FABO Story Has Finished

★ We’re sorry to announce that the FABO authors will not be running any more FABO Story competitions. 

★ This website will go offline in the next few weeks.

★ Thank you for entering our competitions over the last few years. We loved reading your stories. Happy writing!   

850 thoughts on “FABO Story Has Finished”

  1. Hi there.
    I love all the stories here. When do the stories change? After seven days?

  2. Oh no! Our daughter found out about this site and competition last week from the story on newsroom.co.nz where it said it was closing Sunday night! Is there any way she can enter now? She wrote it in time, it just took us too long to enter it for her.

    1. Hi there. I’m very sorry, but I’m afraid the last competition closed yesterday and is currently being judged. A new competition starts tomorrow and we hope your daughter will enter it.

  4. Hey I didn’t really count the words in my story but I sort of compared the length to my last weeks entry so it should be around the right size but I’m not quite sure so I hope my story isn’t too many words over 🤞

    1. Hi there. Melinda’s competition closed yesterday (10th April). Maureen’s competition closes today at 7pm, so your son can submit your entry for Maureen’s story today.

  8. hi,
    we thought Very unexpected experiment story would closing 8pm today. but it looks like already closed. very sad girl here…

    1. Melinda is still accepting entries for the Unexpected Experiment story until 8pm today. Use the form on this page to enter your story.

  10. FABO is really cool! I love all the story starters, they are really inspiring and help to create the beginning of a great story. How would you know if you were the lucky winner?
    Would you receive an email saying if you won it or not?

    1. Hi there. We’re glad you’re enjoying it! The winner will get an email, and the judge’s report will be posted on the website.

    1. We don’t mind if someone reads it and makes suggestions about your spelling or even if they read it and say that they think you need to do some more work on it. Perhaps they say ‘I don’t think the ending is quite right. It doesn’t fit with the rest of the story. Have another think about that.’ All writers ask people for feedback. We just don’t want adults rewriting your story for you. We like reading kids’ stories. That’s why we’re children’s authors.

  12. How will you get in touch with us for the prize if we win because I have submitted my entry I just don’t know how you are going to keep in touch with the person who wins.
    – Anika

    1. The judge will write a report that will be posted on the website to announce the winner. That winner will also be emailed by the judge.

    1. Errors with spelling and grammar won’t always stop you winning. The most important thing is to write a great story that we love. But we enjoy reading stories more when the spelling and punctuation is right, so spending a bit of time on these things does help. We also highly recommend re-reading your story a few times before submitting it.

  14. Oh, it’s a shame the closing date for the first competition has changed. My daughter (9yo) has written something and we had 10 April in mind to submit it. Can she still submit? Thanks

    1. Hi Marja. Your daughter can still submit her story using the form on the home page. The first competition is not closing until 10 April so Melinda is still accepting entries.

  17. I am new to this website and I am a little confused but the compitions seem awesome.can you just full me in about what happens around here
    Amelie(age 10)

    1. Hi there. Stories should be under 500 words. (That doesn’t include the story starter). If your story is longer, it may be disqualified.

  23. Hello, where do you see who wins? I entered the Jamie Oliver story but I never saw who won! Thanks

  24. Hi Maureen, I am a bit confused about the story starter. Is it the penguin that is about to cause chaos in the family? Thank You

    1. Hi there. The story is deliberately ambiguous, so you get to choose what it is that’s about to cause chaos in the family. You can write the ending however you think it should end.

  27. Hello, last week the kids were given 2 weeks to write the story with a deadline of 10th April. I can’t see where my daughter can submit her story for last week’s story starter. Can you help please.
    Thanks!

  28. Such a fun idea. My grandkids live in Australia, but visit me here in NZ, in fact they may have been here now if it wasn’t for the travel/lockdown. So okay for them to enter? Any possible prize could be sent to me in NZ?
    Their ages are 6 and 10, do you allow for different ages in the quality and spelling? Thanks, M

  32. I read that the story for the current competition must be over 500 words. My story is around 700 words. Is that too long?

    1. Hi there. Stories should be under 500 words. (That doesn’t include the story starter). If your story is longer, it may be disqualified.

  33. Hello, I just entered! I can’t wait for the results, and I was wondering if we get an email that we didn’t win a prize? Will we still get an email? I have never done these before, so I can’t wait!

    1. Hi there. A few days after the competition closes, the judge will write a report and select a winner. The report will be posted on the website when it’s ready, and if you have subscribed you will automatically receive an email with the details. Good luck!

  35. I’m turning 12 on April the tenth, so what age should i put down for the age section

  37. I love the idea of the story starter. This one seems very long. Do you think next time you could make the story starter much shorter? I feel it only needs to be a couple of carefully chosen sentences to stimulate the imagination without constraining either the story content or the style. My children would be keener to participate then as they would feel a greater sense of ownership of the final story.

    1. Hi Toby
      We’re sorry this starter has proven a bit long for your children. We’ve found over the years, because we have opened the competition to a wide range of ages to give as many children as possible the opportunity to enter, that this style of starter works well. Children come to the competition with a wide range of skills and backgrounds, and this length of starter provides enough detail to play with whilst still being open ended.

      Of course each starter will vary according to the author who has written it so you may find some future challenges will suit your needs better. And of course, do feel free to just read out a portion of the story starter to your children and let them go from there.

      Happy writing
      Melinda

  41. Are the 500 words the number of words in total or just our story finishing from where you left off?

  42. We’re kiwis living in Japan at the moment and my daughter is really keen to enter. She’s a New Zealand citizen – is that allowed? Thanks!

    1. Hi Lucy, thanks for your message. The difficulty with entries from far-flung countries is the cost of postage when sending a prize to the winner. We currently receive no funding for running the competitions, so the prizes (and postage) are paid for by the author themselves. Therefore, we would welcome an entry from your daughter, but we may not be able to post her a prize if she wins. If she wishes to still enter for the fun of it, she is welcome to.

  43. Pingback: No shops, no launches – but the NZ book scene is finding new ways to reach people under lockdown – Yakanak News

    1. You can follow the blog via email using the link on the Home page. Or simply check back after the competitions start, and you’ll find instructions for entering.

    1. FABO is only available for 13 years and under but we list other competitions that we hear about on the ‘Other Writing Competitions’ page on this website.

    1. Thanks for your question. You can follow the blog via email using the link on the Home page. Or simply check back after the competitions start, and you’ll find instructions for entering.

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