ServiceScape Short Story Award 2019

DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 29, 2019 (CST)

Calling all short story writers: Are you a short story writer interested in gaining more exposure and a bigger audience for your creative work? Would an extra $1,000.00 USD in your pocket be a great thing right now?

If so, our ServiceScape Short Story Award is the perfect way to achieve both. For this award, any genre or theme of a short story is accepted. All applicants should submit their original unpublished work of short fiction or nonfiction, 5,000 words or fewer, to be considered. Along with receiving an award for $1,000.00 USD, the winner will have his or her short story featured within our blog, which reaches thousands of readers per month. Rules and exclusions apply.

View the winners from previous years

Terms and Conditions: (No Entry Fee)

• All submitted entries must be original, unpublished works of short fiction or nonfiction, up to 5,000 words in length. The winner retains full rights to his or her submitted piece. We require only that the winning short story be published online first in a permanent blog post on the ServiceScape.com site. The winner retains all other copyright, publishing, and reprint rights and ownership of the story. He or she retains the right to publish his or her work elsewhere and at any time without restriction after the competition is over, as long as the winning short story can remain published on the ServiceScape.com blog as well.
• In order to qualify as a contest participant, a person must successfully submit the application form below and must be at least 18 years old. ServiceScape is not responsible for any situation that constitutes an application form submission failure, including technical malfunctions experienced by the form submitter or by ServiceScape. ServiceScape employees and/or their immediate family and household members are not eligible to be contest participants. There is no purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law.
• Each contest participant can enter only once.
• Contest participants’ application form submissions must be written in English.
• The contest starts on ends on November 29, 2019 CST.
• Contest participants will be judged on their quality of writing. All decisions are final. Non-winning entries will be discarded after the winner has been chosen and the contest participants will retain all the rights to their submitted work.
• The potential winner will be notified via email in December 2019. The potential winner must send a headshot photograph within 10 days of the prize notification. The potential winner must also sign and return an affidavit of eligibility, a liability release, and a publicity release (where legal) within 10 days of the prize notification. If the potential winner does not deliver these required items within the specified time period or if the potential winner cannot be contacted for any reason, the prize will be forfeited and an alternate potential winner will be selected. If all required items are delivered within 10 days of the prize notification, the potential winner will be considered the winner of the contest.
• The winner of the contest will be awarded $1,000.00 USD, payable by check and mailed within 4 weeks. The prize is non-transferable. All federal, state, and local taxes imposed on the acceptance of a prize are solely the responsibility of the winner. The winner’s name, headshot photograph, and writing will be featured within the ServiceScape blog soon thereafter.
• ServiceScape Incorporated reserves the right to modify or terminate this contest at any time without prior notice.

How to enter, visit: https://www.servicescape.com/short-story-award

Fresh.Ink Writing Contest

fresh.ink is a new, free way to get connected with beta readers

Ahead of our launch, we’re hosting a writing contest with $7,500 of prizes available across 4 fiction categories: Short-story, novelette, novella, and novel.

We know there are a lot of contests out there, so we want to be transparent and make sure you understand your rights, how your work is judged and what winning involves.

There is one 1st place prize per each of the following categories:

Short-story — $1,000 Under 7,500 words

Novelette — $1,500 From 7,500 to 17,499 words

Novella — $2,000 From 17,500 to 39,999 words

Novel — $3,000 40,000 words and over

Why We’re Doing It

We’re launching software that connects authors with beta readers to get early feedback on their fiction work. This competition is a way for us to launch our service and allow authors to try it out while we’re still in beta mode. Our goal is to give you a chance to share your work with beta readers without having to self-promote. We’re not an agency or publisher, and don’t help you to promote your work to those companies. We’re about connecting you to beta readers – for free.

Our prizes are monetary, we’re not a literary agency or publisher and don’t offer publishing deals.

Deadline:

Submissions are due by December 1st, 2019 at midnight EST. Winners will be notified on February 3rd, 2020. On that date, the writing in each category with the highest score will win the prize for that category. In the rare instance that more than one piece of work achieves the highest score, prize money will be split equally.

To qualify for scoring and winning:

Work must not have been withdrawn prior to December 1st, 2019

Work must have at least 10 completed reader ratings (so submit soon!)

NO ENTRY FEES!

