The annual contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists is open!
The deadline this year is:
Sunday, March 15, midnight Pacific
Has been extended to midnight Pacific on Wednesday, April 1!
Besides fame, winners and finalists get a token of fortune: $300 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third. Finalists and any honorable mentions receive certificates. All will be announced and honored at the awards banquet during the NSNC Conference, June 25-28 in Indianapolis.
The 2015 NSNC Column Contest considers columns published in any medium (including blog posts and video and multimedia essays) published in newspapers, magazines and websites in the 2014 calendar year. While the entries are not blind submissions, the judges are longtime professional journalists or academics and independent of NSNC.
The rules are similar to those of recent years, but you should go over them for any revisions. They can be found at “2015 Column Contest Rules.”
The fee is competitive with the nation’s top contests: $45 per entry for non-NSNC members and $25 for members. You can join the society when you enter the contest — $50 dues — and taking the fee discount and enjoy NSNC benefits for the year. Contest fees can be paid via this page, “Payment for 2015 Column Contest.”
We welcome checks sent by postal mail. The payment web page also offers the secure PayPal option for credit or debit cards. Sample columns can be mailed to the NSNC as well, or exported into PDF format and emailed, as explained on the payment page. URLs (web addresses) of text or multimedia columns posted online are to be listed on the application form.
We welcome multiple submissions. Yet you can only submit one entry of three samples to any one category. So, if you write for a publication, send those in. Then if you also blog, separately submit samples for the appropriate online-only category. And so on. See the web rules page for category parameters. This increases your chances of winning, and all entry fees support NSNC programs.
