I came across this today.

www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.php

The contest isn't until the end of July. But, it apparently fills up early. It costs $5 to enter.

I didn't really plan on doing fiction, but it sounded interesting. It's a 24-hour contest. They give a topic and a word count on July 26th at noon. You then have 24 hours to create a short story  that fits the guidelines.

First, second and third place get cash prices plus bonuses. Twenty honorable mentions get an ebook and a subscription to a writing newsletter. And, there are 60 door prizes.

Don't know if anyone is interested, but I thought I'd let everyone know.

-- Tim

Thanks for telling us Tim, I think I might enter.

  Thanks for mentioning that, it couldn't hurt to try!

I don't know man, the fact that it's "published on the web site" and they offer as part of the prize a how to make money writing e-magazines, it just seems scammy to me.

Personally most of their prizes other then the money could be found for free with web searches. and that I can and have posted stories on the web for free. they don't seem to be offering me much I couldn't do on my own.

You may be right. However, I did check it out. The WritersWeekly website which is offering the contest has an excellent record. Their website includes a number of excellent features for writers. It's what the web site does - teach writers to make money. So, the how-to make money ebooks makes perfect sense for a prize coming from the site.

Angela Hoy, who runs the site, has been credited to bringing a number of scammers to justice. And, has exposed a number of scams on the web. I've seen her name mentioned on a number of other scambuster type of sites, as a contributor. I have yet to find anyone who says that she has scammed them.

The three winning stories are published on the site. However, all other rights remain with the author. Most scam contests do a rights grab to try and get everything that they can. The prizes are not extravagant, however they are in line with the entry fee.

Admittedly, based on what you said in your introductory post, you may be a bit beyond this contest. However, I'm just starting out. I work very well with a deadline. So, a contest that gives me 24 hours to write a short story may be just the thing to get me motivated.

So, I don't think it's a scam. However, I do think it is for beginners.

-- Tim