It’s free to enter, and we promise there are no hidden costs or follow up solicitations. We don’t charge authors, ever. And we never spam.

There are no hidden fees, promotional offers, advertisements, or any other nonsense. Writer’s won’t pay a penny, nor are we trying to sell anything to authors.

Published Work

You’re free to submit already-published stories to our contest, we don’t require any form of exclusivity or claim any rights.

Self-Promotion

The software is designed to give you real, honest feedback. We match your work with readers for you, which means you won’t be able to self-promote or share your work with family and friends for more points. This way, we can ensure everyone has a fair shot. This isn’t an author popularity contest, it’s all about your writing.

How the Contest Works

fresh.ink is a platform that will connect your writing to highly targeted beta readers for ratings, engagement analytics, and valuable feedback. Our judging process works the same way. Rather than using a small team of editors to decide, we’ll match your work with a subset of readers on our fresh.ink mobile reading app. Each reader will see the title and description of a few dozen contest entries, and can choose one of these entries to begin reading. We measure the following metrics and share them with you:

Impressions – how many matched readers saw your title and description

Opens – number of readers who opened your piece and began reading

Completions – number of readers who finished your writing

Rating – star rating out of 5

Structured feedback – we also ask readers to complete some beta-reader questions about what they enjoyed, disliked, found confusing etc. This isn’t used in the contest, it’s just for you.

We want to be very transparent, and our scoring formula is a little nuanced, so the fresh.ink author’s dashboard shows a live real-time view of your score and position throughout the contest. Here’s how we calculate the winning scores:

Entrants are scored out of 300:

Your average “choose” rate Eg 10% (10 points)

Your average completion rate Eg 50% (50 points)

Your average star rating, multiplied by 20 Eg 4.22 stars (4.22 * 20 = 84.4 points)

10 + 50 + 84.4 = 144.4 points.

Submissions are due by December 1st, 2019 at midnight EST. Winners will be notified on February 3rd, 2020. On that date, the writing in each category with the highest score will win the prize for that category. In the rare instance that more than one piece of work achieves the highest score, prize money will be split equally.

To qualify for scoring and winning:

Work must not have been withdrawn prior to December 1st, 2019

Work must have at least 10 completed reader ratings (so submit soon!)

Application Process

We use an application process to ensure high-quality writing for our readers. You’ll be notified as soon as a decision is made. We’ll do our best to provide feedback, but in the cases where we reject work, it’s because we don’t think we’ll have enough readers that are interested in your genre, topic or writing style.

fresh.ink maintains a community of beta readers by ensuring they are consistently matched with high-quality, relevant and unique writing. If we analyze your work and don’t think we can find enough readers to match it to, we’ll not be able to accept your entry. This shouldn’t be taken as a reflection on your writing, but rather a mismatch between fresh.ink’s reader demographics and your target audience.

Fanfiction

Sorry, but we don’t accept fanfiction or other derivative work (unless you own the rights to the original).

Who Can Enter

You must be 18 years or older and own the rights to the work you’re submitting. Although we don’t require you to reside in the United States, winners will be paid via ACH bank transfer or check (depending on your preference) in US dollars. Please make sure you can accept at least one of those two options before applying.

Languages

We require all submissions to be in US English at this time. We hope to localize later!

Multiple Submissions

You may submit as many times as you like, as long as each submission is a distinct piece of work. fresh.ink can spot even subtle duplicates!

Rights

fresh.ink makes no claims to any rights over your work, even if you win.

fresh.ink never makes your work searchable (either publicly on search engines such as Google, or within fresh.ink), readers must always be logged in and they can’t see work that they weren’t explicitly matched with. You can also opt in to take full control of who gets access to your work, approve any readers before they can open your story and limit how many readers can read your work. And of course, you can instantly withdraw and delete your work at any time via your fresh.ink dashboard and we’ll stop matching it to new readers, remove it from existing matched readers, and give any readers that are currently reading 90 days to finish before deleting it from their device automatically.

Editing

Our platform does perform some light editing to your work. These fall into two categories:

Formatting changes to support the mobile reading app.

Fixing spelling and grammar issues we identify. You are granted full rights on all edits we make, and you’ll be asked to approve any changes.

How Do We Make Money?

