About Us

Hey, I’m so glad you stopped by to visit! Thanks for being interested enough to dig a little deeper.

Who am I? I’m Jim Bessey, owner and editor for So Write Us. But I don’t work alone, and can’t take all the credit for what’s been happening here. As Ringo Starr said, “I get by with a [lot of] help from my friends!”

And for writers, having helpful friends can be the difference between success and slow failure.

We originally started SoWrite to host writing contests. In fact, our little gang of aspiring writers has been engaged in friendly competition for over seven years now. Way back when, I founded the On-Board Author Challenge on Helium’s Contests Forum section. Later on, with a huge assist from writer Glory Lennon, we moved into new accommodations as Helium’s Challenge Writers.

Altogether, we hosted a total of THIRTY-SEVEN Author Challenges that began in 2007 — with  nearly that many different winners. (Maybe we were TOO fair sometimes? –smile-)

Along the way, I’ve met dozens (hundreds?) of wonderful writers, both online and in the physical world. Among us, we’ve lost friends to unexpected death at least three times. Others merely moved on to other pursuits.

And yet, year after year, a core group of us has kept writing and kept in touch. We look out for each other, share secrets and successes, and socialize just for the pleasure of it. I’ve done two major collaborative projects with the incomparable Raymond Alexander Kukkee. One paid okay money; the other one was pretty solid.

Until this site began, we held our writers’ competitions just for fun.

Tell you what, though–it was a lot of work for all involved. Glory did most of it, for last year or so. We had some small prizes available, for those who wanted them. We paid our winners in praise and social links. Which was fine.

When I founded SoWrite, I wanted to offer ongoing writing competition with real cash rewards.

Some of our contests went very well. In fact, one of them gathered nearly 500 Comments! We will do more in the future, but I really want to ramp up the prize money. I’m working on that, so stay tuned.

Our most valuable asset, however, is our network of talented authors, editors, publishers and publishing professionals. I guarantee you, not one of us has succeeded alone in a vacuum.

If you’re a writer and you want some help, join us. No pressure, no fees or dues, and no condescending attitudes. Just people who’ve been there helping people who are going there.

If you have questions or ideas, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Want to be sure you are notified when So Write’s contests begin, and when new ones are launched? Subscribe, and I’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing.

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• Discounted or Free Contest entry fees
• Advance notice on future Contests
• Access to members-only content during contests

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