Writing - competition - Words with Jam short story competition

Words with Jam is the ezine for writers and publishers and it's jam-packed with information, articles, interviews, humour and links.  http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk/

 

You still have 10 days to send off your competition short story!

 

Categories comprise a 2500 word Short Story Category on any theme, a Shorter Story Category for stories up to 1000 words and a Shortest Story Category for stories up to 250 words.

 

Overall Prize Pot £1500

1st prize in each category - £300

2nd prize in each category - £100

3rd prize in each category - £50

 

5 runners up in each category will be published in our Short Story Anthology (of which they will receive a copy), and awarded £10. All winners and runners up will receive a printed copy of our Short Story Anthology (inclusion optional*).

 

Categories

Short Story Category - for stories up to 2500 words

Shorter Story Category - for stories up to 1000 words

Shortest Story Category - for stories up to 250 words

 

Closing Date 

31st October 2014

 

Entry fee

1 story - £6, 2 stories - £10, 3 stories - £14, each additional story - £4

 

Submission & rules

Go to:

http://jdsmith.moonfruit.com/

 

Results

All 1st, 2nd and 3rd place stories will be published in February 2015. 

Winners will each receive a printed copy.

 

Short Story Judge (up to 2500 words): Emma Darwin

Emma Darwin is a novelist and short story writer. She was born in London and brought up there, with interludes in Manhattan and Brussels. After an education which involved a lot of history, a lot of reading and a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts, she worked in academic publishing for a while. Despite being diverted into a photographic darkroom for a few years she wrote her way towards becoming a full-time writer. Her first novel The Mathematics of Love was published in 2006. It was short-and long-listed for various prizes, including the Commonwealth Writers' Best First Book, and translated into many languages. Her second novel, A Secret Alchemy, was published in November 2008 and reached the bestseller lists. Along the way she acquired first an MPhil and now a PhD in Creative Writing, enough novels in manuscript to prop up several table legs, and a Bridport and other prizes for her short stories. Emma is also an Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing for the Open University, and a senior editor with Writer's Workshop, and has appeared at numerous literary festivals.

http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/

 

 

Shorter Story Judge (up to 1000 words): Sam Jordison

Sam Jordison is a hugely talented, bright, young writer. He was co-editor of the bestselling Crap Towns and the follow-up book - Crap Towns 2 - as well as writing four solo titles. He writes a regular books column for The Guardian, and is the founder of Galley Beggar Press.

Here's what Sam looks for in a short story:

 

What makes a short story stand out from all the others?

I wish I could answer this more sensibly, but the truth is that there is no formula. What makes a story stand out? Good writing. What is good writing? I wish I could tell you. I think there has to be a lot of craft. You have to know that each word is where it should be, and each sentence has been carefully thought out. But beyond that… The mysteries of art…

 

Two of your favourite short stories (famous or otherwise)?

Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. Big Two Hearted River by Ernest Hemingway. They’re probably the best short stories I’ve read. Everyone who wants to write short stories should look at them, try to understand what he’s doing, and just as importantly, what he doesn’t do. Learn from them. But don’t imitate them. That wouldn’t work…

 

What are the two most common mistakes you see?

I don’t know if I can answer that. Everyone makes their own mistakes. Dialogue is possibly the hardest thing to get right. I also quite often advise people not to explain too much. They shouldn’t have to spell out the lesson in the story. The story should do that for itself, if it’s working… Generally. But, I’m always wary about laying down rules. Lots of the stories I like break them, after all…

http://www.theguardian.com/profile/samjordison

 

Shortest Story Judge (max 250 words): Debbie Young

The English author, journalist and blogger Debbie Young has a special interest in short stories and flash fiction. Her short fiction has been published most recently in the National Flash Fiction Day's 2014 anthology Eating My Words and in its online journal FlashFlood, and in her own collection Quick Change (2014). She is also a reviewer for Vine Leaves Literary Journal which focuses on the vignette. Debbie is Commissioning Editor of the Alliance of Independent Authors' Self-publishing Advice Blog and co-author of its campaigning guidebook, Opening Up To Indie Authors and the author of the popular marketing handbook for indie authors, Sell Your Books! Debbie has an honours degree in English and Related Literature from the University of York, where she specialised in 19th and 20th century fiction. She now writes full-time. 

http://authordebbieyoung.com/author/youngdebbie/

 

Writing competition - first mystery novel

Writing competition - Best First Traditional Mystery Novel

 

 

Prize: $10,000.00. Entry fee: $0.00. Deadline: October 15, 2014

Minotaur Books and Malice Domestic, imprints of St. Martin's Press, are inviting mystery fiction writers to enter this year's Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition.