This is phase 1 of building our author reader matching platform – we want to change the way authors get feedback and iterate those critical final drafts. Our vision beyond phase 1 involves playing a hand in connecting authors with legitimate, reputable literary agents, and helping authors opting for the self-publishing route to monetize their work. But right now we’re heads down on building the best possible feedback platform for authors and readers alike.

Can I Keep the Feedback?

Yes. Any feedback you receive from readers is yours – and it’s valuable stuff!

HOW TO ENTER, VISIT: https://fresh.ink/#how

 

 

THE RESTLESS BOOKS PRIZE FOR NEW IMMIGRANT WRITING

• For an outstanding debut literary work by a first-generation immigrant
• Winner receives $10,000 and publication by Restless Books
• To be awarded for fiction and nonfiction in alternating years
• Submissions for the 2020 Prize in Fiction are open from October 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020 
• The winner of the 2019 Prize in Nonfiction is Rajiv Mohabir for his memoir Antiman. Read more here.
• The winner of the 2018 Prize in Fiction is Priyanka A. Champaneri for her novel The City of Good Death. Read more here.
• The winner of the 2017 Prize in Nonfiction is Grace Talusan for her memoir The Body Papers. Read more here. 
• The 2016 winner is Deepak Unnikrishnan for his novel Temporary People. Read more here.

INTRODUCTION:

The ethos of the modern world is defined by immigrants. Their stories have always been an essential component of our cultural consciousness, from Isaac Bashevis Singer to Isabel Allende, from Milan Kundera to Maxine Hong Kingston. In novels, short stories, memoirs, and works of journalism, immigrants have shown us what resilience and dedication we’re capable of, and have expanded our sense of what it means to be global citizens. In these times of intense xenophobia, it is more important than ever that these boundary-crossing stories reach the broadest possible audience. With that in mind, we are proud to present, The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. We are looking for extraordinary unpublished submissions from emerging writers of sharp, culture-straddling writing that addresses identity in a global age. Each year, a distinguished panel of judges will select a winning manuscript to be published by Restless Books. We can’t wait to read and share what the new voices of the world have to say.—Ilan Stavans, Publisher

SUBMISSIONS AND GUIDELINES ELIGIBILITIES

The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing [hereafter referred to as “the Prize”] alternates yearly between accepting unpublished fiction and nonfiction submissions. Fiction submissions can take the form of a novel or a book-length collection of short stories. Nonfiction submissions can take the form of a memoir, a collection of essays, or a book-length work of narrative nonfiction. The submission should address some combination of identity, the meeting of cultures and communities, immigration and migration, and today’s globalized society. Fiction manuscripts must be complete. Nonfiction submissions must consist of either a complete manuscript, or a sample of at least 25,000 words and a detailed proposal that includes a synopsis and an annotated table of contents. All submissions must be in English (translations welcome). Candidates must be first-generation residents of their country. “First-generation” can refer either to people born in another country who relocated, or to residents of a country whose parents were born elsewhere. Fiction candidates must not have previously published a book of fiction in English. Nonfiction candidates must not have previously published a book of nonfiction in English. We encourage applicants to look at the other titles Restless has published and previous contest winners to get a sense of our aesthetic. We will accept only one submission per candidate per submission period, and submissions must be under the author’s real name, not under a pseudonym. Agented submissions are welcome. Candidates may not submit the same manuscript for the Prize in subsequent years unless specifically invited by Restless. Restless reserves the right to invite writers to submit for the Prize. Restless reserves the right to consider any Prize submission for publication. Submitted manuscripts may be simultaneously under consideration for publication by other publishing houses. Once a manuscript has been selected as the winner of the Prize, Restless will contact the author and ask that the manuscript be withdrawn from consideration elsewhere. A publishing contract between the winning author and Restless Books must be signed before the winner is announced.* Please note that while Restless Books welcomes all submissions for the Prize, we do not accept unsolicited manuscripts for our publishing program.

THE PRIZE

The winner will receive a $10,000 advance and publication by Restless Books in print and digital editions. We expect to work closely with the winner and provide editorial guidance.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Candidates are asked to submit a CV and a one-page cover letter as the first pages of their manuscript. The cover letter should address the candidate’s background as a writer, experience as an immigrant, and inspiration for the submitted work. Restless will accept only electronic submissions by way of our submissions manager. The manuscript should be a PDF or Word file (.doc and .docx), and the text should be double-spaced, in twelve-point font, and with numbered pages. Fiction manuscripts must be a minimum of 45,000 words. Nonfiction samples must be at least 25,000 words. There is no fee to submit a manuscript for consideration.

