Have you heard about our short story writing contest?
Some of the information has changed since the original set of posts, and that's the goal of this post: bring everyone up to date.
What Hasn't Changed ... And What Has
The original goal has not changed. We want to collect short stories based upon the given prompt and publish them as an Ebook. The minimum word count will be 5,000 and the max 10,000. If you would like to write a longer piece, I suggest you write a nice cliffhanger. Let me know, though, so I can let the judges know that we have a cliffhanger in the mix (I won't let them know which one, though). I'll also want to know that you have a definite plan to finish the story. In other words, I want to know the synopsis of the second half of your story. I won't share it with anyone else, including Bec.
Though I don't know how many readers/judges we'll have at this point, the goal is still to have teams of three, each team reading two stories at a time. Contestants will still be allowed to act as readers/judges. However, should their story make it to the final rounds, they won't be allowed to judge.
The original goal was to do this whole thing without contracts. Though I would still prefer that, I am also entertaining the idea of putting a contract together. I will not use this for contest submission. However, I may put these into play for the publishing aspect of this project. I don't want to spend any money on it, though, so we'll see where my research leads. Rest assured, though, that I am not out to steal your work or the royalities you rightfully deserve.
You will still have copyright of your story and you may do with it as you please. I only ask that you do not publish the collection as a whole. Help me promote it all you want, though.
Not much has changed about what will happen with the money the collection brings in. It will be divided accordingly, specifics being outlined in a contract or on this blog or both as the case may be. In any case, you will always have the option to back out if you'd like. The contest and published collection are two separate phases. The publication phase will be on an invitation basis.
The Final Word on the Cash Reward (via Amazon Giftcards)
All donations up to this point have been reserved for this contest. We have received enough donations (plus what I and the crew are personally putting in) that I'm going to cut off this donation stream. I still encourage everyone to continue to donate as all donations as of right now will go toward some Indie project.
The cash reward pool is $150. One way to spread it out among the winners could be like this:
- $50 to 1st place.
- $40 to 2nd place.
- $30 to 3rd place.
- $20 to 4th place.
- $10 to 5th place.
What Now?
I'm trying to get in contact with everyone who has expressed interest in the contest. That's a tough job, but it's coming along. If you have filled out the first form but haven't received an email, check your junk folder. I will continue to try to get ahold of you. Have patience.
If you have not expressed interest in the contest, you may do so HERE. If you have already done so but have not received an email from me, contact me again (but please do not fill out the form again.) You may email me directly. My email address is msl_007 {AT} live {DOT} com.
If you are ready to submit your story or at least have a pretty good idea what your story will be about, you may do so HERE. That link also includes the prompt for the contest.
As of the time of writing this post, I have received one contest submission. The next phase of this contest will get off the ground once I get more submissions. I need at least one more before I can get the judging process started. I don't plan on announcing a submission deadline until I have enough stories. However, I won't wait forever either.
