Winding down 31 days to build a better blog at yeah write, winding up for a new writing season at yeah write and the speakeasy

Today is day 30 of 31dbbb. If you’ve always wanted to write a review post without sounding like a 1950s appliance commercial, please head over to Flood’s final post for yeah write. Also, feel free to leave in comments of her post your heartfelt goodbyes as she leaves yeah write for new adventures.

Interested in maybe replacing Flood as the challenge grid submissions editor or managing editor of the speakeasy? Email Erica M for a job description. Quickly: it’s an unpaid, demanding position looking at around 20 hours each week. Writing samples will be requested. Perks: you’ll meet through us the best friends you’ve ever had, topping even that one time at summer camp.

Final prize week of the yeah write 2013 summer series

This week, everybody is eligible if a few things happen. We will continue to honor our summer series guest editor Chad Simpson by awarding a copy of his short story collection Tell Everyone I Said Hi to each winner.

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• If we reach 30-39 entries on the yeah write challenge grid, which will unlock the editor picks on the invitational grid, the jury prize winner will receive Chad’s collection plus Ron Carlson’s Ron Carlson Writes a Story and Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.
• If we reach 40-49 entries on the yeah write challenge grid, the jury prize winner receive the book bundle mentioned above plus Flood’s yeah write 2012 yeah write summer series editor recommendation Henriette Klauser’s Writing on Both Sides of the Brain: Breakthrough Techniques for People Who Write. The crowd favorite (once the votes have all been validated) will be awarded Chad’s book bundle: Chad’s collection, the Carlson book and the Pressfield book.
• If we hit our limit of 50 entries on the challenge grid, one random winner from the challenge grid will win the Chad book bundle. The crowd favorite will win Chad’s book bundle and Flood’s Henriette Klauser recommendation. The jury prize winner will be awarded Chad’s book bundle, Flood’s Krause recommendation and Erica M’s recommendations the 2013 Best American Essays and 2013 Best American Short Stories.
• The random winner must be subscribed to the yeah write weekly email blast, so double-check that you’ve subscribed if you’re not sure. Is your mailing address outside of the U.S.? If you’re awarded one of the prizes, we will send, instead of the actual books, a gift card (or PayPal) in the amount (USD) of the bundle you’ve won.
• Already won a jury prize from yeah write #117, yeah write #118 or yeah write #119, and you don’t want duplicate books? We have a long list of replacement suggestions, including Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Go for the double win.

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Make sure you spread the word of this prize week

The prize packages will grow with the number of writers participating. When you write your blurb next to this week’s badge, be sure to tell your readers about the prize bundles. If we don’t reach 30 on the challenge grid, nothing will be awarded, and we don’t want that to happen. Yeah write editors will get the word out, and we need the help of our community. Good writing should be shared and shared and shared some more because who does not love being awarded for our efforts?

Writing a winning post at yeah write

Take a look at our recent winners if you need an idea of what your favorite yeah write editors are looking for in a winning post. A good place to start is the weeks in which the invitational grid was unlocked by the challenge grid having 30 or more posts. Click on the editor picks from that week. Know we will, especially in a challenge grid prize week, pull posts from the challenge grid that do not meet our submission guidelines. Being pulled is not a necessary indictment of your writing. It’s our way of making sure everyone is competing fairly in the weekly challenge by following the guidelines. If you’ve read and understood this, please leave a form of “dude, I totally hear what you’re saying” in comments.

Odds, ends, reminders

• Your post can be no longer than 600 words
• Your post can be dated no earlier than Sunday, July 28, the day the yeah write #120 badges were officially posted
• The grid is open from Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. to Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.
• It is limited to 50 bloggers
• Voting will take place Thursday from midnight to 10:00 p.m. US eastern
• The winners’ post will be published by noon on Friday
• The weekend moonshine grid will open Friday around 6 p.m. and close Monday by 12:01 a.m.
• No self-promotional posts are allowed on the yeah write grid, including those containing links to other blog events and Internet contests
• Combining your yeah write post with other blog events meant to maximize your exposure and minimize your effort is a no-no

Yeah write #120 weekly writing challenge is open for submissions: personal essay, traditional blog anecdotes or today’s 31dbbb review post. Tell your friends about the writing contest. Bring us your best stuff.