SUBMISSION PERIOD

Submissions for the 2020 Prize in Fiction will be accepted from October 1, 2019, until March 31, 2020.

PROCEDURE

Restless will accept open submissions in addition to soliciting nominations from authors and professionals in the field.  The Restless editorial staff will review submissions and recommend a shortlist to the judges, who will select the finalists and winner.

VISIT THE WEBSITE: https://restlessbooks.org/prize-for-new-immigrant-writing

Hektoen International Writing Contest

Hektoen International invites you to send an essay of under 1600 words on the subject of Blood. The contest honors the achievements of the Red Cross, locally, nationally, and globally. Two prizes will be awarded: $3000 for the winner and $800 for the runner up.  The deadline is January 15, 2020. 

We will consider essays on pioneers in hematology (such as Herrick, Minot, Murphy, Whipple, or Landsteiner), the history of venesection, barber-surgeons, the use of leeches, and vampires; as well as historical aspects of blood transfusion, artificial blood, blood groups, blood preservation and blood banks, blood in surgery, blood diseases (such as pernicious anemia, sickle-cell disease, thalassemia, leukemia, and hemophilia), and the history and work of the Red Cross.

Contest rules and guidelines

• Submission of an article implies consent to publish in Hektoen International. If accepted for publication, an article may be published at any time regardless of the outcome of the competition. If major edits are made, proofs will be sent to the authors before publication.
• Essays that are accepted for publication in the journal may also be available to readers before the winners are announced.
• The contest is open to participants 18 years or older.
• For multiple author articles, only one person should submit the entry and communicate with the editors.
• Entries should be no longer than 1,600 words and must also include at least one image, following our article and image guidelines, including a cover page and proper formatting of both text and images. Incomplete submissions will be deemed ineligible for competition.
• Contest submissions must be sent to contest@hektoeninternational.org by Wednesday, January 15, 2020, at 12pm Central Time. Submissions sent after the specified time will be deemed ineligible for competition.
• Submissions will be read by the editors and contest judges for Hektoen International. The editors of the journal will recommend submissions and edits for publication and contest judges will read the original submission presented by the author.
• All applicants will be notified of the winning articles, which will be published on the front page of the Winter 2019 issue of Hektoen International.
• Participants should certify that their work is original and that they have copyright ownership and permission to use any images submitted.
• Please send inquiries to contest@hektoeninternational.org.

Article guidelines

Articles must be unpublished, original work that relates medicine to the humanities and no more than 1,600 words in length. Each submission should include:

• A cover page with:
  • Author(s) names, titles/degrees, professional affiliation, and location (as you would like it listed in the journal)
  • A biography no longer than 100 words
  • The author’s contact information
• Article text with:
  • The title and page numbers in the document header
  • The full text of the article inTimes New Roman, size 12, and double-spaced. Please format in Chicago style (chicagomanualofstyle.org) or AMA style (www.amamanualofstyle.com)
  • References for quoted and cited material formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style or AMA Manual of Style, with the endnotes in numerical order.

Submissions should be sent as a Microsoft Word document by the author’s last name followed by the title (or abbreviated title).

For example, the article “Big Hugh” by Dr. Smith, would be saved as: Smith_BigHugh.doc

Image guidelines

Please include at least one image that complements the article being submitted. Final image choice will be determined by journal staff. Rights to images must be acquired by the author prior to submission.

Images must be:

• High quality and saved as a .JPG
• Titled by author’s surname and short article name. For example, an image to accompany the article “Big Hugh” by Dr. Smith would be saved as follows: Smith_Big Hugh.jpg
• Accompanied by a caption. Provide a Word document with the following information:
  • Caption and source (including the address of the website where you found the image)
  • For artwork, please provide the title and date of work, the artist’s name, and the location of the artwork (museum or private collection)
  • The caption should be sent as a Word document by author’s last name. In the example of Dr. Smith, the illustration would be captioned as follows: Smith_Caption.doc

Patient Consent/Confidentiality

Our confidentiality policy is based on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Please refer to this document if you have any questions: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/. Authors/artists should protect the confidentiality of all persons and not reveal personal details without their consent.

