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The End

As much as I hate to say it, the time has come for this contest to end. There will be no contest in 2025.

I started the La Viness Short Story Writing Contest to help authors have an affordable competition they could trust to be "for real." I didn't just want good stories. I wanted to see true effort to make both words in the theme so important that the story couldn't exist without either one. I also wanted to help my judges, who were already very good writers, learn from reading and studying the submissions, ultimately enhancing the value of their own written works. And most important was to find creative stories that had been edited and polished as much as possible before submission.

Over the years, we received some very polished, creative stories with serious effort being evident in the final product. It was also clear that many of you used my Story Checks file, and you applied it very well. This always made me proud.

All contest fees were used for advertising and required expenses, such as funding the awards, purchasing and printing certificates, mailing costs, website, etc. My ultimate $ goal was to one day pay out $1000 to the First Place winner, $750 to Second Place, and $500 to Third Place.

In six years, all of my goals have been achieved except one: The contest wasn't growing enough to pay out more than $225 for the top three awards. And each year, I was still using a few dollars from my own pocket.

But we had fun, didn't we? Creating memorable stories, judging the stories, seeing winners receive money just in time for the biggest holiday of the year.

So, I am closing the contest down while I can do it with a happy heart. Yes, I will miss reading the entries each year, but I will have wonderful memories from the winners and the others who asked for feedback and gained from it. And my valuable judges are still with me, too.

If you enjoyed these contests, please consider entering some of my other annual contests that I offer through a few area conferences. I keep them listed on this page: www.reneelaviness.com/awards.html

To those who won awards in this competition - As long as I am able to pay for this website, the winners' pages will remain online as proof of your achievements.

Thank you to everyone who entered the La Viness Short Story Writing Contest each year. I had such fun coming up with themes, drawing pictures to give you ideas on how to create stories "outside the box," and working with my judges. All of you made this contest a huge blessing for me. I hope it has somehow blessed you, as well.

Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,
Renee' La Viness
Sponsor/host of the La Viness Short Story Writing Contest

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Thank you for your trust and support!

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