I had a great surprise yesterday - an email to tell me that a short story I had submitted to a competition had been chosen as a winner! Since I'd forgotten I'd entered anything and couldn't even remember the story, it was a terrific moment and I've been on a high ever since I heard.
There are a number of winners, as the website - http://writeintoprint.blogspot.com/p/get-published-in-our-comp.html - is going to publish all the winning stories in an anthology. No monetary prize, but all winners get published for free and receive a free copy of the finished book.
As far as I'm concerned, anything that gets me into print - and therefore gets my name known to a few more people - is fantastic, and I'm very excited by this win.
By the way, the story is here on Authors' Den, so you can read it for yourself is you haven't already done so. The title is Deadly Keys and it's a light-hearted, slightly humorous, murder mystery.
Enjoy - and be encouraged to go in for those competitions, especially the ones that are free to enter. If I can do it, so can you.