Enter to Win a Scholarship to the 2014 SBWC: Annual Best Opening Contest!

Dear Writers, Enter to win a tuition scholarship to the 42nd Annual Santa Barbara Writers Conference! Send us your BEST OPENING, up to 50 words — a beginning most likely to compel a reader to turn the page. 

  • Email all entries to: sbwcBestOpening@gmail.com
  • Please include contact information: name, phone number, email address, & mailing address
  • Paste your entry and contact information into the body of the email
  • Word Count: Up to 50
  • All genres welcome
  • This must be your original work, published or unpublished
  • Winner receives a tuition scholarship to the 42nd Annual Santa Barbara Writers Conference, June 7 to 12, 2014**
  • No entry fee
  • Open: Today!
  • Deadline: Thursday, April 17, Midnight (PST)
  • Winner Announced: Tuesday, April 22

Please share this opportunity with writers you know.

Write On! Nicole Starczak SBWC, Director

“I think your opening is enormously important. You’ve got to write a first line that will haunt you. It’s got to be magic.” – Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina, and keynote speaker at SBWC 2012

**In the event that the winner cannot attend the 2014 SBWC, June 7 to 12, the scholarship will go to the runner up.