How to enter our festive social media competitions for writers 2023
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
30th Nov 2023
#5ACTFESTIVESTORY
Every December our popular monthly Twitter/X competition #WriteCBC gets a festive twist. Instead of running for one day it runs for a full week. This year's #5ActFestiveStory will begin with a writing prompt from special guest Rowan Hisayo Buchanan!
From Mon 4 Dec to Mon 11 Dec, we’ll be asking you to contribute to our #5ActFestiveStory on Twitter/X @cbcreative, with new Acts to be written by you every weekday.
The Festive Story will be a collaboration, with each of the five Acts written by different members of our writing community. Each day we’ll choose a winning response to make up the next Act of the story – with each winner receiving a free place on one of our six-week online courses, worth £220.
We are especially excited that special guest Rowan Hisayo Buchanan will be providing the prompt to kickstart the beginning of our story. Rowan is the author of Harmless Like You, Starling Days, and The Sleep Watcher. Rowan is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She has won The Authors’ Club First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award and has been shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award. Her short work has appeared in several places including Granta, Guernica, The Guardian, The Harvard Review, and NPR’s Selected Shorts. She is the editor of the Go Home! and Dog Hearted anthologies.
Rowan is also on the Discoveries 2024 judging panel – she will be joined by chair of judges and founder of the Women's Prize Kate Mosse, acclaimed author Natasha Brown, Curtis Brown literary agent Jess Molloy and CBC’s founder Anna Davis. Find out more about Discoveries and enter by 8 Jan 2024 here.
HOW IT WORKS:
Mon 4 Dec, 11am (UK time) – Rowan's writing prompt will be posted up and the competition opens! Tweet your response in reply to our pinned tweet using #5ActFestiveStory up until 10am (UK time) on Tues 5 Dec.
Tues 5 Dec, 11am (UK time) – we’ll post the winning entry, and will ask you to respond with Act II. Tweet your response by 10am (UK time) on Weds 6 Dec, and we'll post the winning entry by 11am.
And it continues in the same way until Act V, when we will give you a bit longer – inviting entries on Fri 8 Dec from 11am (UK time) and giving you until 10am (UK time) on Mon 11 Dec to post your ending to the story.
We'll be posting a tip and task blog on Mon 4 Dec, which we will add to across the week with extra advice on how to take part. This is also where we'll post the winning 'Acts' of our story.
Five winners will receive a free online course place (up to the value of £220). Each day we will also select two runners-up to receive a £50 course discount.
A few rules…
- Only one entry per person per day of the challenge, please.
- You must be 18+ to enter.
- Prize winners of free places/discounts can choose between our four, five or six-week courses listed on this page (worth up to £220). Prizes are not eligible for use on courses that are not found on that web page.
- If you’re in receipt of more than one discount offer, you can only trade in one per course enrolment.
- Discounts cannot be used in conjunction with any other Curtis Brown Creative deals or promotions.
- Discounts and free places valid only on courses running in 2024.
- If a winner has already paid and enrolled on one of the applicable courses (yet to run), we will refund the fee/discount (as relevant).
- If a winner or runner-up has already taken all relevant courses, they may gift their discount or full fee (as relevant) to another writer.
- Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash.
INSTAGRAM #CBCBOOKMAS
This year, our Instagram competition will run across five days giving you the opportunity to win a #BlindDateWithABook giveaway OR a course place for yourself and a friend.
Our #CBCBookmas giveaway will run from Mon 4 Dec to Fri 8 Dec with a new prize to win every day! Final winner announced Mon 11 Dec.
From Mon 4 Dec to Thurs 7 Dec, we will be giving away a recent debut book from a former CBC student (head to our Bookshop.org page to see a list of our 2023 debut books by former students) Each day, we will post a photo with a few clues about what the book might be, encouraging you to guess the title in the comments. On Fri 8 Dec, the final prize will be a course place for yourself and a friend.
Make sure you're following us over on Instagram @curtisbrowncreative where we'll be hosting this winter giveaway. The #CBCBookmas giveaway runs Monday 4 December, 11am UK time and ends Friday 8 December, 10am UK time (winners announced on our story 11am UK time the following day).
