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La Viness Short Story Writing Contest
2024
Hosted by Renee' La Viness.
THEME WORDS
USAGE: You may use them together (HOT PLATE) or separate (HOT and PLATE).
Any kind of HOT is acceptable: a flame, peppers, a fever, boiling water, something stolen, etc. Also, any kind of PLATE is acceptable: a dinner plate, dental plate, a plate glass window, tectonic plate, breast plate, and so on.
The use of each theme word must be obvious, and it must be required for the story to work.
EXAMPLE: If the theme words were DOOR and BELL -
1st Place - $100
For more information about awards, click here.
SUBMISSION DATES
ENTRY FEE
WINNERS
First Place will also be listed here.
GUIDELINES
Fiction or Nonfiction
ANONYMOUS SUBMISSION RULES
FORMATTING
COVER PAGE
Author Name
Polish your story with this check list:
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*
UNPUBLISHED
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Questions about the short story contest?
HOT and PLATE do not have to be the
focal point(s) of the story, but they should
be so important that the story would
not make sense without them.
When the epic church bell rang, it flew out of the belfry and landed in the street, causing the ground to shake and a nearby bridge to collapse, completely disconnecting two small towns and causing the main part of the story to take place. That might be the only time the BELL existed in the story, but if you took the bell out, the rest of the story wouldn't work. DOOR would have to be just as vital, even if it's not what the story is about.
2nd Place - $75
3rd Place - $50
Up to two Judges' Choice
Up to three Honorable Mention
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E-mail submissions will be
accepted from July 1, 2024 until
11:59 PM (CDT) on August 31st, 2024.
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$10.00 USD; multiple entries allowed.
-- SPECIAL --
Two for the price of one, per author.
To qualify, both stories must be submitted in same email.
No quantity limit for special rate.
Entry Fee must be paid from contest website.
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Winners will be announced and
awards/certificates will be mailed
on or before December 5th, 2024.
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Any subject / Any genre
(No sex, gore, or poetry.)
2000 word limit, not including title
Must be a complete story. (Beginning, middle, end.)
All entries must be UNPUBLISHED* as of submission deadline.
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No identifying author information
allowed on the story pages.
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Entries should be written in American English.
Font: size 12, easy to read, use curly quotes.
Double-spaced.
One inch margins.
No special "front page only" formatting is required.
Top right of every page: Title / page #
EXAMPLE: The Last Tadpole / 1
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Each story should have a separate cover
page with the following information:
Complete Mailing Address
Phone Number
Email Address
Cash Award Preference
(USPS Money Order or PayPal)
PayPal address
(if preferred for Cash Award, or if winner is outside USA)
Story Title
Fiction / Nonfiction
# of words in story
First full line of story
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Story Checks
Not published in a book, ebook, audio, website, mass email, or other format that is publicly shared, including online. (This does not include items shared for critique in private writing groups. In fact, we encourage critique before submission.)
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Email lsswc@jespiddlin.com
or reneelaviness@jespiddlin.net
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