How to enter our festive social media competitions 2024
BY Katie Smart
28th Nov 2024
Everyone has their traditions during the festive period – and here at CBC, ours feature book giveaways and an epic, collaborative five-day writing competition on social media.
This December our annual #5ActFestiveStory competition will make its Bluesky debut on @cbcreative.bsky.social. Whether you’re new this year or have taken part previously at its old home of Twitter/X, we hope you’ll join us for some celebratory writing fun – we are braced for the five-part story to be as wild and whimsical as ever, and you might just win a place on one of our courses. It all kicks off on Mon 9 Dec with a writing prompt from special guest author Chloe Timms and unfolds across the week, culminating on Mon 16 Dec.
The same week will also feature a series of book giveaways on Instagram @curtisbrowncreative, so be sure to follow us to get live updates.
Both competitions will run from Mon 9 Dec to Mon 16 Dec, keep reading to discover what prizes are on offer and learn how to take part in both competitions.
Bluesky: #5ActFestiveStory
Every December our popular monthly 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 Chloe Timms! We are hosting this year’s competition on Bluesky @cbcreative.bsky.social. So please ensure you’re following us to make sure that you can enter the competition.
From Mon 9 Dec to Mon 16 Dec, we’ll be asking you to contribute to our #5ActFestiveStory on Bluesky, 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 £230.
We are especially excited that special guest Chloe Timms will be providing the prompt to kickstart the beginning of our story. Chloe Timms is the author of The Seawomen, host of the podcast Confessions of a Debut Novelist, and judge for Discoveries 2025.
HOW IT WORKS:
Mon 9 Dec, 11am (UK time) – Chloe's writing prompt will be posted up and the competition opens! Post your response in reply to our pinned Bluesky post using #5ActFestiveStory up until 10am (UK time) on Tues 10 Dec.
Tues 10 Dec, 11am (UK time) – we’ll post the winning entry, and will ask you to respond with Act II. Post your response by 10am (UK time) on Weds 11 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 13 Dec from 11am (UK time) and giving you until 10am (UK time) on Mon 16 Dec to post your ending to the story.
Each response / ‘Act’ of the story you post must fit within the 300-character limit of a Bluesky post.
We'll be posting a tip and task blog on Mon 9 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 £230). 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 £230). 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 2025.
- 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 9 Dec to Fri 13 Dec with a new prize to win every day! Final winner announced Mon 16 Dec.
From Mon 9 Dec to Thurs 12 Dec, we will be giving away a recent debuts by former CBC students and novels by our expert tutors (head to our Bookshop.org page to see a list of our 2024 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 13 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 Mon 9 Dec, 11am UK time and ends Mon 16 Dec, 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 £460 (one for you and one to gift to a friend)
HOW IT WORKS:
Mon 9 Dec, 11am (UK time) – The first #BlindDateWithABook clues will be posted up and the competition opens! You have until 10am (UK time) on Tues 10 Dec to guess the book title.
Tues 10 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 11 Dec to guess the book title.
And it continues in the same way until Fri 13 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 13 Dec from 11am (UK time) and giving you until 10am (UK time) on Mon 16 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 16 Dec (UK time) and the final winner will be announced in our stories and on this blog at 11.00am Mon 16 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 £230). Prizes are not eligible for use on courses that are not found on that web page.
- Free places valid only on courses running in 2025.
- 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.