The judges will award a $10,000 standard publishing contract to the author who has written the best book-length story in the mystery genre.

Submission guidelines:

1. Submit one manuscript of over 65K words written in English.

2. The manuscript must be original, unpublished, and the work of the author.

3. The author must not have had a mystery book previously published.

4. Murder, mystery, and/or crime should be the core elements of the story.

5. The characters, both the innocent and the presumed guilty, should know one another. The suspects should display valid intentions and logical possibility to have executed the crime. The protagonist must be the "detective" who solves the crime.

The $10,000 prize is offered as an advance against royalty payments.

http://www.freelancewriting.com/freewritingcontests/FWC-mystery-novel-competition.php

I can’t enter as I fail on guideline 3, but I wish everyone who is able to enter the best of luck!

 

 

Writing market - Tingle those spines!

Burne-Jones - le vampire - Wikipedia commons

If you enjoy writing spine tingling tales, then this site may be of interest. Spinetinglers of Northern Ireland run a monthly competition, free-to-enter, with cash prizes for the top five stories each month. Open to writers worldwide.

According to the website, the story ‘doesn't have to be macabre and morose; it can be light-hearted or even uplifting. Whether it is filled with ghosts or ghouls, possessions or poltergeists, or merely the suggestion of something supernatural, anything is acceptable. We want you to let your imagination run wild and come up with the story or stories that make our spine tingle.’

Keep your stories under 5,000 words if possible, though they’re unlikely to reject a story they like if it happens to be 5,100 words.

‘Your story can be violent or leaning towards erotica but please nothing too explicit. Anything too gratuitous may be automatically rejected.’

Register on the site (which is of course free) and then login and submit your story. 1st Place receives £100.00 GBP plus guaranteed inclusion into a future printed Spinetinglers Anthology and of course a Certificate. 2nd place receives £50.00, 3rd, 4th and 5th all receive £25.00 each. We have stated in the prize money in pounds - sterling, however if you live outside of the UK you will receive the equivalent to this amount in your local currency.

Winners will receive their prize money within three months of publication.

You can read previous winning stories on the site; the latest, for July, are already there..

Submissions are considered on the 15^th of each month and if received after that date will be considered for the next month.

Spinetinglers, 22 Vestry Road, Ballygowan, Co Down, BT23 6HJ, Northern Ireland.

Website: www.spinetinglers.co.uk

 

Writing competition - 'Sanctuary'

Though not peculiar just to Spain, but sadly the financial crisis here has meant that pet owners have abandoned their animals, often without any thought to their welfare; dumped in rubbish bins, left on busy roads or abandoned in the countryside. Horse, cat and dog sanctuaries are attempting to rectify matters. One such sanctuary is San Animal Santuario which is based in San Juan de Los Terreros on the Murcia –Andalucía border of Spain (see below).

Sue Johnson, a short story writer, novelist and writing tutor, has  joined forces with Cathy Zelenka (see her Blog www.writerinaguilas.blogspot.com) to organise a short story writing competition to help the San Animal Santuario.

Short stories of up to 1,000 words on the theme of Sanctuary must be submitted by 31st July 2014.

There is an entry fee of £5 per story – or £12 for three - with the option of a full critique by Sue for an additional £5 per story.

The theme can be interpreted in any way you choose – your favourite place, a lover’s arms, an escape story.

1st prize £100

2nd £50

3rd £25.

Cheques should be made payable to S Johnson.

Please double space your work and send to: The Gallops, Southam Lane, Cheltenham GL52 8NY.

 

No email submissions, so you’ll have to be quick.

If you would like a critique, please enclose return postage. All other entries will be shredded after the competition.

Further details about the competition can be found on Cathy’s blog: www.writerinaguilas.blogspot.com

See more at: http://www.writers-toolkit.co.uk/blog/?p=988#sthash.HUJMgHZH.dpuf

San Animal Santuario

A small international team of volunteers rescue abandoned dogs, puppies, kittens and cats. Recently a puppy was rescued from the countryside where he was found tied up in full sun, with no food or water, he’d simply been left to slowly die in agony.

San Animal Santuario find many animals new homes in other parts of Europe which incurs the additional costs of them being neutered, vaccinated, given passports and transported etc. There is also a programme to sterilise feral cats.