Our #CBCBookmas giveaway will see 5 lucky winners take home one of the following prizes:
- A mystery #BlindDateWithABook
- Two six-week course places worth £440 (one for you and one to gift to a friend)
Congratulations to the winner of the final day of our #CBCBookmas giveaway @ashleighsheff you have won a course place for you and a friend!
HOW IT WORKS:
Mon 4 Dec, 11am (UK time) – The first #BlindDateWithABook clues will be posted up and the competition opens! You have until 10am (UK time) on Tues 5 Dec to guess the book title.
Tues 5 Dec, 11am (UK time) – We’ll announce the winner of the book giveaway on our Instagram story, and the second #BlindDateWithABook clues will be posted up. You have until 10am (UK time) on Weds 6 Dec to guess the book title.
And it continues in the same way until Fri 8 Dec when we up the ante! The final prize will be a course place for yourself and a friend. For this prize, we will give you a bit longer – inviting entries on Fri 8 Dec from 11am (UK time) and giving you until 10am (UK time) on Mon 11 Dec to tag the friend who you’d gift the course place to.
- Follow Curtis Brown Creative on Instagram @curtisbrowncreative.
- Like and save the giveaway post(s).
- Comment below the giveaway post(s) with your book title guess/ tag the friend who you’d gift the course place to.
- Share the post(s) to your story using the hashtag #CBCBookmas and tag us for an extra entry.
A few rules...
To enter the #CBCBookmas giveaway you will have to:
- Follow us on Instagram @curtisbrowncreative.
- Like and save the giveaway post(s).
- Comment below the giveaway post with your book title guess/ tagging the friend who you’d gift the course place to.
- You must be 18+ to enter.
- This competition is open to residents of the UK and Ireland only.
- Please only leave one entry per person per day.
- Public accounts only please.
- This giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram.
- Competition ends 10.00am Mon 11 Dec (UK time) and the winner will be announced in our stories and on this blog at 11.00am Mon 11 Dec (UK time).
- Free course places can be used on any of our four, five or six-week courses. Prize winners of free places/discounts can choose between our four, five or six-week courses listed on this page (worth up to £220). Prizes are not eligible for use on courses that are not found on that web page.
- Free places valid only on courses running in 2024.
- Both prize winners must enrol on the same course (worth the same value).
- If the winner has already paid and enrolled on one of the applicable courses (yet to run), we will refund the fee/discount (as relevant).
- If the winner has already taken all relevant courses, they may gift their discount or full fee (as relevant) to another writer.
- Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash.
Our first #BlindDateWithABook was Weyward by Emilia Hart. Congratulations to our day one winner @glutenmeee !
Our second #BlindDateWithABook was The Revels by Stacey Thomas. Congratulations to our day two winner @spectacledspectator !
TIKTOK GIVEAWAY
This year, we are running our first ever festive giveaway on TikTok! Our giveaway will see one lucky winner take home a bundle of five books from our CBC alumni.
Our TikTok giveaway will run from Fri 1 Dec to Mon 4 Dec, so you have all weekend to enter. Entries close Mon 4 Dec, 10am UK time. The winner will be announced on this blog and sent a DM on TikTok at 11am UK time.
Make sure you're following us over on TikTok @curtisbrowncreative where we'll be hosting this winter giveaway.
HOW IT WORKS:
- Follow Curtis Brown Creative (@curtisbrowncreative) on TikTok.
- Like and save the giveaway post.
- Tag a friend.
Entries close Mon 4 Dec, 10am UK time. The winner will be announced on this blog and sent a DM on TikTok at 11am UK time.
A few rules...
To enter the TikTok giveaway you will have to:
- Follow us on TikTok @curtisbrowncreative.
- Like and save the giveaway post.
- Comment below tagging a friend.
- You must be 18+ to enter.
- This competition is open to residents of the UK and Ireland only.
- Please only leave one entry per person.
- Public accounts only please.
- This giveaway is not affiliated with TikTok.
- Competition ends Mon 4 Dec, 10am UK time and the winner will be announced on this blog and sent a DM on TikTok at 11am UK time.
Congratulations to the winner of our festive TikTok giveaway @happy_life1021 !