Archive for category Short Story
Pens of Erdington Creative Writing Competition
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Poetry, Short Story on September 26, 2015
Pens of Erdington, a writing group close to the area where I live, is running a creative writing competition. Entrants can send a poem and/or a short story to be in with a chance of scooping the £100 top prize.
The competition has an open theme and is split into two categories; adults and under-16s. It will be judged by Jan Watts who was Birmingham Poet Laureate 2011/12. The closing date is 5th November and winners will be invited to a prize presentation event.
Full details of the competition are on the Pens of Erdington website.
And talking of competitions, there’s still chance to get yourself in the draw to win a year’s subscription to Writers’ Forum magazine. It’s simple to enter and all the details are on my previous blog post – but don’t delay, the competition closes on 29th September 2015.
As with all competitions, you’ve got to be in it to win it!
Kindle Direct Publishing Pre-Orders
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Promotion, Self-publishing, Short Story on September 10, 2015
When an author uploads a manuscript to Kindle Direct Publishing, he is given the choice between publishing immediately or making the book available for ‘pre-order’. Making a book available for pre-order means readers can order it up to 90 days in advance of the book’s release date. It will automatically be delivered to customers’ Kindles on the release date and they will be charged on this date.
Why use the pre-order facility?
- All pre-order sales are counted in the launch date sales figures. This gives the book an immediate push up the Amazon rankings because instead of starting at zero sales, the book already has some sales ‘in the bank’.
- Book promotion activities can start before launch date (& even before the book is completed, if you’re brave!), using a link to the Amazon product detail page.
- The Amazon product detail page is ‘live’ before launch date, giving the opportunity to tweak the description, key words etc. prior to launch.
The pre-order facility wasn’t available last time I e-published and I’m experimenting with it this time around.
So, I’m pleased to announce that House Guests and Other Stories is available for pre-order. Order today and it will arrive on your Kindle on Tuesday September 22. You can be one of the first to get your hands on it. As you can see, people are already stopping in the street to gasp in awe at the front cover – such is the book’s popularity!
House Guests and Other Stories is a collection of fifteen short stories, many with a twist and most have appeared in either The Weekly News, My Weekly or People’s Friend. There’s also a couple of competition successes in there plus a special guest story by a prize-winning author!
And that guest author is … Iain Pattison. Iain is a full-time author, creative writing tutor and competition judge. He also writes a very humorous blog. I’ve dropped Iain’s guest story right in the middle of my collection, like the delicious middle in a liqueur chocolate.
So, why not click ‘pre-order‘ and get ready to indulge!
To celebrate the launch of House Guests and Other Stories on September 22nd I will be announcing, on this blog, a competition to win a year’s subscription to Writers’ Forum magazine. So come back then, or use the box on the right to sign-up for email updates.
And I’m also interested to know how anyone else has got on with Amazon pre-orders?
The Short Story Competition 2015
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Short Story on June 7, 2015
The Short Story Competition 2015 is now open for entries. The competition has been running annually since 2011 and ‘… showcases the best short stories from around the world.’
First prize is £300, second prize is £150 and third prize is £50. The winners will be published on the website and may be included in a future anthology. The competition has an open theme and the word limit is 1,000 to 5,000.
Entry fee is £5 via PayPal and the closing date is 15th September 2015 – so it could be a nice project to work on over the summer.
Don’t forget to check the full submission guidelines.
Good Luck!
It’s the taking part that counts
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Non-writing, Short Story on March 3, 2015
‘It’s the taking part that counts’ is a phrase often bandied about to make people feel better if they don’t win or get placed in a competition. Mostly it just washes over us and we’re still fed up that we didn’t get a prize. Perhaps we even think about throwing in the towel and not bothering to enter any more competitions. Last week I had an experience that made me truly agree that it’s not the winning, it’s the taking part that counts.