Review process

The editorial board and the journal editors review contributions for appropriateness of originality, style, and content. All editors advise the Editor-in-Chief, who makes the final decision on publication to the journal.

Copyright

Authors retain the copyright to their submissions to Hektoen International. We request, however, that authors refrain from submitting their work for publication for four months after the piece has been published. Authors are requested to notify us and reference the Hektoen International website as the original publisher in subsequent publications of the article.

All submissions are presumed to be the stated author/artist’s original work. Authors are responsible for procuring the right to accompanying images.

Visit the website: https://hekint.org/special-issue-submission-instructions/

2020 University of North Texas (UNT) Rilke Prize

An annual award of $10,000 recognizing a book that demonstrates exceptional artistry and vision written by a mid-career poet and published in the preceding year. The prize is named after the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), a writer whose work embodies the qualities of ambition, intellectual and imaginative scope, and technical mastery we seek to recognize.

2020 UNT RILKE PRIZE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Submission period open until November 30, 2019

• Entrants must have published at least two previous books of poetry
• Work must be original poetry written in English
• Eligible books must have been published between November 1, 2018 – October 31, 2019
• Books may be submitted by presses or by writers themselves and must be postmarked by November 30, 2019
• Each submission must include 3 copies of the book and a completed entry form
• Chapbooks are not considered previous publications
• Self-published books will not be considered
• Finalists may be asked to submit further copies
• Books will not be returned

The winner will travel to Texas to give readings at UNT and in the DFW metroplex on April 1-2, 2020. UNT will pay for travel expenses. The author must also allow portions of the winning work to be reproduced for promoting the award. Poets who enter the prize must agree to these terms in order to accept the prize.

Judging

The prize will be judged by UNT’s poetry faculty.

Submission Requirements

Authors or publishers will mail completed entry form with three copies of the book submission to address below.

Click here to download and complete the entry form.

Mail entry form and submission to:

UNT Rilke Prize

Department of English

University of North Texas

1155 Union Circle #311307

Denton, TX 76203-5017

 

Visit the website: http://english.unt.edu/creative-writing/unt-rilke-prize

 

The 2020 J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction Is Open

The editors of Dappled Things are happy to announce that submissions for this year’s J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction are now open. Named after one of the greatest writers of the 20th-century Catholic literary renaissance–often called a writer’s writer–the contest aims to honor his legacy by awarding stories that, like the priests he wrote about in his fiction, have “one foot in this world and one in the next.” Using only the online submission system, submit a story of up to 8,000 words. The contest awards prizes of $500 to the winner, $250 to its runner up, and publication for any additional honorable mentions at the discretion of the editors. Submissions will close on November 30, 2019.

Send us your very best short stories here.

You can read the winners of our 2018 contest in our Pentecost 2018 issue.

The winner of our 2019 contest is forthcoming in our next issue. You can subscribe here to read it.

Visit the website: https://dappledthings.org/

Last call: PEN/Faulkner Foundation: Award For Fiction

PEN/Faulkner Foundation: Award For Fiction

This year’s judges are getting ready to read the novels, novellas, and collections of short stories and to choose next year’s winner and finalists.

A prize of $15,000 is given annually for a book of fiction published during the current year. Four finalists will each receive $5,000. The winner and finalists will also be invited to read in Washington, D.C., in May 2020. Submit five copies (or bound galleys) of a short story collection, novella, or novel published in 2019 by October 31. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Our submission guidelines are as follows:

• Books must be published in 2019.
• Authors must be living American permanent residents.
• Books must be published by a commercial, academic, or small press. No self-published books are accepted.
• There are no submission fees or application forms.
• Bound proofs are eligible for submission for books that will be published in November or December of 2019.
• All submissions must be postmarked by October 31, 2019.

Please send FIVE copies of each book to the following address for forwarding to the judges. You are invited to send as many shipments as you like, and you are encouraged to send available books as soon as possible.

PEN/Faulkner Award Submissions
641 S Street NW
3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20001

The award was founded by members of the international writers’ organization PEN and is now governed by an independent foundation board. The budget for the award and its administration is funded by gifts and grants. We are always grateful for support of the award and of other PEN/Faulkner programs.

The winning writer and four finalists are honored at a ceremony held in Washington, DC in May 2020. To browse a list of past winners and finalists, click here.

