January 2, 2013 | 9:26 am

Travel Writing Contest: Free Entry, Cash Prizes!

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

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We Said Go Travel Writing Contest
Winter 2013--Free Entry, Cash Prizes

WeSaidGoTravel.com invites you to enter its 2013 Travel Writing Contest with a $200 first-place prize and no fee for entry.  The theme for the Winter 2013 contest is “Inspiration: A Place you Love.” We hope your article will encourage other’s to consider going to the place you love and travel more! Please see below for the full rules of our competition. Thank you for your participation in creating a growing global community of engaged travelers and concerned citizens. Writers of all ages and from all countries are encouraged to enter and share stories from any part of our planet.

THEME: Inspiration: A place you love

JUDGE: Richard Bangs, award winning writer of 1000s of magazine articles and dozens of books and host of PBS Adventure with Purpose

CASH PRIZES: 1st prize - $200usd, 2nd prize - $100usd, Vagabond’s Choice - $100usd
First and Second Prize will be selected by our judge, Richard Bangs and the We Said Go Travel Team. The Vagabonds’s Choice Award will be selected through voting on the We Said Go Travel Facebook Fan page. All award monies will be paid through Check or PayPal in United States Dollars. The contest begins January 2, 2013 and ends February 14, 2013. All winning entries will be promoted on We Said Go Travel social media channels and the author names recognized as winners of the first We Said Go Travel Writing contest.

RULES: Publication is dependent on proper use of English language and grammar, appropriateness of theme topic, and being family friendly (G rated). If your post is written in a language other than English, please also send an English translation. Travelers of all ages and from all countries are encouraged to participate. Each individual may send up to 5 entries that are 500-800 words with 1-2 photos. Your article must be an original and previously unpublished piece. All posts, which meet the requirements, will appear on WeSaidGoTravel.com. Enter by midnight PST on February 14, 2013. Voting for the Vagabond’s Choice Award will begin on our Facebook fan page after all eligible posts have been published on WeSaidGoTravel.com.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Email your entry to Inspiration@wesaidgotravel.com by February 14, 2013 by midnight PST (Pacific Standard Time).
2. Send your article in the body of the email and as a word doc attachment.
3. Include at least one or at most two photos as jpg attachments (only send photos that you have taken or have explicit permission to use).
4. In your email include the following information:
a. Name, Email Address, Country you are from, Country your article is about, Article Title
b. How you found out about this writing contest
c. Please include a short bio(1-3 sentences) with one link to you—either your personal website or some social media site like your Facebook page.

Inspiration about writing:
We are looking for an article that “speaks to readers, transforms them and transports them either to a place they’d like to live or like to travel.”  Use “creative evocative writing that brings a destination to life” by combining “the tools of a novelist, the eyes of a journalist, and the general knowledge that comes from a never-ending education and a natural curiosity about the world around you—and its history.” When you are “capturing the essence of a place and engaging the senses,” you share your passion for the place you are writing about and everyone will want to read your writing. (Quotes from Travel Writing 2.0 by Tim Leffel)