ScoTori Selects 2019 Balticon Short Story Writing Challenge

Things That Go Bump

We are doing an theme-based short story writing challenge for Balticon 2019, with the goal of doing one each year from here on out. The plan is that the selected top 10 short stories submitted will be released this summer in an anthology book and the top 5 will be live-read by the authors (or their designated reader) at Balticon at our Fan Favorite Contest Panel (and live-cast for our ScoTori podcast). The winners of the Fan Favorite contest get additional prizes.

The goal is to 1) have fun, 2) generate more interest in our up-and-coming writer peeps, and 3) set up the potential proceeds to support a selected charity for the year and set up the submission compensation pool for the next year.

We’ve received a ton of support for Scott’s 2018 Cancer Journey and his recovery, and this is one way we want to start giving back to our creative friends and charitable causes going forward… a win-win scenario as best as we can arrange.

There’s only four main requirements for the short story contest:

  1. The submitted short story must be between 1800 and 2200 words
  2. The submitted short story must fall into the theme “Things That Go Bump”
  3. The submitted short story must contain the following quote/sentence without alteration: “Hey, what’s that red stuff on your face?”
  4. (For this year) The submitted short story must be submitted by those who are currently intending on attending Balticon. (For future years, we are looking to opening this up to a broader audience)

Those selected will be published at minimum in both ebook and print in an anthology titled “Things That Go Bump”, with the option of being released as part of the anthology as an audiobook. The proceeds from the sale of the ebook/print book and audiobook will be split, with 50% going toward this year’s charity (American Cancer Society) and 50% going into the submission compensation pool for the 2020 Writing Challenge.

 

OFFICIAL RULES

  1. Submission Deadline: 3 May 2019, 11:59PM EST. Submit short stories to ScoTori35@gmail.com. Ensure the subject line says “2019 Balticon Writing Challenge”.
  2. Length: The short story must be an original short story between 1800 and 2200 words in length.
  3. Theme: The theme of the story (and the resulting anthology name) is “Things That Go Bump”. The short story must fall within this theme / genre.
  4. Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Westerns, Romance, Thriller, Mystery, Detective story, Dystopia, Memoir/Biography, Horror, Steam/Cyber Punk, etc. (NOTE: sorry, but we will not be accepting erotica for this writing challenge)
  5. Must Include: The short story submitted must contain the quote: “Hey, what’s that red stuff on your face?”. This is the easter egg of the contest, providing a common thread throughout the anthology.
  6. Author must be willing to allow the short story to be published by ScoTori Entertainment under a limited-exclusivity contract. This agreement means that ScoTori entertainment will publish the short story as part of an anthology titled “Things That Go Bump” (or similar) in both ebook, print book, and optionally as an audiobook, with the resulting proceeds from the sales of said anthology being used as follows: (1) 50% of profits from anthology sales to go toward the charitable donation for the 2019 writing challenge (American Cancer Society), and (2) 50% of the profits from the anthology sales to go toward the submission prizes and submission compensation for the “2020 ScoTori Selects Writing Challenge”. Each selected story will be read on the ScoTori podcast as individual episodes, read either by the author or by ScoTori. The author of the short story retains rights to publishing the short story in any future anthology or publication as they see fit.
  7. Out of the submissions provided, the top 10 (as selected by ScoTori Entertainment) will be published in the anthology by ScoTori Entertainment in ebook and print form by the end of July, and optionally in audiobook form (TBD).
  8. Out of the top 10 submissions, the top 5 (as selected by ScoTori Entertainment) will be selected for the Balticon Fan Favorite Podcast Panel, which will be live-cast on Facebook and recorded for the ScoTori podcast (and other social medial outlets). Each author (or a designated reader if they are not available) will read their submission to our live panel audience, who will then vote on the 5 submissions live. The winners of the Balticon Fan Favorite will be awarded additional prizes, as detailed below.
  9. Any questions, send us an email at ScoTori35@gmail.com, with the subject “Question-2019 Balticon Writing Challenge.

 

RESULTS

As this is the first year doing this, starting funds are a smidge low for the Writing Challenge. For future years, we expect the writing challenge to garner additional funds for submission compensations and fan-favorite winnings.

For the 2019 Writing Challenge, the selected works to be entered in the anthology will receive the following:

  1. Selectees 6 through 10 – Each of these selectees will receive $10 submission compensation and will be published in the anthology.
  2. Selectees 1 through 5 – Each of these selectees will be published in the anthology. These selectees will be entered in the Balticon Fan Favorite Challenge panel at Balticon, where the audience will vote on their favorite short story, with the results as follows:

First Place – Winner will receive a voucher for a graphic design project from Scott E. Pond Designs worth up to $250 worth of design services by Scott E. Pond. (Sorry, there is no cash equivalency for this prize.)

Second Place – Winner will receive a voucher for a graphic design project from Scott E. Pond Designs worth up to $100 worth of design services by Scott E. Pond. (Sorry, there is no cash equivalency for this prize.)

Third Place – $25 and a signed Scott E. Pond Designs poster

Forth Place – $25 and a signed Scott E. Pond Designs poster

Fifth Place – $25 and a signed Scott E. Pond Designs poster

 

NOTE

If anyone wants to donate goods for the prize pool (signed books, books, etc), contact Scott or Tori directly (ScoTori35@gmail.com) and we’ll update the prize list accordingly.