Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, began sponsoring “The Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest” in 2013. That was also the year my family first visited Rehoboth Beach and the Poconos, during a surprise, early-summer trip I had been planning for more than six months. I had known nothing about the short story contest prior to wandering into Browseabout Books, and after returning home to Virginia, I had started working on my contest submission. The theme that first year was “The Beach House.”

“The goal of the Rehoboth Beach Reads contest is to showcase good writing while creating a great book for summer reading. One of the most popular activities for residents and visitors is reading on the beach, and the contest seeks to collect the kinds of short, engaging stories that help readers relax, escape, and enjoy their time at the beach.

Each story must incorporate the chosen theme and also have a strong connection to Rehoboth Beach (writers do not have to live in Rehoboth). A panel of judges select the best entries, which are published in a professionally designed and edited paperback book.

Contest Guidelines [for 2017]

 1. Submission must fit the theme “Beach Life.”
 2. Submission may be fiction or nonfiction, but must be plausible as a “beach read”
     (engaging, entertaining, and/or humorous).
 3. No poetry, erotica, children’s literature, or religious material.
 4. All work must be original, unpublished, and free from libelous material
     (a signed release will be required).
 5. Length must be 500–3,500 words.
 6. Work must be submitted via email, preferably in Microsoft Word.
 7. Work should be publication-ready (in final form and free from grammatical,
      spelling, and structural mistakes).
 8. Writers retain copyright but must grant first publication rights if their work
      is selected.
 9. There is no guarantee of publication.
10. Limit of three entries per person.
11. Publisher reserves right to edit for grammar and spelling; writers will be
     given an opportunity to review changes before publication.
12. No entries will be accepted after the deadline: midnight, July 1, 2017
     (entries received at or after 12:01am July 2 will be disqualified).
13. Each entry must be accompanied by a $10 fee.
14. Writers do not have to reside in Rehoboth, but the written piece must
     include a substantive connection to the area.
15. Work will be judged on creativity, quality of writing, suitability as a
     beach read, and fit with the theme.”
(Source: http://catandmousepress.com/contest/)


Beach Life cover image used with permission from Cat & Mouse Press

I didn’t make it into The Beach House, or into The Boardwalk in 2014, Beach Days in 2015, or Beach Nights in 2016. But after four years of disappointment, self-doubt, and knee-jerk reactions not to enter the contest anymore, the fifth time was the charm. My Judge’s Award-winning “Lefty and the Empty Bucket of Fries” begins on page 189 of Beach Life, which is now available at Browseabout Books and on Amazon.com. In celebration of surprise trips, local authors, and persevering through rejection and self-doubt, mosey out your front door and into your local or not-so-local independent bookseller. If you’re looking for a book that’s fun, engaging and beachy, I can recommend one.