I love short stories.
Science fiction, horror, fantasy, bizarro — the genre itself makes almost no difference. I pretty much enjoy it all. Don’t get me wrong – novels are awesome, too. But I take a special delight in the intensity delivered by a well-written speculative fiction shorty.
That’s the primary reason I’m running the How To Eat Fried Furries/Mo*Con VI short story contest. I want to get my feet wet as an editor, and self-financing my own “star search” for a talented short story writer seems like a decent enough way to get started. Actually, “star search” makes it sound like I’m looking for novice talent only, but I’m open to submissions from everyone. What really matters, to me, is the quality of the story. I want to discover an exquisitely crafted piece of fiction to show off to the world. I want to discover the kind of short story I’m jealous I didn’t write myself.
Because I’m looking for such high quality work, the prize money is a pro-rate pay check (for fiction up to 2,000 words; therefore the maximum prize is $100). I’m a big fan of writers getting paid. Not “token” payment. Real payment. Something you can buy groceries with. In addition, the winning story will be published both here and at the official Mo*Con website.
Now, admittedly, there was another motive, too. I was looking for a unique way to promote my first book, How To Eat Fried Furries. I wanted a promotion that didn’t sound like it was cooked up by a couple of “Morning Zoo” radio DJs. Hopefully, I’ve succeeded. Only time will tell.
To date, I’ve gotten only a handful of submissions. While I’m happy to have gotten those submissions, I really want a big pool of fiction to choose from. And while I welcome submissions from within the bizarro community, I also want submissions outside of the bizarro community, too. Horror, SF, fantasy writers — I’m looking at you. Send me your stories.
The deadline is April 15th, people. The winners will be announced during Mo*Con VI (May 20th-May 22nd, in Indianapolis). The rules are here at the linkety-link. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Take this one.