My Speakers’ Club asked me to represent them in a Speech Evaluation Contest against two other clubs. This involves giving a four minute speech on the strengths and weaknesses of a ‘target’ speech which all three competitors have just watched. I was a bit reluctant since I’ve only been in the club eighteen months but decided to have a go anyway. My fear was that I wouldn’t be able to think of anything to say or I would dry up or I would speak in a muddled, incoherent way.
On the night, I discovered that one of my competitors runs a public speaking coaching business and the other had been education director of his club for fifteen years. This gave plenty of opportunity for making a fool of myself! Needless to say I came third (i.e. last!) in the competition BUT I was surprised to feel good in the face of defeat. There were lots of positives from the evening: I’d spoken to a larger audience than usual, I’d taken part in a speaking competition for the first time, I lasted the full four minutes, I’d been a ‘team player’ by agreeing to take part and my fellow Club members told me I hadn’t disgraced myself or let down the Club. I came away on a high!
So, what’s all this got to do with writing? It’s to urge you to enter writing competitions even if you think you don’t stand a chance of winning. You will learn and gain experience from each competition entry, it might be writing to a tight deadline, trying to write to a different word count than usual or experimenting with a new genre. Don’t worry about winning, concentrate on the challenge of producing the best work you can.
And to get you started, have a go at one (or more!) of these:
Erewash Writers’ Group New Writers’ Competition – 3,000 word short story. There is a £40 first prize and a FREE basic critique. Closes 26th March 2015.
Nuneaton Writers’ Circle Flash Fiction Competition – free entry. Prize is 1 year’s free membership of Nuneaton Writers’ Circle. Closes 27th March 2015.
Alfie Dog Review Competition – download a story from Alfie Dog during March 2015 and write a short review. First prize £100.
Enjoy the taking part!
A Competition, A Novel Workshop & A Beta Reader Request
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Events, Markets, Short Story on January 20, 2015
Three bits of (potentially) useful information for you:
- Romantic comedy novelist, Alison May, is running a Developing Your Novel workshop in Birmingham city centre on 28th March. I’ve been on a similar event tutored by Alison and it was very helpful. It costs £44, including lunch and refreshments, and there’s a discount if you book before the end of January. So, if you live in the Midlands there’s no excuse for not getting your novel off the ground in 2015!
- Modern literary magazine One Story has opened its annual reading period and, until 31st May 2015, is accepting submissions of high-quality literary fiction from outside contributors. They pay $500 and full submission details are here.
- Anyone looking for a writing buddy/beta reader? I’ve been asked to publicise the following request:
My name is Sharon, and I’m looking for a volunteer reader for my unpublished chick- lit/romance novel.
I’m seeking someone who has the time to read it and give honest feedback.
In return, I’ll read your unpublished novel and give feedback too. We’d correspond via email.
Interested? Please email me: sbee.poetry ‘at’ gmail.com
Black Pear Press Short Story Competition and KISHBOO
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Events, Short Story on September 2, 2014
On Saturday I had lunch with the Birmingham Chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
It was a very positive affair with lots of people having good news to share such as excellent reports from the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme, publishing deals and competition successes. As always I came away eager to get writing again.
One of our members, romantic comedy author Alison May has been asked to judge a short story competition for the first time and she gave us the details (unfortunately there’ll be no favouritism because it’s all judged anonymously).
The first Black Pear Press Short Story Competition is for stories up to 1500 words in any genre/theme.
First prize is £75 and second prize is two Black Pear Press publications. Entries may be published on the Black Pear Press website and may be included in an anthology.
Closing date is 26th September 2014 and entry is via email. Entry fee is £5.
Full details are here.
Another ‘first’ short story competition that you might like to consider is that currently underway at KISHBOO. This will become a regular quarterly competition with a first prize of £50 and a second prize of £25. The entry fee is £3 and the first competition closes on October 20th 2014. Again any genre/theme is acceptable and the maximum word count is 2,000. The full terms and conditions are here.
Good Luck!
The Journeyman
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Self-publishing, Short Story, Successes on August 3, 2014
The tagline for The Journeyman magazine is, ‘a collection of short stories from emerging authors‘.
