S!girl wrote:I think the reason I am so upset about this is because it is so personal for me. I have tried to get published for the last 5 years. About 3 months ago I won a contest to be published in a major magazine. But, after reading the rules carefully again, like KC, I had broken them. For about 10 minutes I kept thinking "Don't worry about it, nobody's gonna know." But then I thought "You and GOD are going to know." Not only that, I had to look myself in the mirror every day. And my kids were going to look me in the eye. How could I, as a moral, ethical, human being pass ideals of honesty and integrity onto my children if I couldn't practise it myself. I wrote a letter explaining the situation and excusing myself as a winner in the contest. Then I proceeded to cry for about 3 days. It broke my heart and I am YET to be published, but at least I can look myself in the mirror and KNOW that I am a woman of morals who my children can be proud of.
I'm very impressed with your actions. It takes a lot of guts to stand up for your mistakes like that.
One thing I noticed in your message is that no one got mad at the publication for making you a winner. Obviously your work was amazing or you wouldn't have won but a mistake got through the process. And then you stood up and did the right thing. The perfect solution for this situation.