2015 Storming the Short
Story Contest
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Writers on the Storm (ACFW – The Woodlands)
& Houston Christian Authors (ACFW – Houston)
Eligibility:
The
Short Story contest is open to all authors, published or unpublished, 18 years
of age or older.
Entries & Fee:
An
original 4,000-6,000 word short story. Entries must not have been previously
published in any form.
Entry fee $25.00 via PayPal.
Entry fees are non-refundable. Entry fees are used by the local ACFW Chapters to finance the contest, as well as fundraising for local chapter events.
Theme:
Dancing
Your
short story can be about anything as long as it fits into the one of the genres
listed below, contains the theme mentioned above, and has a clear faith element
(Christian). The theme should be obvious to the reader. For instance, if the
theme was “Storms” there would need to be a storm in your story somewhere.
Metaphorical storms would not count.
Categories
and definitions:
- Contemporary
- Stories set in year 1960 or
after that do not fit in one of the other categories
- Historical
- Any story with a setting prior
to 1960
- Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
- Contemporary
- Romantic suspense would fit
here
- Romance
- Contemporary
- Speculative
- Any type of science fiction, fantasy,
horror, or combination.
- If it’s weird, it goes here.
- Young Adult/Middle-Grade
- contemporary, Earth-based,
regular fiction
- Protagonists younger than 20
years
The
Contest Committee reserves the right to combine categories if a minimum of 5
entries are not received.
This
is a Christian fiction contest. No objectionable content allowed.
Judging:
Category
Coordinators will determine whether the entries meet the required theme,
content, and formatting requirements. Entries that do not meet the requirements
will not pass to judging.
First
Round judging: Panelists will score entries based on 5 categories. Scoring results
will be returned to the contestant as feedback. Panelists can only vote in
categories they have not entered as a contestant.
Final
Round judging: HopeSprings Books will select stories for publication from the
highest rated entries and will award at least a first prize in categories with
5 or more entries.
Prizes:
Winning
entries will be edited with the cooperation of the author prior to publication.
Winners retain copyright to their work, but the publication contract will be a
7-year license of the paperback, ebook, and audiobook rights.
Proceeds
from the sale of the anthology will be donated directly to the ACFW Scholarship
Fund, but authors can receive a report each quarter upon request.
Winners from the 2014 contest are published in the Out of the Storm anthology.
Timeline:
June
1st - Contest is open for entries.
June
30th - Submissions closed (Midnight Central Time).
August
1st - Scoring begins.
August
15th - Scoring ends.
August
31st - Winners announced.
Formatting Requirements:
- Name should not appear anywhere
on the entry
- Bible verses must be referenced
in a footnote or endnote
- Manuscript pages must be in
standard format:
- Double spaced
- 1-inch margins
- Size 12 Times New Roman or
Courier font (Including the header)
- Unjustified and aligned left
text with no extra space between paragraphs
- Begin one third the distance
from the top margin
- Scene breaks should be
indicated with a single (#) or triple pound sign (###) as their own line
with a single blank line above and below
- Header should contain the category and title aligned left and the page number aligned right.
