (my inbox practically drowned under the deluge of entries that poured in on the last two days of the contest). And all this wouldn't have been possible without YOU - the members of the IFW community! 

I would have loved to reach out to each one of you individually but owing to the sheer volume of entries, that may not be possible. For those who are curious, the total number of entries received is 83 and the participant demographic is interesting too. There have been entries from school children and retired professionals. Writers and non-writers. Professional writers and hobbyists. Some participants have sent in multiple entries (as many as 5). And then we have an entry all the way from Nigeria too!

I have randomly skimmed through some of the pieces and I already know that I’m going to have a tough time deciding upon the winner!

I have also observed that many of you have sent in personal essays. While that was not what I was looking for initially, I realized that some of them are too interesting and compelling to be ignored. Hence, I have decided to create a separate category on the blog titled ‘My Writer Story’ to showcase these.

While there will be only three prize-winners, a selection of entries will be posted on the blog as guest posts (this will not be done at once, but over a period of few months). Please do not be disheartened if your entry is not selected for publication. The reasons for rejection may be one of the following:

1.       The entry is not relevant to the theme of the contest/blog.

2.       The entry does not meet the desired quality standards in terms of language and content.

3.       The author did not follow the submission guidelines.

Contest results will be announced on the 30^th of October on the IFW Blog as well as my FB page (https://www.facebook.com/shuchisinghkalra). So do keep an eye out. Or better still, subscribe to the blog using the link at the top right and get all the updates delivered straight to your inbox.