Stinging Fly open for submissions

Stinging Fly Submissions open July 1 We are coming to the end of our reading of March submissions and have already begun contacting authors. We're a little behind schedule, but aim to contact each author who submitted in the coming two weeks. If you haven't heard from editor Thomas Morris by then, you may contact him directly: thomas.stingingfly@gmail.com Meanwhile, prose and poetry submissions for our Spring 2015 issue are being accepted from July 1st (until July 31st). * No more than one story and/or four poems should be submitted during any one submission period. * Short stories and poems should always be just as long (or as short) as they need to be. (In previous issues, stories have been as long as 5,000 words and as short as 500 words.) Full submission guidelines can be found on the website.

The Edge Of Passion anthology launch

The Edge of Passion Launch Edge of Passion An anthology of twenty-one crime, mystery, suspense and romance stories from nineteen authors, including Emmy-nominated John Goldsmith and Booker-nominated Jim Williams. This global collection of short stories from 400 to 7000 words covers everything from crime fiction to romantic suspense and historical mystery. Authors: John Goldsmith, Jim Williams, Jeremy Hinchliff, John Holland, Gerry McCullough, Alexandar Altman, R.A. Barnes, Maura Barrett, Eileen Condon, Mary Healy, Susan Howe, Damon King, Mary Mitchell, Jeanne O’Dwyer, Michael Rumsey, Valerie Ryan, Dennis Thompson, Catherine Tynan and T. West.

Cork County Library and Arts Service From the Well Short Story Competition Anthology

Cork County Library and Arts Service From the Well Short Story Competition Anthology



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Writing for children -resources and submissions

Children's Scriptroom is open!

Scriptroom 7 for CBeebies & CBBC is open until midnight on Monday 7th July.

Find out more about the brief and what the channels are looking for

FAQs and Terms and Conditions for our e-submissions system.

Send your script now

We've put together a collection of help, tips, advice and resources from BBC Writersroom on writing for Children. These include interviews with writers who have had success in previous Children's talent searches, including Debbie Moon (Wolfblood), and Q&As with the Controllers of both CBeebies and CBBC. We also have scripts available to read from Children's programmes including Strange Hill High, Wolfblood, The Dumping Ground, M.I. High, Mr Bloom's Nursery, Grandpa in My Pocket, Wizards vs Aliens and many more.

BBC Radio 4 Short Stories for Radio

The Time Being BBC Radio 4 has commissioned independent radio production company Sweet Talk to produce three short stories by new voices. This is the eighth season of The Time Being.
Deadline Submission: July 18th 2014.
They're looking for writers who are unbroadcast (and largely unpublished: i.e. having a story in a magazine or anthology here and there is OK, but a track record of novels and story collections in print is not!)
Please don't submit stories that have been previously 'performed' whether this is at readings or events which have been recorded and put on YouTube for example. Ideally, stories will not have previously appeared in print or online.
Broadcast stories will be read by a single voice. Your story needs to be 2,000-2,200 words in length. Max of two stories per person.
Please put your full contact details (name, post and email address, phone number) including any alternative contact details for vacations and a word count on the title page of each story. Email stories to Jeremy Osborne jeremyosborne@mac.com

Glimmer Train Short Story Competition deadline

Glimmer Train's Fiction Open Deadline: June 30, 2014

Prizes: 1st place wins $2,500 and, of course, publication in Glimmer Train Stories. 2nd place wins $1,000 and possible publication. 3rd place wins $600 or, if published, $700.

Other considerations:
	Open to all subjects, all themes, and every writer. (50% of last year's Fiction Open winners were their authors' first published stories.)
	Word count: Most submissions to the Fiction Open run 2,000 to 8,000 words, but from 2,000 to 20,000-word stories are fine. Writing Guidelines
	Reading fee is $20 per story. Please, no more than 3 submissions per category.Winners and finalists will be officially announced in the September 1 bulletin, and contacted directly the previous week.
	Simultaneous submissions are okay. Please notify immediately if your submission is accepted elsewhere.
	Stories accepted for publication are presented in a highly regarded print publication where literary short fiction persists in the real world and beyond the next post.

Flash 500 Fiction Competition

Entries close at midnight (UK time) 3oth June

 

With the entry deadlines fast approaching, you only have just over a week left to polish up those stories and poems. Don't miss out as the Flash Fiction and Humour Verse categories both close at the end of this month.

Novel Opening and Synopsis Category

 

This category is open for entries until the end of October.

 

The judges this year will be (once again) the senior editors at Crooked Cat Publishing, who are the publishers for my own (writing as Frances di Plino) D.I. Paolo Storey series of crime novels, Bad Moon Rising, Someday Never Comes, Call It Pretending and Looking for a Reason (due out in October).

 

Crooked Cat Publishing cover a wide range of genres, from chick lit to horror, which is why they are the ideal judges for the competition.  

Full details of all three competition categories can be found on the Flash 500 Home Page.

 

Hints from the Judges

No.4 – The Ending

 

The conclusion of any competition submission is the perfect opportunity to create a lasting impression with the judge.

