ASPIRING WRITER GUIDELINES:

1. Aspiring Writers (those unpublished in the mystery field) submit a 100 word (maximum) synopsis and the first 500 words of a mystery short story or novel.
2. Entries should be in standard submission format: 12 point Times New Roman or Courier New font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins.
3. One submission per person
4. There are a limited number of Aspiring Writer slots available, so submit early.
5. Deadline to submit: Thursday, March 22, 2011
6. Entry Fee: None
7. All Aspiring Writers MUST attend the Barbara Burnett Smith Aspiring Writers Event to be held Sunday, May 15, 2011 in Austin, Texas.
8. Those chosen as Aspiring Writers will receive one or more Mentor Author e-mails prior to the
   Barbara Burnett Smith Aspiring Writers Event, a 30-minute one-on-one session with a Mentor Author (an author published in the mystery field) at the BBSAWE, and comments on the submission.
9. At the BBSAWE, each Aspiring Writer is invited to ask his/her Mentors Authors questions about the submitted work and the publishing business.

Send entries to: entry@hotxsinc.org
Subject: BBSAWP entry
Include: Name, mailing address, email address and phone number
Attach: One document with the synopsis (100 word max) and the first 500 words of the manuscript. At the top of each page, note the year, the name of the Aspiring Writer and the name of the story.