Drexel Online Journal sponsors writing contest
Nova Halliwell
Issue date: 3/12/04 Section: News
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Over a thousand memoirs, personal essays, travel pieces, and literary journalism submissions are expected to flood The Drexel Online Journal office in hopes of winning the $500 Award for Creative Nonfiction prize.
"The contest helps focus attention on a central mission of the DOJ: encouraging, recognizing, and rewarding excellent writing," Pennoni Honors College Dean Mark Greenberg said. "As such, it helps us identify this core academic ability, writing, with a great University."
Expanding the Journal's readership and gaining high quality submissions are two reasons DOJ director and editor Albert Dibartolomeo gives for creating the contest.
"This is something that many publications do," Dibartolomeo said. "We want to encourage submissions."
In the first week alone, 13 manuscripts from as far away as France and Israel were received.
An aggressive advertising campaign for the contest, which included mailings, flyer distribution, as well as magazine advertisements, is credited with the high submission expectations.
"Of course, we always encourage Drexel students to submit," Dibartolomeo said. "Drexel faculty, Drexel staff, Drexel anyone."
The DOJ designed the contest to attract the maximum number of participants. Non-fiction submission quality is generally better than fiction, and has a better audience appeal, according to Dibartolomeo.
Other unique features to the contest include no contest entry fee, something that usually costs writers about $10-15 in similar contests. The DOJ will also review manuscripts as they are received, considering all submissions for immediate publication.
"The contest helps focus attention on a central mission of the DOJ: encouraging, recognizing, and rewarding excellent writing," Pennoni Honors College Dean Mark Greenberg said. "As such, it helps us identify this core academic ability, writing, with a great University."
Expanding the Journal's readership and gaining high quality submissions are two reasons DOJ director and editor Albert Dibartolomeo gives for creating the contest.
"This is something that many publications do," Dibartolomeo said. "We want to encourage submissions."
In the first week alone, 13 manuscripts from as far away as France and Israel were received.
An aggressive advertising campaign for the contest, which included mailings, flyer distribution, as well as magazine advertisements, is credited with the high submission expectations.
"Of course, we always encourage Drexel students to submit," Dibartolomeo said. "Drexel faculty, Drexel staff, Drexel anyone."
The DOJ designed the contest to attract the maximum number of participants. Non-fiction submission quality is generally better than fiction, and has a better audience appeal, according to Dibartolomeo.
Other unique features to the contest include no contest entry fee, something that usually costs writers about $10-15 in similar contests. The DOJ will also review manuscripts as they are received, considering all submissions for immediate publication.