 

Surprise is always likely to be a winner, providing it is relevant to the theme of the work and not farfetched. Such an ending requires great care in the development section of the work; whilst the judges should not have seen it coming, they must, on reflection, admire how you led up to it.

 

If you choose to finish your entry with a conclusion drawn from what has gone before, be sure that it is stated in an original way and, unless for a particular purpose, avoids mere repetition.

Night Feed by Eavan Boland interview on Radio 1 RTE player

Night Feed

This is dawn
Believe me
This is your season, little daughter.
The moment daisies open,
the hour mercurial rainwater
Makes a mirror for sparrows.
It's time we drowned our sorrows.

I tiptoe in.
I lift you up
Wriggling
In your rosy, zipped sleeper.
Yes, this is the hour
For the early bird and me
When finder is keeper.

I crook the bottle.
How you suckle!
This is the best I can be,
Housewife
To this nursery
Where you hold on,
Dear life.

A silt of milk.
The last suck
And now your eyes are open,
Birth-coloured and offended.
Earth wakes.
You go back to sleep.
The feed is ended.

Worms turn.
Stars go in.
Even the moon is losing face.
Poplars stilt for dawn
And we begin
The long fall from grace.
I tuck you in.

RTE Guide /Penguin Eason Short Story deadline

RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition

Penguin Ireland in partnership with the RTE Guide magazine have announced their annual short story competition.

Rules: All entries for the 2013 RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition should be original, unpublished and previously not broadcast short stories in English of 2,000 words or less. Entrants’ name and contact details (address, phone and/or email) should be on a separate page.

The closing date is 6pm on Wednesday July 5th.

Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world.

Send your entries to : RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition, PO Box 1480, RTE, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 or you can email rteguide@rte.ie

Words with JAM competition

Genre Spoof Competition (FREE Entry!)

In association with Bookmuse

A departure from our usual first page and short story competitions, this time we’re looking for a condensed spoof of your favourite genre, up to 1000 words. See examples below.

Entry is FREE and our favourites will be published in a Bookmuse Reader’s Journal later this year, which will include review templates, quotes, to-be-read record pages and more.

Prize

All published entrants will receive a complimentary copy of the journal, and the overall winner, chosen by the Triskele Books team, will receive a £30 Amazon voucher.

Closing Date

30th September 2014 (winners announced by 31st October 2014).

To Enter

Simply send your entry as a Word Doc to submissions@wordswithjam.co.uk with the subject ‘Genre Spoof Competition’ and include your name, address and phone number in the body of the email.

A Few Rules

• We will not return or keep entries after the winners have been announced. Please keep your own copy.
• Entries must be in English.
• You must be 16 years or over.
• Stories must be previously unpublished either online or in print, and must not have been accepted for publication elsewhere. We do, however, accept stories that have been on critique forums or are currently submitted to another competition.
• No alterations may be made to a submission once received.
• Copyright remains with the author. However, Words with JAM/Bookmuse retain the right to publish the winning entries on their websites and in the Bookmuse Journal.
• Entries from regular columnists of Words with JAM are welcome.
• The prize of £30 Amazon voucher will be paid within 30 days of publication of the winning entry.

James Plunkett Short Story Competition 2014

JAMES PLUNKETT SHORT STORY AWARD 2014

Following the great success of the 2013 competition,the Irish Writers' Union, in association with the Irish Writers' Centre, are very pleased to announce the launch of the 2014 James Plunkett Short Story Award.
The judge for the 2014 competition will be Booker and IMPAC nominee Donal Ryan.
The Irish Writers' Union is delighted to continue celebrating the legacy of Plunkett, one of our founder members, through this competition. There is no restriction on theme or genre. Entrants are simply asked to recall Plunkett's skill as a social commentator when writing.
First Prize: €2000
Second Prize: €1000
Third Prize: €500
Closing Date for Entries: Friday, September 12th
The Grand Final will be held in the Irish Writers' Centre on Wednesday, November 4th (date TBC)
Entries should be between 1000 and 3000 words and should be sent to:
The Irish Writers' Union
19 Parnell Square
Dublin 1
There is no limit on the number of submissions an entrant can make. Entry costs €10 per submission (please make cheques payable to the Irish Writers' Union).

Alice Munro Short Story Competition 2014

 

Short Story Competition 2014

The Alice Munro Short Story Competition

Entries must be typed using standard fonts such as Times Roman, Helvetica or Arial, size 11 or 12, double spaced on plain white paper.
Story pages must contain a page number and either the title of your story or one word from the title of your story as a header or footer.  Please do not use your name.

 i.e. My Story about Dragons … "Dragons … 1"
 

Entries must not exceed 5000 words.
 

Stories must be written in English.

Mail one typed copy with registration to:
Alice Munro Writers & Readers Festival
c/o Box 90
Wingham, Ontario  N0G 2W0

AND 

Email one copy to: 
AliceMunroFestival@gmail.com

Receipt of short stories will be confirmed by email.

Deadline for postmarks of mailed copy or receipt of emailed copy:
August 1, 2014