Ohio Genealogical Society

By | February 6, 2012

The 5th Annual Ohio Genealogical Society Writing Competition

Showcase your genealogical writing talent in one of the Ohio Genealogical Society’s outstanding journals. OGS is sponsoring its fourth annual genealogical writing contest which is open to authors of genealogical and historical material. In doing so, OGS will reward genealogical authorship and will feature the winners in its journals. Two OGS journals will reach our 5,400-member base while the two subscription journals reach genealogical and historical groups with special interests in early Ohio history and in Ohio’s Civil War soldiers. The contest is for articles dealing with Ohio history and genealogy, Ohio records groups, Ohioans who left to settle elsewhere and Ohio families. OGS welcomes articles ranging in size from 750 words up to 5,000 words, depending on the subject. Authors may submit up to eight entries with a maximum of two entries in each of the following OGS journal categories:

Authors may submit up to eight entries with a maximum of two entries in each of the following OGS journal categories:

• Ohio Genealogy News (OGN – quarterly newsletter, included in OGS membership) concentrates on genealogical record groups, collections, research techniques, databases and websites related to Ohio genealogy and history, as well as articles about OGS, its chapters and other genealogical news.

• Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly (OGSQ – quarterly journal, included in OGS membership) publishes articles relating to the full spectrum of Ohio history and genealogy. Types of articles include case studies, abstracts and transcriptions of Ohio related materials, and Bible records.

• Ohio Records & Pioneer Families (ORPF – quarterly, by subscription) focuses on Ohio from pre-colonial times to the Civil War historically and accepts articles on Ohio records groups including abstracts and transcriptions of such records.

• Ohio Civil War Genealogy Journal (OCWGJ – quarterly, by subscription) features anything relating to Ohioans who served the Civil War including post-war related activities such as reconstruction and the GAR.

Three winning articles will be selected in each category. The first prize winner will receive a one-year OGS membership, a one-year subscription to Ohio Records & Pioneer Families and a one-year subscription to the Ohio Civil War Genealogy Journal. The second place winner will receive his or her choice of two of the above listed prizes. The third place winner will receive his or her choice of one of the above named prizes.

Winning articles must have scored at least 25 points out of 50 points in order to have received a prize. Winning articles will be featured in appropriate OGS journals. OGS will not give every award in each category if sufficient entries do not meet the criteria. Entries will be judged on three criteria: Accuracy, points: 0-15 points; Clarity-writing mechanics: 0-20 points; and Overall impact and interest: 0-15 points.

Judges’ comments will be returned upon request. By submitting articles, authors are giving OGS permission to publish. Entries may not have been previously published in other journals.

Entries will be accepted from 1 January 2012 through 28 February 2012. Winners will be announced during the annual meeting at the 2012 OGS Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Send entries via e-mail only. All articles should be saved in either Rich Text (rtf) or Microsoft WORD (doc or docx) formats. Include the following information on the first page of each entry: Category (journal for which you wish your article be judged), author’s name, full address, telephone number, e-mail address and any other pertinent contact information. The contest is open to all OGS members as well as non-members. Both amateur and professional writers may submit articles.

Send today for a Writing Contest Rules and Style Guide

e-mail: publications@ogs.org; please put Writing Contest in the subject line.

via Ohio Genealogical Society.