If you have any questions regarding the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, please send them to Shahenda Helmy, our Programs & Logistics Director, at shahenda@penfaulkner.org.

Visit the website: https://www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction/submission-guidelines/

Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

• Award Amount: $1,000 to $10,000 scholarships
• Deadline: Varies
• Fee: $5 for single entry, $20 for portfolio

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards celebrate art by students in grades seven through twelve on a regional and national scale. These awards have a huge number of categories and styles, including cash prizes or scholarships for some distinguished award winners. Categories include science-fiction and fantasy writing, humor, critical essays, and dramatic scripts, among others.

Deadlines vary by region, so use Scholastic’s Affiliate Partner search to find out when projects are due for your area.

Scholastic partners with other organizations to provide prizes to winners, so what you can win depends on what you enter and what competition level you reach. Gold medal portfolio winners can earn a $10,000 scholarship, and silver medal winners with distinction can earn a $1,000 scholarship, as well as many other options in different categories.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are open to private, public, or home-schooled students attending school in the US, Canada, or American schools in other countries. Students must be in grades seven through twelve to participate. Eligibility varies between regions, so consult Scholastic’s Affiliate Partner search tool to figure out what applies to you.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards have a $5 entry fee for individual submissions and $20 for portfolio submissions, which may be waived for students in need. These fees may vary depending on location, so be sure to check your local guidelines.

Visit the website: https://blog.prepscholar.com/writing-contests-for-high-school-students

Gemini Magazine $1,000 Poetry Open Prize

Gemini Magazine $1,000 Poetry Open Prize

FIRST PRIZE: $1,000
SECOND PRIZE: $100
HONORABLE MENTIONS (4): $25 each
Entry fee: $8
Deadline: January 2, 2020

All six finalists will be published online in the March 2020 issue of Gemini.

We have no rules on content. We are open to ANY subject, poetic form, writing style, or length. Poems must be unpublished but work displayed on personal blogs is eligible.

All entries are read blind—without the authors’ names or any identifying information. We delete this information when forwarding pieces to staff readers so all they see are the title and body of the story. Who can enter? Anyone from around the world. This is our tenth annual short story contest and both new and experienced writers have won the top prize. All four dozen previous winners and finalists may be read online.

PANNING FOR GOLD: HOW THE CONTEST SELECTION PROCESS WORKS

We get a lot of entries and don’t want to miss any stories that might be potential winners. So here’s how our selection process works: On the first go-round, we break the entries down into two categories: MAYBE and NO. We read each one with an open mind, and if there’s a spark or something that even remotely captures a staff reader’s interest, we put it into the MAYBE pile. For emailed entries, we do this by clicking “Flag for Follow-up.” So what happens if we’re not sure? We click “Mark as Unread” and this entry gets a second chance too.

Snail mailed entries that show promise get a check mark on the back of the envelope. Those that don’t pique our interest get an X. Any undecideds go back into the initial pile for another read. We don’t call this a slush pile. We call it a gold mine.

At last the final story or poem has been read. Now comes the truly fun part because just about any piece we open in the second round will be good. We’re more at ease to enjoy the writing and fall into the world that it creates.

Every single piece that’s been flagged or checked gets another read. If an emailed entry doesn’t make this cut, we clear the flag. If a paper entry doesn’t survive, the check mark gets turned into an X.

At this point, the special pieces have started to rise. The ground starts to rumble. Tension and electricity fill the atmosphere and much discussion is generated. Friends, acquaintances—even complete strangers—are likely to hear a synopsis or a quote. In a way, the world becomes the judge.

By the third or fourth round, we are down to a short list of perhaps a dozen or so pieces and it is time to pick the winners. But wait! Just to be sure and fair (and perhaps because the editor is a bit obsessive), we randomly go through many of the NO entries and take another look.

This is how Beverly Akerman’s wonderful story “Pie” was discovered in our first Flash Fiction Contest. It hadn’t been flagged or even marked as unread. But we gave it another look and it leaped to the top when we realized it wasn’t just about a recipe for pie; rather, it showed us a woman who swore she would never again bake her son’s favorite rhubarb pie—or any other pie—until he returned from war.

So here at Gemini, we’re very happy that nearly every entry gets a second look—and a second chance. 

What are you waiting for? As Stephen King put it, “The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

Enter at http://www.gemini-magazine.com/poetryopen.html