Image courtesy epicantus on Flickr

First, I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to enter The First Ever Write It Sideways Blogging Contest. I received many wonderful submissions, and I appreciate the time and effort that went into each one!

Originally, I said I would choose from two pools:

1. Experienced Bloggers/Writers: Those who have a blog of their own with greater than 500 subscribers, or have published more than three guest articles on other blogs, or have been traditionally published in print media.
2. New Bloggers/Writers: Those who don’t have a blog of their own, or have a blog with an audience of fewer than 500 subscribers, or have published fewer than three guest articles online and are not traditionally published in print media.

The thing is, I received at least three times more entries from inexperienced writers than from experienced ones, and the articles were all so well-written that no distinction needs to be made amongst the finalists.

So, I have chosen the very best articles from all the entries I received, and once they have all been posted, we will vote on our top two favourite articles to be the grand prize winners.

[I did state in the original conditions of contest that I reserved the right to change the rules, if necessary. Thank you for understanding.]

Finalists will:

• Have their articles published on Write It Sideways, with bylines including links to any personal blogs/websites, online fiction, Twitter accounts, etc.
• Increase their visibility in the blogosphere. For new bloggers, this means increasing the likelihood of having guest posts accepted elsewhere.

Finalist Selection Criteria

How did I choose the finalists?

• Content: How helpful is the article to writers? Is it original content or something we’ve all seen a thousand times before?
• Style: Does the writing hook me and make me want to continue reading? Does it include a catchy title? Is the writing clear, concise, and generally free of errors?
• Structure: Does it include an introduction and conclusion? Is there plenty of white space? Are subtitles used when appropriate?

Introducing the Contest Finalists…

Congratulations and a big thank you to the following entrants (in no particular order):

• Debra Eve: “Offbeat Lessons from Three Late-Blooming Writers”
• Ashley Elizabeth Prince:” Four Places to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing”
• Krissy Brady: “What to Do When Your Writing Takes a Backseat”
• Florence Fois: “What Happens Next…” (Self-Publishing)
• Erika Liodice: “Will It Sell? Use Your 5 Senses to Gauge Your Book’s Potential”
• Christi Craig: “The Dilemma of The Mother Writer”
• Patricia Woodside: “Take a Chance with Your Writing”
• Susan Bearman: “Writers Write”

I mean it when I say I had a terrible time deciding on this list because every single one of the entries I received met a high standard of writing. So, please don’t be discouraged if your essay didn’t make the finals; it really came down to choosing articles I felt would be most interesting and helpful to readers here.

I hope to run all of the finalists’ posts within the next three weeks, so please stop by often and give these writers some encouraging feedback on their writing.

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and I’m looking forward to running more contests in the future!