Flash Novels and a Contest

Flash Book Review: The covers of this book are too far apart. ~Ambrose Bierce

Flash Novels

The length of a flash novel, like the length of flash fiction, varies. A good general definition is a novel of 75 to 150 pages. Also like flash fiction, the flash novel may have leave some things open to interpretation by the reader.

Examples of flash novels include

-                       Searching for Suzi by Nancy Stohlman tells of a young woman facing the ghosts of her past.

-                       The Pink Institution by Selah Saterstrom traces four generations of women in the Deep South.

-                       Emily Avenue, a coming-of-age story by Jeff Landon, won Flash Forward Press’ 2010 Flash Novel Contest.

-                       The Underneath by Kathi Appelt is a young adult flash novel.

Here is a flash novel contest to try:

KAZKA PRESS

Deadline: April 30, 2012

Looking for fantasy and sci-fi flash novels between 35,000 and 50,000 words. First Place receives a $250 advance. Second Place receives a $100 advance. Both will receive 35% royalties on the cover price

Eric Hoffer Short Prose Award

ERIC HOFFER SHORT PROSE AWARD

Deadline: March 31, 2012. No entry fee. $250 grand prize. 10,000-word limit. Your submission must be previously unpublished, or published with a circulation of less than 500.

This award honors the memory of American philosopher Eric Hoffer by highlighting salient writing, as well as the independent spirit of small publishers. The winning stories and essays are published in the annual anthology, Best New Writing.

Writer’s Thought for the Week: A true critic ought to dwell rather upon excellencies than imperfections, to discover the concealed beauties of a writer, and communicate to the world such things as are worth their observation. ~ Joseph Addison

Accents and Novel/Novella/Nonfiction Contest

ACCENTS

What kind of American accent do you or your characters have? A friend of mine and I both tried this quiz which correctly identified where each of us grew up. Something to think about when we’re writing dialogue.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/spl3/american-accent-quiz.html

TARCHER/PENGUIN NOVEL/NOVELLA/NONFICTION CONTEST
 
Deadline: March 2, 2012. No entry fee.

Writers residing in the USA are invited to submit an unpublished novel, novella, or narrative nonfiction. (Limit one entry per person.) The top prize is $5,000 and a manuscript review by a Penguin editor.

Thought for the week: The question is not what you look at -- but how you look and whether you see.  ~ Thoreau

Amazon Publishing and Flash Quarterly

Quote for the week: The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.  ~  Mark Twain

I’ve lost count of how many people have predicted the death of print books following the success of e-books. Not everyone shares that view.

One big name that disagrees is Amazon. Why else would that famous dot-com giant start a Montlake Romance imprint, mystery thriller imprint Thomas & Mercer, plus fantasy/sci fi/horror imprint 47North?

Books published under these imprints are available in Kindle, print and audio formats at www.amazon.com, as well as at national and independent booksellers. The Amazon Publishing family also includes AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing and Powered by Amazon.

10FLASH QUARTERLY

http://10flash.wordpress.com

http://10flash.wordpress.com/guidelines/ 

Each quarterly issue includes ten stories, all written around a common prompt that authors are encouraged to freely interpret.

• April 2012 — The falls are beautiful this time of year. First Date Accepted: January 1, 2012.
• July 2012 – So this [fill in the blank] walks into a bar … First Date Accepted: April 1, 2012.
• October 2012 – A Bridge Too Far. First Date Accepted: July 1, 2012.

Submissions will be accepted for each issue after the First Date Accepted until they have purchased ten stories. When that happens, they post a notice online.
10Flash publishes speculative flash fiction stories — fantasy, horror, science fiction, suspense or slipstream — between 800 and 1,000 words.  “We may fudge on the bottom number, from time to time, but the top limit is firm.” Pays $20.

History vs Historical Fiction/Poetry Book Award

Writer’s Thought for the Week: The sole substitute for an experience which we have not ourselves lived through is art and literature. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

HISTORY VS HISTORICAL FICTION

Those of us who write historical fiction sometimes get so involved in researching the time period that we put off the actual writing. Once we start writing, another trap exists: telling the reader too much of what we learned. We must stay focused on the story as the essence, not the history.

When fiction becomes a vehicle for facts, the magic fades and readers withdraw from the author’s imagined world. When facts are used to enliven the lives of characters, the imagined world expands and envelopes the reader.

EMILY DICKINSON FIRST BOOK AWARD
 

Deadline: February 17, 2012 (postmarked)

"The Poetry Foundation seeks one book-length poetry manuscript to be published by Graywolf Press as the winner of the Emily Dickinson First Book Award. The competition is open to any American citizen forty years of age or over who has not previously published a book-length volume of poetry. In addition to publication and promotion of the manuscript, the winner will receive a prize of $10,000." No entry fee.

Nature Poetry Contest and a Poetry/Short Prose Contest

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Books are the compasses, telescopes, sextants, and charts which other men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life. ~ Jesse Lee Bennett

Friends of AcadiaNature Poetry Prize

Deadline: January 30, 2012

"Established in 1998, the Friends of Acadia Poetry Prize is awarded biannually to promote and recognize distinctive nature poetry. Three winning poems will be published in the Friends of Acadia Journal (print and online), and awarded prizes by category: 1st place–$350/2nd place–$250/3rd place–$150." You may submit up to three nature-based poems. No entry fee.

The Binnacle Annual Ultra-Short Competition

Deadline: February 15, 2012

The Binnacle's Ninth International Ultra-Short Competition is looking for prose works of 150 words or fewer and poetry of sixteen lines or fewer and fewer than 150 words. All works should have a narrative element to them.

"A minimum of $300 in cash prizes will be awarded, with a minimum prize of $50. At least one of the prizes will go to a University of Maine at Machias student."

You may submit up to two works, total, prose and/or poetry. No entry fee.

Amazon No Fee Novel Awards/The First Line

Thought for the New Year: The road to success is not a path you find but a trail you blaze. ~ Robert Brault

THE FIRST LINE
 
Spring deadline: February 1, 2012
Spring Prompt: "There are a few things you need to know before we start."

All stories must start with the appropriate first line, and you cannot change it in any way unless otherwise indicated. Stories chosen are paid $30 and published online and in a chapbook by TheFirst Line. The story should be between 300 and 3,000 words. “We are open to all genres. We try to make TFL as eclectic as possible.” Also pays $20 for 500 to 800 word critical essays about your favorite first line from a literary work.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

No Fee to enter. Jan. 23 – Feb 5, 2012 submission period.

This award brings together talented writers, reviewers, and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction. The 2012 international contest will award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance. Manuscripts submitted as entries to the Contest cannot be actively shopped by agents during the contest period, which runs from January 23, 2012 to June 16, 2012.