Sub Op Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

The University of Pittsburgh has a call for submissions for the Drue Heinz Literature Prize: "The Drue Heinz Literature Prize recognizes and supports writers of short fiction and makes their work available to readers around the world. The award is open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals. Manuscripts are judged anonymously by nationally known writers; past judges have included Robert Penn Warren, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Margaret Atwood, Russell Banks, Rick Moody and Joan Didion. The prize carries a cash award of $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press under its standard contract. The winner will be announced by the University Press in January." Length: 150-300 page manuscript, no entry fee, no electronic submissions, opens May 1st, 2012; deadline June 30th, 2012.

Family Circle magazine is holding their annual Fiction Contest: "Submit an original (written by entrant), fiction short story of no more than 2,500 words, typed, double-spaced and page numbered on 8-1/2x11paper. Entries must be unpublished and may not have won any prize or award. Include your name, address, daytime telephone number and e-mail address (optional) on each page and send to: Family Circle Fiction Contest, c/o Family Circle Magazine, 805 Third Avenue, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10022. LIMIT: Up to two (2) entries per person will be accepted but each entry must be a unique short story. No group entries. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject, disqualify, modify, edit, and revise any entries, subjects, stories, or related materials that Sponsor deems to be nude, obscene, defamatory, profane, offensive, lewd, pornographic, false, misleading, deceptive, or otherwise inconsistent with its editorial standards, audience expectations, or reputational interests or that Sponsor believes may violate any applicable law or regulation or the rights of any third party. By entering this contest, entrants consent to a background check, and Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to verify any element of any entry or related materials and to disqualify any entrant. One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive a prize package including a check for $750.00, a gift certificate to one (1) mediabistro.com course of his or her choice, up to a value of $610.00, one (1) year mediabistro.com AvantGuild membership valued at $55.00, and a one (1) year mediabistro.com How-to Video membership valued at $99.00. Total approximate retail value of grand prize package $1,514.00. One (1) Second Place winner will receive a check for $250.00, a one (1) year mediabistro.com AvantGuild membership valued at $55.00, and a one (1) year mediabistro.com How-to Video membership valued at $99.00. Total retail value (?RV?) of second place prize package $404.00. One (1) Third Place winner will receive a check for $250.00 and a one (1) year mediabistro.com AvantGuild membership valued at $55.00. Total RV of third place prize package $305.00." No entry fee, no electronic submissions, see contest page for more details. Deadline: September 7th, 2012.

Fanstory.com has ongoing, multiple fiction contests with various prizes; check out their contest page here.

The Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize is now open for entries: "A $12,000 advance and publication by Graywolf will be awarded to the most promising and innovative literary nonfiction project by a writer not yet established in the genre. Robert Polito, Director of the Graduate Writing Program at the New School, will serve as the judge. The 2012 prize will be awarded to a manuscript in progress. We request that authors send a long sample from their manuscript, as well as a description of the work, as detailed below. We expect that we will work with the winner of the prize and provide editorial guidance toward the completion of the project. The Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize emphasizes innovation in form, and we want to see projects that test the boundaries of literary nonfiction. We are less interested in straightforward memoirs, and we turn down a large number of them every year. Before submitting your manuscript for the prize, please look at the books previously published as winners of the prize for examples of the type of work that we are seeking. 'This prize seeks to acknowledge—and honor—the great traditions of literary nonfiction, extending from Robert Burton and Thomas Browne in the seventeenth century through Defoe and Strachey and on to James Baldwin, Joan Didion, and Jamaica Kincaid in our own time,' says Robert Polito. 'Whether grounded in observation, autobiography, or research, much of the most beautiful, daring, and original writing over the past few decades can be categorized as nonfiction. Submissions to the prize might span memoir, biography, or history.'" No entry fee, electronic submissions only, see contest page for more details. Deadline: August 31st, 2012.

The University of Iowa holds an annual short fiction contest for writers who have not yet published a book: "The manuscript must be a collection of short stories in English of at least 150 word-processed, double-spaced pages. We do not accept e-mail submissions. The manuscript may include a cover page, contents page, etc., but these are not required. The author's name can be on every page but this is not required. Stories previously published in periodicals are eligible for inclusion. There is no reading fee; please do not send cash, checks, or money orders. Reasonable care is taken, but we are not responsible for manuscripts lost in the mail or for the return of those not accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. We assume the author retains a copy of the manuscript. Award-winning manuscripts will be published by the University of Iowa Press under the Press's standard contract." No entry fee, no electronic submissions, contest opens for entries on August 1st. See contest page for more details. Deadline: September 30th, 2012.

The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize "shall be awarded annually for the finest scholarly work in English on Abraham Lincoln, or the American Civil War soldier, or a subject relating to their era. The $50,000 prize was co-founded and endowed by businessmen and philanthropists Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman, principals of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York and co-creators of the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the largest private archives of documents and artifacts in the nation. The Institute devotes itself to history education by supporting magnet schools, teacher training, curriculum development, exhibitions, and publications, as well as endowing several major history awards. Mr. Gilder and Mr. Lehrman established the Prize in 1990, together with Professor Gabor Boritt, Director Emeritus of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. Since founding the Prize in 1990, Mr. Gilder and Mr. Lehrman have bestowed some $1 million on the annual winners, including special prizes. The Prize will generally go to a book but in rare instances an important article or essay might be honored. When studies competing for the Prize show similar scholarly merit, preference will be given to work on Abraham Lincoln, or the Civil War soldier, or work aimed at the literate general public. In harmony with the last preference, in rare instances the Prize may go to a work or works of fiction, poetry, the theatre, the arts, a film, scholarly article or editing project, provided they are true to history. In rare instances, the Prize may go to a historical project, such as an inspired conference or an editing project, such as an inspired conference or an editing project. In rare instances, the trustees may grant the award to a work or service related to Lincoln, or the Civil War soldier or their era, not included in the foregoing description. As many as two prizes may be awarded each year. It will be awarded for works published only during the designated year of the Prize." No entry fee, see contest page for more details, deadline November 1st, 2012.

Although today (April 30th) is the deadline for this contest, I thought it was worth posting because they accept electronic submissions, there is no entry fee, and someone out there may have something ready to enter right now: The New England Crime Bake Al Blanchard Award gives a $100 cash award, publication in Level Best Books' tenth Crime Fiction anthology, and admission to the Crime Bake Conference to the best "crime story by a New England author or with a New England setting. Story must be previously unpublished (in print or electronically), Story must not be more than 5,000 words in length, Story may include the following genres: mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, and horror. (No torture/killing of children or animals.)" Rush over to the contest page for more details because again the deadline for this one is TODAY.

Chaosium has an open call for a two-volume anthology: "Over the river and through the woods does not always lead to grandma’s house or happy endings – especially if grandma’s house is infested with zombies… or if grandma is really a Lovecraftian being in disguise. Once Upon an Apocalypse is a two volume post apocalyptic anthology laden with the undead and otherwordly mythos crossing into the realm of fairy tales, nursery rhymes and other timeless stories. For both volumes we want stories with strong narrative lines, stronger characters and a clear blending of the theme and the fairy tales. For Volume One imagine Cinderella arriving at the ball and discovering it filled with zombies. Or how different the story would be if it were Snow White and the Seven Zombies. Give us new horrors with Alice in Zombieland, and a Prince who climbs Rapunzel’s hair to get away from and find a way to defeat – you guessed it – zombies. In Volume Two we want a strong dose of Lovecraft thrown in. What happens to the townspeople in The Boy who Cried Cthulhu? Pinocchio is going to have a much harder time getting out of the Old One than the whale; a wolf would have been preferable to Little Red Riding Hood and the Byahkee and the Little Mermaid has so much more to worry about then her legs and a missing voice when she faces a Deep One. Once you choose a story to change it’s your call how far you will take it. Make the apocalypse clear and give some meaning as to why the dead are meandering through the streets and munching on the breathing or why the Elder God has paid the town a visit. Plague, prestilence, bio warfare, meteor shower, tail of a comet… be creative. Because we don’t want duplicates of themes, you will be able to follow the progress of the anthologies on our blog (http://onceuponanapocalypse.com) or facebook page (www.facebook.com/OnceUponAnApocalypse) where we’ll keep a current list of themes/tales accepted. For example, if we get a Sleeping Beauty story and it’s awesome, that will be it for the book." Length" "Stories should be 2K – 4K in length (please query for stories under or over our limit. We will consider them if they are of exceptional merit). Payment: "$.03 per word, no royalties and 3 free books and additional copies at 50% off cover." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Reading period is open "now through July 31, 2012 – or until filled."

Shimmer e-zine is open to submissions of "Unusual and beautifully-written speculative fiction stories with full plots and strong characters. The best way to understand what we are looking for is to read an issue of the magazine. We’re most drawn to contemporary fantasy, and seek out stories with a strong emotional core. We like unusual stories with a fluid and distinctive voice, with specific and original images. Send us your odd unclassifiable stories–though we prefer traditional storytelling mechanics to experimental approaches. We’re less likely to be interested in sword and sorcery, hard SF, space opera, paranormal romance, slasher horror, and other familiar genre types, but we’ll read anything." [PBW notes: Nicely put, and they also accept subs from authors outside the U.S.] Length: Up to 5K. Editor notes: "If your story is longer than 5000 words (and yes, 5100 words is longer than 5000 words) but you believe we would love it, please send us a query briefly describing the story along with the first page of the story." Payment and Rights: "We pay 3 cent per word, minimum $10. You’ll also receive two copies of the issue in which your story appears. Additional contributor copies available at the subscription rate. We purchase First Serial rights and electronic rights. 120 days after publication, most rights revert to the author, but we retain the right to continue selling back issues of the magazine, the right to archive your story, and non-exclusive anthology rights." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Underwords has an open call for a FutureDaze, a YA Science Fiction Anthology, and would like to see: "...fiction and poetry that sparks the imagination, twists the heart, and makes us yearn for the possibilities of a world yet to come. At a time when every other YA book features vampires, werewolves or other fantastical creatures, Futuredaze will be an anthology for the next generation of science fiction readers. We’re looking for hard science fiction, soft science fiction, and everything in between. Think Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov, George Orwell or Ray Bradbury with a YA focus. While we adore fantasy, Futuredaze is not the right anthology for fiction or poetry based in worlds where magic or the supernatural are the driving forces. Futuredaze‘s primary mission is to inspire a love of science fiction in today’s teens and young adults—providing them with a launching pad of quality fiction that will inspire them to further explore the many branches of the genre. Give us your stories of far-flung futures, interplanetary travel, and technology just beyond our reach. Give us near futures with eerie similarities to the present. Give us robots, extra terrestrials, brave new worlds and Andromeda strains. Most of all, give us good writing. Whether you’re a pro or still looking for your first sale we want to see the widest array of fiction and poetry possible. If you’re unsure whether your piece is right for Futuredaze, please submit it and let us determine if it’s a good fit. Our only requirement is that your story or poem operates within a science fictional universe and is written for young adults. Please no explicit sex, foul language, or gratuitous violence." Length: Fiction ~ 6,000 words max; Poetry ~ "up to 5 poems at one time." Payment:" Paying $200 per story and $25 per poem for first North American anthology rights, payable upon publication. One-year after publication, all rights return to the creators." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines page for more details. Submission period opens May 1st, 2012 and lasts "until filled."