The Ventura County Writers Club is proud to announce the opening of their 17th annual short story contest. The fiction contest is open to all writers and winners receive cash prizes. Adult first place prize award is $500, second place is $250 and third place is $125. In the high school category, first place award is $100, second place is $75 and third place is $50. Winners are published in the club’s biennial anthology. The contest closes at midnight on November 15, 2016.

Entries must be family friendly, original and previously unpublished—not appearing in any newspaper, magazine, or book, whether or not the author received compensation. Authors may enter multiple stories. Entrants may only receive one cash prize. Entries are accepted through submittable.com.

Stories are limited to 2,500 words or less. The submission fee for each story submitted: $15 U.S. for adult VCWC members; $25 U.S. for adult non-members; and $10 for high school students. Winners will be notified in early January 2017. Award Ceremony is January 10, 2017. Go to http://venturacountywriters.com/contests/short-story for more information or call Sheli Ellsworth at 805.499.3490.

Our club is open to writers at all ages and all levels of writing. We meet the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM at the Pleasant Valley Senior Center, 1605 Burnley Street in Camarillo, CA. Meetings are free and open to everyone.