Annual short story competition in conjunction with My Child magazine - Win over $615 in prizes

Now in its third year, our Parenting Express/My Child short story writing competition is going from strength to strength.

We’re inviting you to submit a 900-word story for publication in the ‘My Life’ section of My Child and online at Parenting Express. Dads are especially encouraged to apply.

Entries must be unpublished, creative non-fiction (please note, no poetry), with a theme relating to pregnancy, birth or the first five years of raising a child, and aim to move the reader emotionally, whether to laughter or to tears.

Fabulous prizes

As well as having their story published in the Autumn 2010 issue of My Child magazine and in the March edition of Parenting Express, the winner will receive a selection of prizes valued at more than $615. This includes a Sydney Writers’ Centre online Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers course, valued at $395, a $150 voucher to spend online at Agoo, a two-year subscription to My Child, valued at $53.70, plus a copy of my parenting gift book Being Mummy (Wakefield Press), valued at $19.95.

Three runners-up will each receive a $150 voucher to spend online at Agoo, a one-year subscription to My Child, valued at $30, plus a copy of Being Mummy (Wakefield Press), $19.95.

Short-listed entrants will also be published in My Child magazine, and here at Parenting Express.

How to enter

The competition closes at midnight on Sunday 10 January 2010. All entries must be submitted via email to submissions@parentingexpress.com and include your name, daytime phone numbers and full address. See further details below. Entry requirements, as per the terms and conditions, must be followed for entries to be valid.

Terms & conditions

1. How to enter forms part of these conditions of entry.
2. Entry to the My Child/Parenting Express writing competition is open only to residents of Australia and New Zealand aged over 18 years of age. Entry is free.
3. The competition commences on Wednesday 18 November 2009 and closes Sunday 10 January 2010. Entries are to be received no later than 11.59pm AEDST. Any entry received after that time will be invalid. No responsibility will be taken for lost or late entries.
4. An entrant may enter the competition by submitting a 900-word creative article with pregnancy, birth or the first five years of raising a child as its central theme. Entries will be considered invalid if they do not meet this word limit within a 10% margin.
5. With all entries, the entrant must provide their name, address, postcode, country, email address and daytime phone numbers. You agree that Poppet Group Pty Ltd and Parenting Express may use all personal information, that is, names, addresses, postcodes, email addresses, daytime phone numbers, for the purposes of the competition and of notifying the winning entrants.
6. All entrants will automatically be subscribed to the Sydney Writers’ Centre eNewsletter, My Child’s eNewsletter and the Parenting Express monthly update.
7. Each entry must be entered by the author of the creative writing piece in accordance with these terms and conditions of entry.
8. Each entry must be an original work and all entrants agree that their entries do not contain any material that infringes the rights of anyone else.
9. Entrants may enter into the competition via email to submissions@parentingexpress.com. Stories must be identified in the header as ‘Short story competition’ plus your surname. Word files must be named with the author’s surname first, followed by the title of the story. The story can also be pasted into the body of the email. A daytime phone number and valid email address must be included. Stories must be supplied in Arial 10-point font, with narrow margins and zero spacing before and after line breaks. Please include your name and the name of the story at the top of the first page.
10. Each entrant may only enter once. To ensure the security of the competition, Parenting Express will monitor whether or not entrants have entered more than once. Subsequent entries by the same entrant will be disqualified. Previous winners are encouraged to apply.
11. A panel of judges will select one winning entry and three runners-up the week commencing February 1 2010. The winning entry will be published in the Autumn 2010 issue of My Child and on Parenting Express and the runners-up will be published in the following three issues of My Child, and during 2010 on Parenting Express and mychildmagazine.com.au.
12. The winning entrants will be announced by Wednesday 17 February 2010 and will be notified by telephone or email.
13. The prize pack for the winning entry is an online Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspaperscourse from Sydney Writers’ Centre, valued at $395, a $150 voucher to spend online at Agoo, a two-year subscription to My Child valued at $53.70, and a copy of Being Mummy (Wakefield Press) by Anne-marie Taplin, valued at $19.95. Total value of prize pack is $615.65.
14. To participate in the writing course, the participant must have high-speed internet, such as ADSL or Broadband. The course prize will be valid for 12 months and must be booked in advance.
15. The prize pack for the three runner-ups is a $150 voucher to spend online at Agoo, a one-year subscription to My Child valued at $30, and a copy of Anne-marie Taplin’s gift book Being Mummy (Wakefield Press), valued at $19.95. Total value of prize pack is $196.15.
16. The prizes are not redeemable for cash or otherwise transferable. The decisions of the judge/judges in relation to any aspect of the competition shall and will be final and binding upon every entrant who enters into the competition. No correspondence will be entered into.
17. You licence Parenting Express and My Child magazine to use your work exclusively until March 2011.
18. The promoters shall not be liable for any loss or damage or for any personal injury sustained as a result of taking the prize/s or entering into the competitions.
19. The promoters of the competition are Poppet Group Pty Ltd, PO Box 216, Camperdown NSW 1450, and Parenting Express, PO Box 323, Nairne SA 5252. Employees of the promoters and their families are ineligible to enter.