It is distributed free (in the Sheffield area, I’m guessing from the adverts) to be read ‘on the train, in the office, at home …‘. There is also an example edition to be read online.
I’ve just received a complimentary copy containing my story, ‘One Day for Me’. Like most small magazines the payment is not great – only £10. But the editor will accept things that have been previously published elsewhere, provided that copyright and publishing rights still remain with the author. This means that you can get a little bit of extra mileage out of a story that’s already earned its keep, plus The Journeyman also has a ‘Meet the Authors’ section which includes a short bio of all the writers published in that edition.
If you fancy submitting, the guidelines are here. In brief, the editor is looking for well-written stories across all genres. The preferred length is up to around 3,500 words.
Update July 2015: I understand that The Journeyman has now ceased publication. It’s very sad to see fiction markets like this disappearing.
And the mention of ‘One Day for Me’ gives me the excuse to tell you that my e-book ‘One Day for Me – 8 Award-Winning Stories‘ is available for just 99p/99c (UK & US only) until August 10th 2014.
Win a One Day Writing Workshop
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Short Story on July 13, 2014
What does the word SHINE mean to you?
I’ve been having a little brainstorming session because I fancy entering this FREE competition. It’s organised by the Reading Agency and the winning ten entries will be invited to London for a workshop with Joanna Rees. Twenty shortlisted entries will win a copy of The Key to It All by Joanna.
The brief is to write 1500 words of original fiction on the theme SHINE.
So what ideas did I come up with?
- Sunshine
- Shining & polishing the furniture (an OCD cleaner perhaps?)
- Shining as in ‘being the best’ (for example shining at school)
- Moonshine (possible fairy/fantasy story?)
- A shiny piece of jewellery or metal
But none of the above immediately forms the basis of a story for me.
What about you? Any better ideas?
We need to be quick, the closing date is 31st July 2014. Entries should be submitted by email to competitions@readingagency.org.uk
Children’s Writing Course & Horror Short Story Competition
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Resources, Short Story on June 14, 2014
Here are two things I’ve come across recently that might be of interest.
Firstly, Groupon are offering a massive discount on a course entitled ‘Learn to Write Children’s Stories’. It is advertised as being reduced from £349 to £14!
The course consists of 14 modules (those of you who are good at Maths will have worked out that this is the equivalent £1 per module) and guides “beginners through the process of writing great children’s stories, from plot to story structure to voice and style, this course aims to free imaginations and let the inner child create tales of adventure”.
However, this offer is only valid for five more days (which, by my calculations, is until 19th June 2014).
Full details are here.
Secondly, Joe Mynhardt of Crystal Lake Publishing is running a FREE to enter Horror Short Story Competition.
The organisation of this competition is different to most competitions. Initially Joe only wants to see 150 words. These words must be split (in any ratio) over the synopsis and opening of the story. For example the synopsis might be 30 words and the opening 120 words or vice versa.
Those that get through this first round of the competition will then be invited to submit their full story, which must be between 3000 and 7000 words and it must be horror, weird or suspenseful.
The prizes are as follows:
1st: Your story in Tales From the Lake Vol.2; $40; one contributor’s copy; bragging rights; a 30,000 word edit by Joe Mynhardt; all Crystal publish eBooks published at the time of announcing the winners.
2nd: Your story in Tales From the Lake Vol.2; one contributor’s copy; $30; a 20,000 word edit by Joe Mynhardt; any two Crystal publish eBooks published at the time of announcing the winners.
3rd: Your story in Tales From the Lake Vol.2; one contributor’s copy; $20; a 10,000 word edit by Joe Mynhardt; any one Crystal publish eBook published at the time of announcing the winners.
Full details of the competition are here and the first round closes on June 30th 2014 – so there’s still time to write those initial 150 words.
Regular readers of this blog may remember that Joe did an informative guest post for us on fiction writing. It’s still available here and might be worth a read if you’re thinking of entering the competition.
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