Write In and Win $150 in Cash!!!

May 3, 2008

Traveling can unfold a number of things—surprises, happiness, tears of joy, rejuvenation…but also even sadness, or perhaps, a little bit of anger.  If traveling is your passion, we know that you must have countless words to tell about your past journeys. So why don’t you pen down and share those exciting stories with us, and stand a chance of winning $150 in cash?  

Our current contest will run from May 3rd through June 30th, and the winner will be announced on the first week of July.  

What is the Purpose of the Contest?

Traveling Stories Magazine is committed to motivate travelers who are full of enlightening stories to actually put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and tell their tales to the world. Share your adventures, impart your wisdom, and encourage others to follow in your footsteps. After all, you would never go on a journey and return without telling anybody about it, would you?  

What Does It Take to Enter?

Simply put, it takes a great, well-written story or article. Be interesting. Be informative. Be entertaining.   

How Do We Choose Our Winners?

Traveling Stories Magazine $150 Writing Contest finalist will be chosen by the number of readers’ votes, which is generated through the social book-marking site Digg.com.  When a link is submitted to Digg.com, hundreds and sometimes thousands of readers come to the site to read the story. If they like the story, they will vote (by clicking the ‘digg’ button) which will encourage even more Digg.com users to read the story.  The Top 3 Reader Voted Stories will be announced and sent to a committee composed of our three Online Traveling Magazines partners, as well as the 2 previous contest winners.  

What are the Advantages of the Voting System?

1. Dilutes the impact of any single person trying to impact the votes as thousands of people will be participating 
2. It exposes the travel writing of TSM participants (which a major goal of the writers) 
3. It spreads the word of the writing contest which will encourage more submissions. I love win-win models and hopefully this will prove to be one of them.     

How Can I Increase My Chance of Winning?

Get as many votes by readers as possible! Each reader may vote for your story or article by clicking the Digg.com button. Feel free start the ball-rolling yourself: link your story from your own website, or simply submit the link to social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Digg, StumbledUpon, etc. Create a buzz about your submission!        

What Can I Submit for the Contest?

Your submission can take the form of either a traveling story or a traveling article. You could provide travel advice, or address philosophical questions pertaining to the traveling community.  Please consider replacing profane expressions with milder ones to appeal to a wider readership. A translation of foreign language expressions is appreciated (in brackets).     

Submission Guidelines 

1. Submissions must be in perfect English, flawlessly written, be of high quality, and be between 300-1000 words. 
2. Submissions should be concise and creative without being destination based. All submissions must be the original work of the author and have never been published elsewhere.  
3. Submissions should be sent to tsmeditor@gmail.com with “$150 Writing Contest – [Title of Story]” as the heading.  You could post your story as an e-mail; however, document attachments (.doc) are preferred.   
4. All submissions for this writing contest must be received by June 30th, 2008.5. Submissions must include a brief biography (a short description of yourself, and you may include a website address if you have one) which will be added to the end of your travel story or article.   
5. Submissions can include a photograph. Photographs are to be sent as separate attachments (.jpg) and not be embedded on the document. Please note that the photograph does not necessarily have to be your own, but proper credit must be given to the photographer for the submission to be accepted. An excellent resource to find related photographs is flickr.com, but please ensure about the copyright restriction requirement of the photographer. All photo credit must be clearly submitted either within the article or on the photo title in this format: [Photo Title], © [Photographer’s Name]/[Source Website]  
6. Upon submission, your story will be reviewed for its quality and originality, and after which you will be contacted (within 3 days) to be notified of your publishing date. Minor editing may occur to match our format.    

What will you gain by submitting to the TSM Writing Contest, besides a chance at the $150? 

1. Instant exposure for your travel writing, including traffic for your website or blog from TSM Online.  
2. Constructive feedback from the Traveling Stories Magazine community.  
3. And the supreme motivation of the chance at winning $150 USD!  

*In order to be eligible for the contest and for publication, all submissions become proprietary of Traveling Stories Magazine. Any reproduction will be with consent from the author. 

Enter The TSM Writing Contest by e-mailing your submission to tsmeditor@gmail.com or read the current TSM Writing Contest submissions HERE.