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September 8, 2015 (Washington, DC) - We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) has selected the winners of its short story contest to celebrate unpublished, diverse writers of all backgrounds.  Kelly Baptist, the first place winner, will receive a cash prize of $1000, plus the opportunity to be published in the WNDB Middle Grade Anthology, official title to be announced, published by Crown Books for Young Readers in January 2017. Baptist is a Human Resource Specialist in Michigan. Ami Boghani, awarded second place, and Reese Eschmann, the third place winner, will receive $250 and $100 respectively. Boghani is a writer and producer based in Brooklyn, NY and Eschmann is an elementary school social worker in North Chicago.

Phoebe Yeh, VP/Publisher of Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House acquired publication rights to the anthology and Ellen Oh, President of WNDB, will edit it. Contributing authors include Kwame Alexander, Sherman Alexie, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Pena, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Walter Dean Myers, Tim Tingle, and Jacqueline Woodson. The anthology reserved one slot for a previously unpublished author, which will be filled by Baptist’s winning entry.

Yeh said of the winning entry, “I immediately responded to the strong voice and characterization in ‘The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn.’ I was also impressed with the way Ms. Baptist created a realistic family and school dynamic.  Most powerful of all, Ms. Baptist shows how words are transformative: just as writing the Chronicles gave his father a creative outlet, reading the Chronicles helps Isaiah remember the father he misses.”

The anthology, in memory of Walter Dean Myers, is inspired by Myers’s quote, “Once I began to read, I began to exist.”

We Need Diverse Books™ is a non-profit organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. For more information, visit WNDB at www.diversebooks.org.

WNDB will be extending the submission deadline for the short story contest to Monday, May 11th at 12pm EST/9am PST. 

We received so many submissions our email server was not prepared! But we are now and want to make sure you get your work in if you tried yesterday. So please get those submissions in and any questions don’t hesitate to contact us. 

Please read the FAQs carefully here on where to email your work and what we will and won’t take for consideration in this contest.

Contest Rules are as follows: 

General Rules

• Entries will be accepted after 9:00AM EST on April 27th until 12:00PM EST on May 11th, 2015. Any submission made prior to or after the entry period will not be considered.
• Entry is free.
• Submissions will not be returned.
• All applicants must include a 75 word bio and headshot.
• Winner will be announced on June 15, 2015.

Short Story Rules

• All submissions (short story or illustrated story) must be in English and never before published in any medium, print or digital.
• Submissions must be no longer than 5000 words.
• All submissions must be electronic and sent to the following email address:contest@diversebooks.org

• All submissions must also be appropriate for a middle grade audience, ages 8 to 12.
• If your submission is illustrated, it must be in a graphic novel format, but no longer than 10 pages.
• Illustrations must be submitted electronically. Do NOT mail hard copy submissions to WNDB. They will not be reviewed, nor will they be returned.

Eligibility

• Open to diverse writers from all diverse backgrounds (as defined above). Applicants must include this information in their bio.
• Open to diverse writers who have not been published in a traditional print fiction book format, including self-pubbed, independents, small and medium publishing houses, in all genres whether for the children’s or adult market.
• EXCEPTION – Short story publication credit in a magazine, literary journal, or periodical will not disqualify the applicant.

Thanks for sharing your work with us! We’re excited to read all these wonderful submissions! 

The We Need Diverse Books Short Story Contest

WNDB is proud to announce that Phoebe Yeh, VP/Publisher of Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House, has acquired publication rights to the Middle Grade WNDB Anthology, working title “Stories For All Of Us.”  Ellen Oh, President of WNDB, will edit the anthology, which will have a January 2017 release date. Contributing authors include: Kwame Alexander, Sherman Alexie, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Pena, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Walter Dean Myers, Rachel Renee Russell, and Jacqueline Woodson.

The anthology will be in memory of Walter Dean Myers and it will be inspired by his quote: “Once I began to read, I began to exist.” Every new story contribution to this anthology will be by a diverse author.

WNDB is proud to announce that the anthology will have one story reserved for a previously unpublished diverse author. WNDB will fill that slot via a short story contest. The winner of which will be included in the anthology and will receive a payment of $1,000 US.

General Rules

• Entries will be accepted after 9:00AM EST on April 27th until 5:00PM EST on May 8th, 2015. Any submission made prior to or after the entry period will not be considered.

• Entry is free.

• Submissions will not be returned.

• All applicants must include a short 75 word bio and headshot.

• Winners will be announced on June 15, 2015.

Short Story Rules

• All submissions (short story or illustrated story) must be in English and never before published in any medium, print or digital.

• Submissions must be no longer than 5.000 words.

• All submissions must be electronic and sent to the following email address: contest@diversebooks.org

• All submissions must also be appropriate for a middle grade audience, ages 8 to 12.

• If your submission is illustrated, it must be in a graphic novel format, but no longer than 10 pages.

• Illustrations must be submitted electronically. Do NOT mail hard copy submissions to WNDB. They will not be reviewed, nor will they be returned.

Eligibility

• Open to diverse writers from all diverse backgrounds (as defined in FAQs). Applicants must include this information in their bio.

• Open to diverse writers who have not been published in a traditional print fiction book format, including self-pubbed, independents, small and medium publishing houses, in all genres whether for the children’s or adult market.

• EXCEPTION - Short story publication credit in a magazine, literary journal, or periodical will not make the applicant ineligible.

Prizes

• First prize winner will receive an award of $1,000 plus their entry will be published as part of the WNDB Anthology to be released by Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House Children’s Books in January 2017.

• Two runner-up winners will receive honorable mentions and awards of $250 each.

For FAQs visit the Short Story Contest page on our website which will be regularly updated once the contest officially begins.