  Contests & Activities
This week: Edited by: gailey  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
Newsletters in general provide some great reading, both from the selected links to Writing.Com members' items and from the informative help and advice given in the editorials. The Contest Newsletter is your portal to understanding the mechanics involved with the contests. Even though some of the links may have become invalid, previous editions of each newsletter still provide useful tips and advice that you might have forgotten. Take a search through them whenever you get a chance. You might find the exact information or incentive you need to go forward with an idea you've had or write an entry you've been thinking about.
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WELCOME! This week is a double-take - a reprint of my first editorial almost 2 years ago. Why offer a reprint? Because the topic's feature is still one of the most important ones you can use for each item you create here or anywhere online.
THAT OVERLOOKED BOX
"Rating" and "sub-category" and "genre" are all "keywords" designed to categorize an item in order to give an instant, overall definition of it. Identifying-words (or keywords) make it easier for someone who is searching for something specific to be able to find it.
Suppose you were meeting someone for lunch next week. To do that, you need to know the date, time and location. "Date", "time" and "location" are key words necessary to bring about an end result - in this case, a lunch get-together. Without knowing the specifics of those keywords, you could be sitting at a table in McDonald's at 1:00 PM on Thursday waiting for your lunch partner, who might have already been sitting at Burger King the day before at noon, waiting for you. Keywords are important!
On Writing.Com, whenever you create an item, there's a keyword text box in the creation/editing template that offers an excellent "plugging" opportunity for it. It won't bring about a shared lunch date, but it might pave the way for members to find your items more quickly.
How do you use keywords to help bring reads/rates/reviews to your items?
There's a site-search tool - POWER SEARCH - that makes it possible for members to narrow their search to specific words and phrases, rather than the more generalized categories. It is available to all of Writing.Com's members and visitors.
Who uses the POWER SEARCH?
Readers! If someone using the POWER SEARCH wanted to find a story involving a mysterious occurrence on a wagon train traveling to Oregon (hey, it could happen), they could type "wagon train" or "mystery wagon train" or any similar phrasing into the POWER SEARCH text block. And, if you happened to have written such a story (see, I told you it could happen), then they would be directed straight to it...if you placed "wagon train" or "mystery wagon train" or something similar in your keyword text box when you created the story.
Who else uses the POWER SEARCH?
Newsletter editors! There are 13 Official Newsletters and a number of Unofficial ones here at Writing.Com. Each newsletter has editors who are continually looking for information and items to showcase in their editions. You give your stories, poems, essays, etc. a better chance of being found and possibly highlighted in one of the newsletters if you use the best defining keywords for them.
How does this apply to contests?
1) Whatever your contest is about, you can usually find words that instantly summarize it so that others know what to expect even before they click on it.
2) If your contest could be considered unusual because it gives those who enter it a unique writing or image-creating experience, and you've only received two entries so far, with no signs of a third one in sight, then the keywords "unusual contest" might bring a few members to it. Especially if there are a gazillion other contests ahead of it in the PUBLIC LISTING. Because each time an entry is posted in one of the other contests, it goes to the front in the LISTING. Add to that the fact that contests are being created nearly every day and you really will be doing your's a favor by using keywords. That's not to say someone won't be able to find your contest if you don't use keywords, but it might take them a long trek through the LISTING to do so.
3) If you've written something for a contest, then at the time it is being held, what you've written is an entry. But what happens when the contest ends? If you want it to remain in your portfolio, then you will no doubt want reads/rates and reviews for it. The right keywords could continue to bring readers to it. And who knows...it might even end up being showcased in one or more of the newsletters.
WHEN SHOULD YOU USE KEYWORDS?
For items that you want others to find, you should always use keywords. It's best to get in the habit of using them when you create each item. However, if you need more time to determine what would be the best words or phrases to use, then you can always return to the creation/editing template and add them afterwards.
Do your items have keywords? If not, take a few minutes and select a few for them. Who knows, there might be someone looking for exactly what you already have in your portfolio.
 "Invalid Item" is a competition for all cases, all genres, and all stories and poems that are 25K and under, with a rating of 18+ or under. THANK YOU to everyone who entered this past round. I always enjoy reading the entries.
CONGRATULATIONS to the following ROUND 15 WINNERS:
GRAND PRIZE POEM
GRAND PRIZE FICTION
Honorable Mention Poem
Honorable Mention Fiction
Round 16 ends Nov. 16.
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Till next time, enjoy sorting through the items listed here! 
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CONTESTS
Deadline: Parts 1&2: October 23rd to December 3rd
Part 3: December 4th to December 17th
Began Nov. 01 and has varying deadlines
HURRY! 
Deadline: Nov. 05
Deadline: Nov. 07
Begins Nov. 07, ends Nov. 14
Deadline: Nov. 10
Begins Nov. 05, ends Dec. 20
Deadline not definite
Deadline: Dec. 31
Deadline: Weekly
SCAVENGER HUNT
Returns Nov. 07
RAFFLES
Deadline: Nov. 15
Deadline: Nov. 18
Deadline not definite
ACTIVITIES and INTERESTS
And here is a new listing of contests that is being compiled :
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Contests & Activities: November 02, 2005 Issue [#693]
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