The Wordclay Short Story Contest

Deadline: Midnight on May 31st, 2008.

What is it? Go here to read more.

From the website:

• There are no entry fees, no subsidy payments and no purchases of any kind required to enter and/or win the contest.

• There are no previous publishing requirements required to enter this contest.

• Entries are judged on the basis of originality, creative imagination, characterization, artistic quality and the adherence to length limitations. All decisions by the judges are final.

• Each writer retains the copyright to his or her work.

• Fifteen of the finalists stories will be included in an anthology published through www.Wordclay.com. All non-finalist participants will be eligible to receive a free electronic copy of the finished collection. The finalists with work included in the anthology will receive a printed and bound copy of the finished book at no cost. The contest's winners will be featured on www.Wordclay.com.

• Wordclay is under no obligation to publish every story that is entered and can disqualify an entry at any time.

• The contestant is under no obligation whatsoever to purchase a copy of the publication in which his or her story may appear.

• Due to formatting restrictions within the finished collection, Wordclay retains the right to reformat the story for size and placement. Though we will make every effort to preserve section breaks and forms, we will not be able to guarantee retention of format from the writer's original file.

• E-mail your short story entry and cover letter to contests@wordclay.com as separate attachments, in Microsoft Word® files. One, two or three short stories are permitted per entrant. If more than three stories are submitted, all entries by said writer will be disqualified. Please follow these additional instructions below:

• Clearly list your name as a header on each page of your submission.

• In the subject line of the e-mail, type "Single Short Story Contest."

• In the body of the e-mail, include:
  • your full name
  • physical mailing address (no P.O. Box please)
  • phone number
  • e-mail address

• Include a short cover letter, detailing your previous publishing experience, listing your submission with Wordclay as well as your contact information.

• You can only enter a maximum of three short stories. All entries must be double-spaced, written in Times New Roman, with a maximum length of 5,000 words.

• If you submit more than one story, each story should be separated and saved as its own, individual Microsoft Word document.

• Send only one e-mail to enter your submission(s) (for example, send one e-mail with multiple attachments, including your story (or stories) and cover letter).

• Wordclay will only accept your first e-mail with submissions, so be certain the one you initially submit is your final draft. All subsequent e-mails from an individual with revisions or additional submissions will be ignored.

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Now the important stuff. The prizes.

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• A check in the amount of $500
• A printed and bound copy of the published Anthology of the top 15 short stories

One Runner-Up will receive:

• A check in the amount of $250
• A printed and bound copy of the published Anthology of the top 15 short stories

Fifteen Short Story Anthology finalists will receive:

• A printed and bound copy of the published Anthology of the top 15 short stories

All non-finalist participants will receive:

• An electronic copy (e-book) of the published Anthology of the top 15 stories

"How to Become an Author"

I'm about to go to sleep, but before I did that I wanted to share a link with you.

"How to Become an Author"

From the site: "letters written by prominent authors to one Mr. Alan Jones." They're all fairly interesting and fairly short.

One thing I noticed was the weary disapproval of most of the authors at Mr. Jones' query. Is this because writing well is really so hard? Or because there are so many writers who will never make it regardless of their talent that it's foolish to be encouraging? There is almost a sense throughout the letters that writing is something shameful and horrible (and yet the writers do indeed continue to write, do they not?).

What would you write to Mr. Jones, providing you believe you have wisdom enough to pass on to someone who might be in the same canoe?

Here's mine:

Dear Mr. Jones,

If it is your true desire to be an author, you must first practice authing. You ought auth often, with short breaks to keep your authing fresh.

Once you become an author, please let me know how it is actually done.

Thank you,

A. C. Holwerda

The New Growing Fiction

Welcome, graduates of OSC's Literary Bootcamp!

A group writing blog about writing -

• Book reviews
  
• Publication announcements
• Reviews and reports on conventions and workshops we're attending
• Revelations we have about writing while writing
• Articles about the rhetoric of writing - sharing good tips we've learned, or quotes we've made up.

Let's get it started.