all competitions

Our competition is simple but competative, and takes place quarterly. Winners and runners-up will be published once a year in our literary anthology, Colonnade. Here's the deal:

* The Colonnade fiction writing competitions invite fiction authors from any genre to submit their best previously unpublished work to compete for a place in our yearly anthology, Colonnade. Any genre of fiction is acceptable, so long as it's fiction. The result is a nationally distributed collection of the best stories of the year by authors who have the ability to stand out from amongst a diverse pack.
* The deadlines for each quarter are March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December 31st. Each quarter's submissions will be judged as an independent group. The one winner and two runners-up from each of the four quarterly groups will be announced on these dates: April 15th, July 15th, October 15th, and January 15th. Quarterly first place winers will receive a $100 cash prize. The runners-up and the winners will each be eligible for publication in that year's issue of Colonnade, the publisher's yearly anthology.
* Out of these twelve best stories of the year one story will be chosen as the Colonnade Story of the Year will be awarded $500 in cash and two complimentary copies of Colonnade.
* Keep reading for submission instructions...

The submission guidelines:

* Entry fee: $12 per entry (make checks and money orders payable to CJM Books, or use the PayPal button below for all major plastic cards)
* Each story must be:
o Fiction
o Typed on 8.5" x 11" paper (hard or electronic) using Microsoft Word (or compatible), with 1.25" margins, double-spaced, 12 point font size, and Times New Roman font
o No more than 10,000 words, and previously unpublished. (Authors keep all rights to their work, and are offered one-time, non-exclusive publication in Colonnade.)
* At the end of each quarter we'll pick a winner and two runners-up for publication and yearly reward eligibility. So if you miss a deadline, take your time and send us your best the following quarter!
* Each story will be judged objectively in each of the following categories:
o Character development
o Story structure and plot
o Grammar, punctuation, and spelling
o Style, voice, and form
o Reader impact (the only subjective category, to offset cross-genre nature of competition)
* You may submit more than one story, however each author is only allowed one story as a winner per year. So go ahead and submit a bunch of stories, but once one of them wins the others become ineligible. (Hard copies will not be returned unless a SASE is included with submission.)
* Contestants must be 18 years or older and stories must be written primarily in English. Employees of CJM Books, editors of Colonnade, competitions judges, and their immediate family members are not eligible for fiction writing competitions entry.
* On a separate cover page, to prevent bias during judging, please include the following information:
o Name
o Mailing address
o Phone number
o Email address
o Brief 1-3 sentence author bio
o Word count
o Title
o Genre
o Brief 1-3 sentence overview of story
* Once we receive your submission you will be notified via email (or by phone if necessary).
* Quarterly winners and runners-up will be announced via email (or by phone if necessary) 15 days after the quarter's deadline. The year's Best Story will be announced (via email or phone) upon the release of that year's Colonnade.
* Please follow these submission guidelines carefully. Failure to do so may risk disqualification. Entering the competitions does not ensure publication in our anthology Colonnade, but by winning one quarter, or by placing second or third runner-up you will become eligible for publication. You may decline publication at any time during the contest, even after your story has won. We will not ask you to give up more than one-time non-exclusive anthology rights to your work, unless agreed upon under different terms than those listed in these contest guidelines and rules.

Mail your submission and entry fee to:

CJM Books
PO Box 565
East Rochester, NY 14445
Attn: Writing Contest

website: http://www.cjmbooks.com/writing_contest.asp