I’m pleased to announce the details of the fourth annual Apex Halloween Short Story Contest!
Contest rules in a nutshell:
Theme: Urban myths with an alien origin
Deadline: October 15th, 2009
Word Count: Maximum of 2,500 words
Submission Address: halloween@apexbookcompany.com
The prize this year is publication in Jennifer Brozek’s upcoming Apex anthology Close Encounters of the Urban Kind. First place gets publication and payment of 8 cents per word for their story (and a copy of the antho). Second place gets publication and payment of 5 cents per word for their story (and a copy of the antho). Jennifer’s anthology is invite only, so these will be the only open spots available to non-solicited manuscripts.
The Apex editing team will choose the ten to fifteen best stories and submit those to Jennifer. Jennifer will proceed to pick the winner and runner-up for publication. Her anthology can be described as “combining the dark allure of urban legends with the high stakes of alien encounters”.
Best of luck!
Related posts:
- Annual Apex Halloween Contest Information
- Halloween Contest Reminder
- Midnight Deadlines for I REMEMBER THE FUTURE and the Halloween Contest!
APEXOLOGY: Horror
Jason,
Are there any guidelines other than the nutshell rules above? Electronic manuscript format, names left off pages, etc.? Or is it just standard manuscript format, title on each page, .doc, .rtf, .txt format? (If you respond to this in comments, can you also copy my e-mail address? I’m not sure my RSS reader will pick up comment responses.)
Thanks,
Stace Johnson
Just standard manuscript format is cool.
i’d like to know about simultaneous submissions and reprints. thank you
No sim subs and no reprints.
Is this open to non-US residents?
Yes, it is open to non-US residents.
Can we submit more then one story for consideration?
Just one submission per person.
Does the submission have to be horror themed for Halloween
Candace: Yes. Sci-Horror, actually.
So, to beat the dead horse – standard submission format (name in the footer, by-line on first page, full name and address, yadda yadda) just to the Halloween address. Yes?
Dead horse is beaten.
Yes, standard format to the Halloween address. Best of luck!
I have a story in the works, but am unsure if it is suitable for the Halloween Contest. What exactly does “urban myths with an alien origin” encompass? Is it taking an existing urban myth and giving it an alien/sci-fi twist? Or, can I submit any sci-horror revolving around an urban setting, even if I invent the urban myth component?
Good question, Kenneth – I’m wondering the same thing.
We’re looking for an existing urban myth and you provide the alien origination.
So that we don’t waste your time, can you tell us what’s already been covered by the accepted stories? (The Jersey Devil, hook arm guy, etc.)
Hi. Is the maximum word count of 2,500 words a firm 2,500 (i.e. a story of 2,501 words will be rejected unread)? Just checking, only because some publications use the phrase “maximum word count” but then accept stories that are a tad bit longer. Thanks.
2500 firm.
I sent in my submission a few weeks ago I did not get a confirmation that it was received, should I resend it?
Candace, I received your entry. Unfortunately, the email account we’re using for Halloween submissions doesn’t have an auto-responder feature.
I’ve never submitted to you folks before. For the Holloween contest do you want the story sent within the body of an e-mail or as an attachment?
Using our standard formatting guidelines should be sufficient: http://www.apexbookcompany.com/submissions/
Hello. I was just curious when winners would be notified. And, if we receive no notification of receipt or rejection of our manuscript should we just assume it’s been rejected?
Thank you very much.
We hope to announce winners on Halloween (or sometime near Halloween). Rejections won’t be sent out until after the winner’s announcement.
What can we do if we sent in the wrong attachment for the submission.
I can resubmit the proper one with no problem. I just need to know if it is an issue that would affect the contest chances?
Will you be posting the number of entries received? I’m curious.
Best of luck to everyone!
Cat, I probably will.
Just resubmit. It’s no issue.
Submitted! I don’t think I’ve ever written, edited, and submitted anything so quickly. I feel like I ran a marathon. I’m just glad I found out about the contest in time — it really inspired me. Now, fingers crossed.
Question: I submitted at 9:27 PST. It didn’t even occur to me until I went to submit it that you didn’t specify any time zone when you said midnight. I certainly hope it is not strictly midnight EST or anything like that. That would be pretty horrific indeed.
Happy Halloween to all!
Frightfully, I’m awaiting the results of this contest, fearing that my ‘fangs’ of writing just weren’t pointed enough for the final round…Alas, poor chocolate bar, you’re my solace now…
Has a date been set yet for the results of the competition?
They must have gotten a lot of good stories if they are still trying to decide on a winner.
A winner has been chosen. See http://www.apexbookcompany.com/news/2009/11/announcement-apex-halloween-contest-winner-runner-up/
And yes, there were tons of great stories.