General Information > Short Story/Poetry Contest

 

The Wayne State College Science Fiction and Fantasy Club holds a short story and poetry contest in conjunction with WillyCon. No entry fee is required, and all rights in the story remain the property of the author. All entries must be original works, in English. The Contest is open only to those who have not had professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment and at least 5,000 copies or 5,000 hits. All types of science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, or horror with fantastic elements are welcome. The story or poem winning first place in each category will be published on the WillyCon E-Zine. We appreciate your willingness to be a part of this contest!

 

There are four levels of short story competition with prize money (to be announced, and subject to that year's budget) for the winner in each category. Winners will get published online, but the rest is to be determined...

Short Story Categories:
Adult/College High School (9-12) Middle School (7-8) Elementary (K-6)	These categories refer to YOUR grade/age, NOT the level of the audience you are writing to...
Poetry: You may submit a maximum of two poems, of no more than 50 lines in length. It doubles your chances - if we don't like one, the other may be more appealing!

First Place winning stories and poems will be published online and will remain on the WillyCon E-Zine until the next contest. The stories and poems will remain online after this, but will be moved to an archive section. By submitting a story/poem you are giving your permission, should your story or poem be chosen as a winner, for it to be published online. If you are multi-talented, you may submit both a story and a poem for the same contest, but please submit them separately...

Entries for WillyCon XIV (April 20-22, 2012) must be received by: March 30, 2012

 

NOTE: If you are in an English class in middle/high school and you are being asked to submit to the contest by your teacher as an assignment and/or class project, please have your teacher contact us first. We are being flooded with entries, many of which do not meet the guidelines and are being disqualified. We would prefer that you hold your own contest first, then with your teachers guidance, submit the best ones and make sure the entries meet the guidelines.

Submission Guidelines: Stories/poems should be done on a word processor and double spaced, with Times New Roman 12 point (or similar) font. Do not use any script, or "Dracula," or other fonts that are really cool - while they may look great to you, it makes the manuscript difficult to read. The default font on your word processing software should be adequate. A cover page with the title of the work, the author's name, address, telephone number, which category you are entering, and an approximate word-count is required. Please identify subsequent pages with a few words from the title and page numbers in case pages become separated (DO NOT use manual returns and type this information at the top of a page - use the built-in header function in Word so it does not affect the formatting of the story!). Please do not include your name on any page past the cover page. The contest is run on a blind review and the judges do not see entrants' names until winners are chosen. Follow this link for a sample of the short story format. For poetry you are on your own - just make it easy to read...

 

Please do not submit stories/poems to the contest with:

• Plagiarized work
• Superfluously gory horror
• Stories/poetry containing excessive, inappropriate, or explicit sexual content
• Stories/poetry containing excessive profanity
• Stories/poetry taking place in any trademarked universe, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, or any other type of fan fiction
• Superhero fiction (e.g. Spider-Man, Superman, etc.) - that's what comic books are for...

 

NOTE: All entries must be submitted via e-mail attachment - hard copies are not accepted and will not be judged in the competition! If the story is illustrated, RTF (rich text format) or MS Word (see below) formats should be used to ensure the proper formatting of the story when we receive it...

*Electronic entries in the body of an e-mail do not always arrive as you intended them to look. Please attach your story to your e-mail in Microsoft® Office Word format (preferred), RTF, or ASCII (text) format . We use PCs, so please save your files accordingly. In the body of your e-mail, please give your name and contact information, and tell us which category you are submitting under (Adult, High School, etc.). We have been accepting submissions of all kinds as long as we could open them and salvage the submission. We can no longer do this...we believe the guidelines are clear and the format is easy to follow - stories/poems submitted that do not meet the guidelines or formatting styles will be disqualified. If you are not familiar with your program, find someone to assist you in formatting your submission correctly...

Story length: There is no specific length on the stories...when you are done writing, send it in. However, we would prefer a short story - not something as long as a novel or novelette...

 

Poetry length: No more than fifty lines per poem (think quality, not length!)

 

Send all entries to:

Electronic submissions via e-mail must be sent as an attachment to - ScFanta1@wsc.edu - with "(indicate category: Adult, High School, Middle School or Elementary School) Short Story Entry" or "Poetry Entry" in the subject line. Please be mindful that no virus is included! If you are multi-talented and are submitting a story and a poem, please submit them separately and not in the same e-mail as multiple attachments. You may send more than one poem at a time if you are not submitting a story. Please name your attachments with the title of your story or poem.

 

Your e-mail should only consist of:

 

Subject Line: WillyCon XIV (or whichever one is current) Category (Adult, high school, etc.) Short Story (or Poetry) Submission

Body of the e-mail: Repeat the above information, give the title of the story or poem, and provide complete contact information so we can contact you by postal-mail if your entry wins. This helps by letting us go through the e-mails and get the information necessary to contact the winners easier without having to dig up the cover pages or e-mail you for the information. If this is not provided, we probably won't contact you...

Attachment(s): ONE story or peoms (maximum of two). Do not attach a story and a poem in the same e-mail!

Nothing else is required, necessary, or wanted...let your writing speak for itself! This contest is being judged by WRITES (Writing Resources for Imaginative, Talented, and Enlightened Students), a Wayne State College student organization. Winners will be notified as soon as possible after the convention is completed.

 

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