I usually ignore writing contests. Most of them feel either too marketing-heavy or too vague to be worth the effort. This one stood out because it’s clear, technical, and genuinely built around real developer work.
Iron Software is running a technical writing challenge focused entirely on IronPDF, and the idea is straightforward: write a real, useful article showing how IronPDF is used in practical development scenarios.
The top prize is $5,000, but honestly, that’s not the only reason this is worth doing.
What You’re Expected to Write
You write one original article (minimum 1,000 words), and it must be about IronPDF. No generic PDF theory, no filler content.
You can approach it in a few solid ways:
Practical IronPDF Tutorials
This is probably the most natural option for most developers.
Examples:
- Generating PDFs in .NET, Java, Python, or Node.js
- Converting HTML to PDF for reports, invoices, or dashboards
- Editing, merging, stamping, or securing PDFs
- Handling real edge cases you’ve actually faced
Think: “Here’s a problem I had, and this is how I solved it using IronPDF.”
Real-World Case Studies
If you’ve worked with:
- Enterprise systems
- Banking or finance apps
- Reporting or compliance workflows
- Automated document pipelines
You can frame your article as a case study: what the problem was, what constraints existed, and how IronPDF fit into the solution.
Comparisons (IronPDF vs Other Libraries)
If you’ve used alternatives like iText, Aspose, QuestPDF, or open-source tools, you can compare them — as long as the comparison is technical, honest, and experience-based.
Balanced comparisons actually read more authentic and human than forced praise.
Thought Leadership (Still Grounded)
This works well if you enjoy stepping back a bit.
Topics like:
- PDF automation in real systems
- PDF/A or PDF/UA compliance
- Developer productivity when dealing with documents
IronPDF still needs to be central, but you’re free to discuss the bigger picture.
Where You Publish (This Part Matters)
You don’t submit the article directly to Iron Software.
Instead, you publish it publicly on a developer platform like:
Bonus Platforms (Extra Visibility)
These platforms are marked as Bonus and typically carry higher visibility or authority:
- TechCrunch (Bonus)
- Stack Overflow Blog (Bonus)
- Microsoft Community (Bonus)
- The New Stack (Bonus)
- InfoQ (Bonus)
- Visual Studio Magazine (Bonus)
- Redgate Simple Talk (Bonus)
Standard Developer Publishing Platforms
These are widely used, developer-focused platforms and are perfectly valid for submission:
- C# Corner (Bonus)
- HackerNoon
- DEV.to
- DZone
- CodeProject
- Software Engineering Daily
- Baeldung
- Built In
- Towards Dev
Don't forget to include a backlink to www.ironpdf.com
This is important because you keep the article. It lives on your profile, under your name, regardless of the contest outcome.
How You Actually Submit Your Entry
After publishing your article, there’s one simple extra step:
- Go to 👉 https://ironsoftware.com/ironpdf-writing-contest/
- Submit your email address
- Paste the link to your published article
That’s it.
Even if you don’t win, your article stays public, indexed, and visible on platforms developers actually read — which is great for your portfolio, personal brand, and even job opportunities.
Prizes (Clear and Simple)
- 🥇 $5,000 for the top article
- 🥈 x 10 $500 USD Vouchers
Judging is based on:
- Technical accuracy
- Clarity and usefulness
- Originality
- Real value to other developers
In short: Would another developer actually learn something from this?
Why This Is Worth Doing (Even If You Don’t Win)
Good technical writing compounds.
A solid IronPDF article can:
- Strengthen your public developer profile
- Show real-world problem-solving skills
- Help in interviews, freelancing, or dev advocacy roles
- Stay discoverable long after the contest ends
Worst case: you gain a strong, published technical article.
Best case: you gain that and $5,000.
If you already work with PDFs, reporting, or document automation, this challenge aligns naturally with work you’re probably doing anyway. No gimmicks, no vague prompts — just write something genuinely useful and submit the link.
That alone makes it worth considering.
Top comments (0)