HERTEL AWARDS
Open to Full-Time Registrants

In honor of our long-time director, Leona Hertel, we will be holding writing contests.  Each full-time registrant is invited to submit one entry.  Please watch for additions to the guidelines.

THERE WILL BE A $50 FIRST PRIZE IN EACH CATEGORY, with other prizes and honorable mention available.

The categories are as follows:

Best Article - Judged by Dennis Hensley
All manuscripts must be in standard format of being
typed double-spaced with one inch margins on the top, sides and bottom
of the page, Times New Roman type with 12 point font.  Limit the submissions
to no more than 750 - 1000 words.  If the manuscript is longer, then only
send the first three pages.

Best Children's Story - Crystal Bowman
     For this category, provide a picture book manuscript. word count should be between 300-700 words.

Best Devotional - Judged by Mary Lou Redding
Entries should:

1. Be approximately 300 words, counting all elements except the writer’s name and address
2. Offer a clear link to scripture
3. Use scripture responsibly (in context and helpfully)
4. Draw on immediate experience in the real world, using concrete and specific details rather than discussing generalities
5. Use only original material
6. Offer readers a clear link between the writer’s experience, the scripture used, and the reader’s needs
7. Give readers who do not share the writer’s specific experience a way to relate the insight to other categories of experience (For example, not all readers will be parents, so meditations that draw on parenting experiences should move to broader categories such as leading/influencing others, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, dealing with emotions, etc.)
8. Move from the writer’s experience to the general spiritual truth that applies to all believers
9. Be written concisely
10. Be true

Best Poetry - Judged by Bob Hudson 
     This category is limited to one poem per entrant. No more than two printed pages (no emailed submissions) -- preferably double spaced, but single-spaced is okay. Rhymed verse is less likely to be noticed than solid, contemporary free verse. Structured and rhymed verse stands a better chance when it is extremely well crafted -- and when there's a true purpose for the structure and rhyme. Advice: read at least five poems from the New Yorker or Atlantic Monthly (or comparable journal that publishes the best modern poets) before submitting your poem to the contest. That will at least let you know the direction that the judges are looking in.

Best Short Story - Judged by Sally Stuart
    For this contest, a short story is to be fiction, not a personal experience (although it could be based on a personal   experience as long as you fictionalize it). It can be for adults or teens, and should be no more than 1,200-2,000 words. Typically, a short story is based on a problem or situation that a main character must overcome or bring to a satifactory conclusion.

Make sure your name does not appear on your submission.  Please include a cover sheet giving your name and category of submission.  Submissions must be postmarked August 31, 2010.

Mail all submissions to:
        Verna Kokmeyer/ MCWC
        12715 W. M-179 Hwy.
        Wayland, MI 49348

Make sure the category of your submission is clearly indicated.