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. The contest is open to those who have not had professionally published (more than 5000 copies [in print] and/or hits [Internet published]) a novel or short novel, or more than three short stories, or more than one novelette in any medium. All types of science fiction, 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 three levels of short story competition with prize money (to be announced, and subject to that year's budget) for the winner in each category. Poetry is a new addition for the 2008 contest year, so that is still up in the air. 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 catrgories refer to YOUR grade/age, NOT the level of the audience you are writing for...

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!

No entry fee is required and all rights of the story/poem remain the property of the author. Stories and poems must be the original work of the author! 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...

*Entries for WillyCon X (April 4-6, 2008) must be received by: SUBMISSIONS CLOSED FOR THIS YEAR'S CONTEST!

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 - 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 in Microsoft® Office Word 2003 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.).

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 novellete...

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 (preferred method), or embedded in the body of the e-mail! Send it 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!

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