Good Housekeeping's Short Story Contest

To celebrate Good Housekeeping’s 125th anniversary in 2010, editor in chief Rosemary Ellis announced the magazine’s first themed short story contest, focusing on the lives of women today. The breadth of challenges women face and the often heartbreaking decisions that affect their lives are the foundation of the books written by Good Housekeeping’s guest judge, award-winning author Jodi Picoult, whose novel My Sister’s Keeper was the inspiration for the new Cameron Diaz film.

Ellis, the editors of Good Housekeeping, and Picoult, who had her first two short stories published in a national magazine while still in college, will select one grand-prize winner and two runners-up. The grand-prize winner will receive $3,000 and the winning story will be featured in the May 2010 issue, the magazine’s special 125th anniversary issue. The runners-up will each receive $750, and their stories will be featured on goodhousekeeping.com.

From J.D. Salinger to Daphne DuMaurier, Good Housekeeping has always featured well-known writers. Regular contributors to the magazine have included Ray Bradbury, John Cheever, and Rona Jaffe. More recently, Good Housekeeping’s fiction pages have featured the work of Nicholas Sparks, Maeve Binchy, Allegra Goodman, Jennifer Weiner, Elinor Lipman, Ann Hood, and this year’s guest judge, Jodi Picoult.

“Literature has always been an integral part of Good Housekeeping,” said Ellis. “We’ve discovered and published stories by some of the best-loved and bestselling authors of all time and we are honored to have the extraordinarily accomplished Jodi Picoult help us select our winners.”

"It is very exciting to be able to read the work of budding writers and to see who might be the next generation of authors to entertain us,” said Picoult.

Readers 21 and older can submit their short stories of 3,500 words or less, focusing on the lives of women today at www.goodhousekeeping.com/shortstory. Submissions must be original, not a previously published work or finalist for any other prize or award. All entries must be received by September 15, 2009, winners will be notified in December 2009.