Contest seeks holiday short story entries by 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 theme Beach Holidays.

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 Holidays,” to be published by Cat & Mouse Press in November. Now in its 10th year, the contest is sponsored by Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach.

“We thought our 10th year was cause for celebration, so ‘Beach Holidays’ seemed an appropriate theme,” said Nancy Sakaduski, owner of Cat & Mouse Press. She emphasizes that all holidays are fair game. “We hope to get plenty of Christmas stories, but we would love to be able to include holidays from throughout the year and from a variety of traditions.”

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

The deadline for entries to the Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest is Friday, July 1. The fee per entry is $10, and each writer can submit up to three stories. Entries will be evaluated by a panel of judges and chosen based on creativity, quality of writing, suitability as a beach read, and fit with the theme.

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

Potential entrants are encouraged to read “How to Write Winning Short Stories” and its companion workbook. For a limited time, contest sponsor Browseabout Books will be offering a specially priced writer’s bundle of $25 for both books. Entrants can also read the previous books in the Rehoboth Beach Reads series to see the kinds of stories judges selected in prior years.