THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Scroll down for a slideshow of staff members’ literary pet photos, and check out the winning entries below. You’ve probably seen photos of our doggie “office mascots,” Bella and Teddy, on our website and social media pages. We’ve based our business around helping writers, and as writers ourselves, we know how important pets are to their writer companions. And in celebration of writers and their pets, we’re holding our “Literary Paws” photo contest on Facebook. Send us your cutest photos of your pets caught up in literary activities, with cute captions (see the entry form for details).

If you’re not already a Facebook fan, just head over to our Facebook page and “Like” the page—then you’ll be eligible to compete and vote! Fill out the Literary Paws entry form to participate in this contest for writers and their pets!

Here are the basics:

• All entrants must “Like” the Writer’s Relief Facebook page in order to be eligible to win.
• All voters must “Like” the Writer’s Relief Facebook page. After liking the main page, voters can vote by “Liking” the individual photo of their choice in the contest album.
• Submissions must be received by midnight, April 8.
• Winners will be awarded in three categories: Dog, Cat, and Wild Card. (For more on the “Wild Card” category, see detailed rules below.)
• Three prizes: Each winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card (three gift cards will be awarded in total).

Below are staff pet photos for inspiration! (Click the large photo to skip to the next image.)

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To enter the contest, all you need to do is catch your pet(s) in the act of reading or writing (or any other literary activity). And we want fish, bird, horse, hedgehog, and iguana owners to be included and know that their pets will receive a fair shot when judged next to cuddly puppies and kittens. That’s why we’ve created three categories in which pets can win: Dog, Cat, and Wild Card. Any non-dog, non-cat pet can win the Wild Card category, so we’re hoping for some unexpected entries.

NOTE: To all those who are not pet owners, do not be disheartened! We realize that quite a few people may want to enter this contest but don’t have pets. Let us just say this: Creativity is encouraged. We did create a “Wild Card” category, after all. (On an unrelated note, does anyone remember that whole “pet rock” fad? Wink, wink.)

Prize Details: We are awarding a $25 Amazon gift card to three lucky winners—one in each of three categories: Dog, Cat, and Wild Card. You don’t need to specify which categories you’re entering your pets for—in fact, if you have three dogs, you can enter all three. But when it comes to giving out the prizes, we’ll be awarding three different people, regardless of how many votes all of your pets received. (You can find more details on this point below.)

Timeline:

• Contest entries are due by midnight, April 8. Send your entries through April 7, day or night. The stroke of midnight EDT: That’s the cutoff.
• We will post the album of all the entries during the week of April 8. We’ll make announcements on our Facebook page and other social media outlets when we post the album, but check back often to see if your photos are up yet!
• We will announce the winners during the week of April 15. We’ll be making a ruckus on Facebook and other social media pages about our winners, as well as sending out the prizes.

Rules And Regulations:

“Like” the Writer’s Relief Facebook page in order to be eligible to enter and/or vote in the contest. Before you send adorable photos our way, please “Like” our Facebook page in order to be entered into the contest. Once the photos are compiled and posted in the contest album, all voters will also need to “Like” our Facebook page in order to vote.

“Like” the photo of your choice in order to vote. After you “Like” our main Facebook page, visit the contest album and “Like” your favorite photo. Each “Like” on an individual photo counts as a vote. “Liking” the Writer’s Relief page itself, or the album or wall posts, does not count as a vote for a specific pet.

Limit of one photo per pet, and three photos per entrant. While we hope you enjoy taking pictures for this contest, we have to limit each entrant to one photo of each pet, and to three photos total. So if you have a dog, a squirrel, and a parakeet, we’ll happily accept one photo of each pet. But if you also own two cats and three hedgehogs, we ask that you choose just three of your animals to enter into the contest.

Each human entrant is eligible to win in only one category. Since each person can submit up to three photos (see above), it is possible for one person to receive the most votes in all three animal categories. However, to keep things interesting (and fair!), we will not be awarding more than one prize to each human. So even if your dog, cat, and turtle are determined to be the top three favorites, your name will be taken out of the running after you’ve won in any ONE category. The prize for that category will then be given to the next-highest-voted pet.

Have fun!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Check out our winners on Facebook: 

Cat: Jasmine

Dog: Jaeger

Wild Card: Mr. Fred, the Feisty Fighter Fish