Garden State Speculative Fiction Writers
presents
From the Depths of Jersey:
22nd
Annual Short Story Contest
Theme: What if the jersey devil
still lurks in the bogs of the Pine Barrens? What if the ghost of Jimmy Hoffa roams
the marshes of the Meadowlands? What if the souls of the deceased wander the
air station where the Hindenburg went down? What if Snooki was human? What really happens on Clinton Road?
This year’s stories must feature a product, person, or place from New
Jersey. You may want to take an existing myth or legend from New Jersey and make
it your own. Or take a historical event from NJ, and give it a fresh
alt-ending. All that we ask is that your story be speculative in nature,
meaning it must contain an element of horror, fantasy, science fiction, or any
combination thereof.
Submission
Period: The contest closes at 11:59pm
Eastern Standard Time on Sunday October 23,
2016.
Eligibility
and Prizes: The contest is open to everyone. All entries will be judged
by Neil Morris, GSSW Contest Coordinator, and Frederick Doot, Managing Editor
of Fantasy Scroll Magazine. The top
three stories will move on to our final round, judged by Iulian Ionescu,
Editor-in-Chief of Fantasy Scroll Magazine.
The 1st Place
story will be published in a future issue of Fantasy Scroll Magazine, as per editor’s timeline and discretion,
and the author will receive the Graversen Award ($75), in honor of the GSSW’s
founder, Patricia Graversen. The 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive
$40 and $25, respectively. There is NO ENTRY FEE. Multiple submissions
are NOT allowed. Current members of the GSSW will receive a critique by Neil
Morris, Contest Coordinator.
Format: Stories
must be original and unpublished. Manuscripts must be double spaced and
no more than 5,000 words in length (firm). Judging is blind, so please remove identifying information from the
manuscript, including all headers and footers. Only the title should
precede the text on the first page of the manuscript. Failure to meet
these conditions will result in automatic disqualification.
Where
to Submit: Electronic submissions ONLY. Email manuscripts as an
attachment in .rtf file format to GSSWcontest@gmail.com. Include
contact information (name, mailing address, phone number, email address) in the
body of the email and note the story title in the subject line.
Contest results
will be announced at the GSSW’s meeting on November 5, 2016 at the public
library in Old Bridge, NJ. All entrants are invited to attend. Prize
money will be issued in the form of a check payable to winner. Winners
unable to attend the meeting will receive their prizes by mail. All
contestants will be notified of the results via email and receive critiques no
more than 30 days after the public announcement.
