Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest entries due July 1

The Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest invites writers to submit stories of 500-3,500 words that feature Rehoboth Beach and fit the year’s theme, which for 2021 is Beach Secrets.

The first-place winner will receive $500, second-place $250, and third-place $100. The top 20-25 stories will appear in the anthology “Beach Secrets,” to be published by Cat & Mouse Press in November.

Now in its ninth year, the contest is sponsored by Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach.

“There are many kinds of secrets at the beach,” said Nancy Sakaduski, owner of Cat & Mouse Press. “There are family secrets, romantic secrets, and secret spots for fishing or beachcombing. There might even be government secrets now. And then there are financial secrets, childhood secrets, criminal secrets, and otherworldly secrets.”

She suggests authors be creative and open their minds to all possibilities. “As in the past, writers will put their own spin on the theme. Stories that stand out to the judges definitely have an advantage,” said Sakaduski.

The deadline for entries to the Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest is Thursday, July 1. The fee is $10 per entry. Each writer can submit up to three stories.

Entries will be evaluated by a panel of judges, and winners will be chosen based on creativity, quality of writing, suitability as a beach read and fit with the theme.

For complete contest information and guidelines, go to catandmousepress.com.

Potential entrants are encouraged to read Sakaduski’s “How to Write Winning Short Stories” and its companion workbook available at local bookstores and online, and look at the previous books in the Rehoboth Beach Reads series to see the kinds of stories selected in prior years.