New SYW Challenge?

I'm going to have some cataclysmic events happening later on in my WIP, but I'm not quite there yet. I apologize to all for my lack of help recently on SYW. "I'll be back" - I promise!



wee

I have some battles but they're a long way off yet. A good catastrophe would make a good read though so I'd be happy to read and critique any that are posted.

How about...

a serious effort by everyone to write a short story for the Fourth Historical Novel Association Short Story Competition?

This is an international competition with mana, something that looks well on the CV or in the brief bio for an editor or publisher, and allows the longer story writer (up to 5,000 words) as well as the flash fiction writer (under 400 words) a chance to enter the two comps. The deadline is somewhere in the late summer and starting now would give us time to hone and perfect our entries to a standard high enough to reach the short list.

If you're serious about writing historicals and want to have a CV of published work to present with your novel to a publisher, this is an excellent opportunity. Yes it is expensive! 20 Euros to enter if I remember correctly, and yes, it is an on-line entry with a simple system for payment.

Is that the 'open short story' competition in the Contests to Consider thread? It's a tempting idea, though I'm still trying to get this other story to work.

And, I just posted March, April, and May contests from the about.com site. You have to go to the actual websites for the complete information. Puma

The HNS short story comp...

is run by Fish publishing and will be called Short Histories IV.

That's the up to 5000 words one.

The other is called the Short Short Histories and is for a one page story, around 350-400 words.

The details for this year's comps aren't up yet, but this is the site:
www.fishpublishing.com

wee said:

I apologize to all for my lack of help recently on SYW. "I'll be back" - I promise!



wee

Click to expand...

I've been in the same boat. Too much going on these days!

Is it usual for these competitions to have entry fees? I would love to try entering some of these, but I'm finding it hard to justify the fees.

Contests and fees - Where do contests get money for prizes? If you think about it, not a lot of them are endowed. The money you hope to win has to come from somewhere.

Across the board, contests very often (maybe even most usually) have entry fees attached. Think about fairs, ice skating competitions, etc. - the entry fees are there. Contest organizers have to have a way to recoup their expenses and provide prizes. Dat's the way it is. Puma

There are several...

prestigious short story competitions you can enter which are free.

The literary journals often give you a year's sub along with their entry fee. It's a good way to enjoy the magazine and help them out.

If you are going for entry fee comps, PM, then choose wisely, or you'll be bankrupt. Which ones have mana and are recognised by editors and publishers?

That limits you to those attached to literary festivals, e.g. The Bridport, those long established ones like the Fish Publishing ones, and ones special to the memory of a famous writer, e.g. The Carver, the Katherine Mansfield.

The other category is those run by small press publishing companies to fill their annual anthology. Sometimes they are free, sometimes not.

It's not a bad idea to keep you writing if you dangle the carrot of comp deadlines. Mark in on your big year calendar the dates of the comps you think you'd like to enter. Give yourself a two month start date and the deadline.
Good luck and happy writing.

I did guess that the entry fees went towards prize money. I guess I just assumed that the award would be enough and that I didn't need to have the prize money too.

I will keep my eye on some of those major contests, though, pdr. I still don't know that I can write short fiction, as I've been having trouble getting started, but I'm going to keep trying!