Friends of Merril Short Story Contest Now Open

Calling all speculative short fiction writers!

Charlotte Ashley just informed me that The Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest is now open for submissions. Here are the guidelines:

From now until February 15th, 2015 our readers will consider speculative short fiction up to 6000 words for the top prize of $500, with two honourable mentions of $50 available as well. After that, the long-listed stories will be passed to our panel of judges, who choose between them the three winners. We encourage multiple submissions, simultaneous submissions, strange submissions – well, for more information on exactly what we want from these submissions, have a look at our guidelines. 

All entries must be accompanied by $5 CDN (payable by PayPal). If you would like to enter multiple stories, each entry must be accompanied by its own entry fee. All entry fees will go toward supporting the many activities of the Friends of the Merril Collection at the Toronto Public Library, so don’t be shy! Donations to the Friends can also be made directly here. 

To enter, send your submission to fomsscontest@gmail.com, then click the button below to pay your fee. Please make sure the name of the story on your payment matches the story you have submitted to us!

Canadian Writers: Call for Submissions for Short Prose Contest

If you're a Canadian writer and you haven't yet published, this contest offered by the Writer's Union of Canada might be for you! It offers a substantial prize of $2,500. Check it out, details below:

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for the 19th Annual Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers

$2,500 PRIZE

The Writers’ Union of Canada is pleased to announce that submissions are being accepted until November 3, 2011 for the 19th Annual Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers. The winning entry will be the best Canadian work of up to 2,500 words in the English language, fiction or non-fiction, written by an unpublished author.

PRIZE $2,500 for the winning entry, and the entries of the winner and finalists will be submitted to three Canadian magazines.

JURY Writers Kevin Chong, Anne Emery, and Sylvia Fraser will serve as the jury.

ELIGIBILITY This competition is open to all Canadian citizens and landed immigrants who have not had a book published by a commercial or university press in any genre and who do not currently have a contract with a book publisher. Original and unpublished (English language) fiction or non-fiction is eligible.

HOW TO SUBMIT ENTRIES: · Entries should be typed, double-spaced, in a clear twelve-point font, and the pages numbered on 8.5 x 11 paper, not stapled. · Submissions will be accepted in hardcopy only. · Include a separate cover letter with title of story, full name, address, phone number, email address, word count, and number of pages of entry. · Please type the name of entrant and the title of entry on each numbered page. This is not a blind competition. · Make cheque or money order payable to The Writers' Union of Canada. Multiple entries can be submitted together and fees can be added and paid with one cheque or money order, $29 per entry. · Entries must be postmarked by November 3, 2011 to be eligible. ·

Mail entries to: SPC Competition, The Writers’ Union of Canada, 90 Richmond Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, ON M5C 1P1. Results will be posted at www.writersunion.ca in February 2012. Manuscripts will not be returned.

There ya go. Good luck!