FLASH FICTION CONTEST-$30 SBD To The Winner, $10 SBD to 2 Runners-Up

Are you a good storyteller? Need some shiny, new SBDs in your wallet? Then fire up that laptop and let’s get started!

Thanks to the generosity of @aggroed, @gmuxx, and @canadian-coconut , two of us minnows have been empowered to host a contest that will award prizes everyone in the Steemit community can use. I mean, really—who would say “no” to $30 SBD? The @minnowsupport project is succeeding, giving newbies like myself and @carolkean a chance to flourish. A contest like this is one of the ways that even minnows can showcase the level of talent flooding into the Steemit community.

When it comes to the craft of writing, Carol Kean is no minnow. As a book reviewer, she can be a bit of a Moby Dick. (No, she won't bite your leg off, nor your head.) She’s a writer, editor, book critic for Perihelion Science Fiction Online Magazine, a NetGalley and Amazon VINE reviewer. She lives in the Midwest and thinks she is a reincarnated rhinoceros.

I, too, am a writer, have published two novels, and am busy with a third. My work has appeared in online literary magazine Amarillo Bay, and in Perihelion Science Fiction Online Magazine. I live in Southwest Virginia and think I am a reincarnated raccoon.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Carol and I are looking for high quality fiction of any genre except erotica (or something that has to be posted NSFW.) Submissions must be 500 words or less. We will check the word count—we want to know that authors can tell a complete story within these parameters. We need to see a clear beginning, middle, and end, with vivid character development and a discernible plot. Images in your post won’t disqualify you, but they won’t factor in our decision. Typos, grammar, syntax, and spelling issues will hurt your chances, so edit well, and enlist the help of others to read and review your work before submitting.

SHOW US ZOMBIES AT YOUR OWN RISK

The current fiction market is flooded with post-apocalyptic tales of mass mayhem that usually includes reanimated corpses, exploding suns, or some type of global chaos. If this is what you must write about, we will read it. But one thing we want to see in all submissions for this contest is a positive message.

You don’t have to write us stories about puppy dogs and sunflowers. Your fiction can be very dark. But please show your characters making some kind of arc in five hundred words—either succeeding, triumphing, coming of age or coming to terms—just don’t destroy the whole world in 500 words and leave us feeling like we need a three-day bender to get over your ending. Also not to be considered for prize eligibility will be fiction with a political tone or message, or any hate directed at other humans, animals, or aliens from outer space. Unless, of course, your aliens are coming to kill us all, in which case, by all means—destroy those suckers.

CONTEST SCHEDULE

Steemit has some interesting time constraints that make contests like this more challenging. If you dash off a story and upload a link in the comments of this post, by the time submissions are closed and entries are judged, upvoting on your piece might no longer be possible. So here’s how we’re going to do this: take five days to think about, draft, edit, send to a friend for review, and edit your story again. Then on Friday, June 30th, I’ll make another post calling for submissions. (The easiest way to not miss that post is to give me a follow. That, of course, is up to you.) That window will close at midnight on Sunday, July 2nd. Carol and I will need a couple days to judge submissions. We’ll then announce the winner and award $30 SBD, plus $10 SBD to two runners up. @canadian.coconut has offered a weighty upvote with some of her impressive Steempower to the winner. So it’s very important that you not post your entry too early.

If you’re unfamiliar with flash fiction, read some great examples here:
http://flashfictiononline.com/main/ .

Pick up some tips here:
http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/flash.shtml

And here:
https://litreactor.com/columns/storyville-how-to-write-flash-fiction

We look forward to reading your stories! Feel free to leave a comment and let us know you intend to submit an entry.