Community, Contest, and Curation, Oh my!

Message in a Bottle #12
Origin: The Isle of Write
Sender: Hive account@carolkean
Recipients: Steemit Creatives

Community, Contests, and Curation, Oh my!

The Isle is hopping and every minute I don't post this, new stuff comes up to add, so I better get to it! I want to be able to squeeze every great thing happening there into this, but I can't so I'm just going to hit a few big highlights today. Be sure and follow so you don't miss the next bottle to wash up on Steemit.

Community

It's no secret we Islanders are in love with our community. The friendly people who line the beaches and fill the cabanas make it feel like we really are just basking in the sun, even though I'm writing this from the frigid climate of the Midwest.

One member who particularly warmed us all is Hive account@techslut. Her generosity in helping new Steemians to get established is legendary, and the past couple of weeks she's cast her kindness to the Isle. Responding to our need for funds to reward curated authors (more on those below) she sent a jaw-dropping 50 SBD to the account! And today, in an effort to boost the upvote we use for our fellow creatives, she delegated 200 SP to the account. So the next time an Islander gets a vote from us and it's a dime, not literally "our two cents," you know who to thank, and we say it here:

THANK YOU @TECHSLUT!

And did I mention that the number of Islanders is exploding? Less than two weeks ago we celebrated the arrival of our 200th, today we are closing in on 300! If you're among them, be sure you are using the isleofwrite tag so I might catch one of your posts in my Islander Highlights!

Contest

So many writing contests here on Steemit, with excellent prizes worth trying for, but how to find them? Hive account@moneyinfant wrote, “The problem I was having was finding them in the sea of new posts in the contest tag. You might have been having the same problem,” in the recent post: Steemit Writing Contests: Issue #3

There are many exciting contests in that post, but here's one you might not have heard about...

She liked it/We worry about you - Pick your prompt!

Twelve days ago, I launched a writing contest. Since then, I have extended the deadline to February 14 and expanded the prompt.

And remember that writing for a contest, you can win in more than one way. @GuyTMartland wrote Spacecraft Cover in response to the “She Liked It” contest prompt, and it was Curied, which means he already earned ten times the SBD that the average contest prize pool has to offer. When you respond to a contest prompt, flex your writing muscles, and set loose your creative impulses, your efforts can be rewarded in myriad ways. That was one...

And here is another...

Guaranteed $5 SBD to each of the Top Three entries.

Okay, that's not nearly what Curie can do, but what if we added the possibility of being published in a book?

Not just an e-book, for sale at Amazon and other places online, but a paper copy, one for each contributing author, along with $5 SBD for your story?

Isle of Write plans publication of five anthologies this year, one for Steemit Poetry, and four for Steemit Fiction, one in each of the following genre groups:

Science Fiction/Fantasy
Horror/Paranormal
Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Literary

Our goal is to fill each anthology with curated Steemit authors in order to showcase to the world beyond what incredible talent Steemit has to offer.

Curation

While I will personally provide a $ 5 SBD prize to each of the top three pieces (as judged by me) I can't guarantee now that the contest winners will make it into an anthology. It will depend on space and how well any fits the bill. But I can promise you I will read every word of every entry and nominate all those that meet the requirements set out in our initial Curation to Publication Announcement

So get those thinking caps on and send me some stories, Steemit Creatives! Stat! Write them up, post them, and link them in my contest prompt or here. Remember to include the tag "keangaroo" so I can find entries easily. And if you want a little boost, pop by the Fiction Fjord at the Isle and workshop your story first!

And so this missive ends, and I set it afloat in the hopes it reaches you well, fellow Steemians!

Follow Hive account@isleofwrite for updates; click on the hashtag #isleofwrite for all the latest stories and poems. Every day, every hour, something new comes along.

We look forward to hearing from you and reading your work!

Do you believe as we do that Steemit Creatives deserve recognition for their hard work and talent? If so, please help us in our mission to reward this creativity both on and off Steemit. Upvote, resteem, follow!

Are you looking to help a community dedicated to the respect and encouragement of Steemit creativity? Please consider a donation or delegation to Isle of Write. All of our account earnings go back into the Steemit Creative community.

If you'd like to wash up on our shore, a click of the map brings you straight to our door!

art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics