Our Writing Contest Goes Live On Friday!

Greetings Fictional Café Readers, Writers, Artists and Members!

It is our pleasure to announce the First annual Fictional Café Writing Contest. In celebration of our fourth year of bringing you the best fiction we can offer, we’re expanding our programs to include a print/ebook publication curated by you, our members.

Here’s how it works.

Part One: Submission

Beginning at the end of this week, submissions open. You enter your best piece of fiction via our one-of-a-kind submission form (link will be visible in our official Opening post this coming Friday). Submissions should be between 2,000 and 8,000 words and fit in one of the following categories:

• Literary

• Humorous

• Poetry (word count requirement suspended)

• Speculative

• Mystery/Thriller/Crime

• Western/Historical

• Flash (word count <1,000 words)

• Art (photos, drawings, and paintings, no word count requirement)

You can submit as many times as you like. Each submission has an entry fee of $10, though we will be entering our 12 most popular Fictional Café stories free of charge.

Submission are open from Friday, June 16 through Friday, July 14.

Part Two: Decision

Beginning on Monday, July 17, the contest begins!

Each day, two stories from each category will be pitted against one another. Two stories enter! One story leaves!  For 24 hours, people can come vote for which of the two stories they like better.

The categories will run on  a double-elimination tournament grid, so the winners advance. The losers get one more chance for glory before dropping out of the contest forever. Voting will be thick and furious, and only the best fiction of all will advance to the final rounds.

How long the contest lasts will depend on how many submissions we get, but we anticipate the whole thing taking about one month.

Part Three: Publication

The first, second, and third place winners for each category all get put in a print anthology edition of Fictional Café! Winners get two copies of the anthology, plus all the glory of publication.

Copies will naturally be on sale both at the Fictional Café website, and on Amazon, so your friends and fans and family can get theirs, too.

We anticipate about two months between the close of the contest and holding the print version in our hands. This means they’ll be available in plenty of time for Christmas gifting.

Stay tuned for our official announcement of the contest opening, including specific instructions as to how to format your submission, pay your entry fee, and get in line for your shot at publication glory!