Welcome to the ninth annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. First prize is $3,000. A total of $5,550 in prizes will be awarded. Submit poems in any style, theme or genre. Click here to read the winning entries from past contests.

Submission Period
Entries accepted December 15, 2010-September 30, 2011 (postmark dates)

What to Submit
Poetry in any style or theme. Your entry should be your own original work. You may submit the same poem simultaneously to this contest and to others, and you may submit poems that have been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the online publication rights.

Prizes and Publication
First prize: $3,000. Second prize: $1,000. Third prize: $400. Fourth prize: $250. There will also be six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 each. The top 10 entries will be published on the Winning Writers website (over one million page views per year) and announced in Tom Howard Contest News and the Winning Writers Newsletter, a combined audience of over 35,000 readers.

Entry Fee
The reading fee is $7 for every 25 lines you submit. If you submit a sonnet of 14 lines and a haiku of 3 lines, totaling 17 lines, the fee would be $7. If you submit three poems of 15 lines each, totaling 45 lines, the fee would be $14. Exclude your poem titles and any blank lines from your line count. There is no limit on the number of lines or number of poems you may submit. Please note: Generally entry fees are not refundable. However, if you believe you have an exceptional circumstance, please contact us within one year of your entry.

Deadline
September 30, 2011. Your entry must be postmarked or submitted online by this date.

How To Submit
Click here to submit online (credit and debit cards)
Click here to submit by mail (checks and money orders)
Click here to submit via PayPal

Announcement of Winners
We are pleased to present the winners of the eighth contest here. The winners of the ninth contest will be announced on February 15, 2012. Entrants with valid email addresses will receive an email notification.

English Language
Poets of all nations may enter. However, the poems you submit should be in English. If you have written a poem in another language, you may translate your poem into English and submit the translation. You may also submit a translation of a work that is in the public domain.

Privacy
Your privacy is assured. Neither Winning Writers nor Tom Howard Books will rent your information to third parties. Winning Writers processes entries and fees for this contest as a service to Tom Howard Books. Winning Writers is not a sponsor and does not judge the entries.

Copyright
If your entry wins any cash prize, you agree to give both John H. Reid and Winning Writers a nonexclusive license to publish your work online. From time to time, selected winning entries may also be published in printed collections. If you win a prize, we may ask you for permission to include your entry in one of these books. You may accept or decline this invitation as you choose. Your entry will not be published in print without your consent, and you retain all other rights. You are free, for example, to publish your work in print or online elsewhere, and to enter it into other contests, whether or not you win a prize in this contest.

Judges
Final judge John Howard Reid has won first prizes and other awards in prestigious literary events. A former journalist and magazine editor, he is the creator of Merryll Manning, the Miami-based police sergeant who made his debut in Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island. He has also published several historical novels, a collection of poetry, a guide to winning literary contests, and over fifty books of film criticism and movie history. See his work at Lulu. He lives in Wyong, Australia. Mr. Reid is assisted in the judging by Dee C. Konrad. A leading educator and published author, Mrs. Konrad was Associate Professor in the English faculty of Barat College of DePaul University, and served as Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the year 2000-2001.

http://www.winningwriters.com/
http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tompoetry/tp_guidelines.php

Click on the link above and go to the contest official site