Queer Sci Fi’s Second Annual Flash Fiction Contest

Hi all,

We have some big news today. We’re launching the second annual flash fiction contest on QueerSciFi.com. Last year’s contest was a great success, with some fantastic entries and a great winning story.

This year promises to be even better, and we’re adding a second contest as well.

Flash Fiction Contest

We are partnering with Mischief Corner Books to create an eBook with all the entries that we will then sell on the site and at Rainbow Con to help fund the growth of the QueerSciFi empire. :)

There will be cash prizes for the top three entries, along with a copy of the eBook for everyone who enters. We’ve selected a panel of four judges – myself, Angel, Beth, and Cari Zee (last year’s winner).

The theme last year was “endings”. The theme this year is equally broad: “discovery”. It can be a personal discovery, discovery of a new world, discovery of a betrayal, whatever strikes your fancy.

Here are the ground rules:

• The story must be no longer than 300 words long, not including the title/byline. Longer entries will be rejected.
• The story must somehow embrace the theme of “discovery”.
• The story can be with or without an LGBT romance, HEA not required, but must have LGBT characters or content.
• The story should be speculative fiction – all flavors of sci fi, fantasy, paranormal or horror accepted.
• The winners will be chosen by a panel of four judges.
• Whether a submitted story meets all the qualifications is at the discretion of the judges.
• One entry per person.
• Entries are due by midnight PST on 6/1/15.
• Entries should be sent in word, in standard format (Times New Roman, double spaced would be great – other than that, we’re not too picky), to scott@queerscifi.com, with the email subject line “QSF FLASH FICTION CONTEST: TITLE, AUTHOR”, replacing TITLE and AUTHOR with your own.
• The top three winners will receive cash prizes of $40, $20, and $10 respectively; everyone who enters an accepted work will receive a free copy of the eBook. No royalties will be paid.
• Authors must agree to first publication rights on the blog if chosen, but after that, the author can publish the story elsewhere after 12 months.
• All accepted entries will be included in an eBook created by Dreamspinner that will then be sold on the QSF site and in other places.
• The top five stories (three winners and two honorable mentions) will also be published on the QSF blog.

So get writing!

Cover Contest

With the planned eBook this year, we’re also adding a new twist – a contest to create the perfect cover for the book.

Cover designers, we’d love to see your work – we’re looking for speculative fiction covers that embrace the theme of discovery.

Here are the ground rules:

• The cover must somehow embrace the theme of “discovery”.
• The cover should convey an LGBT sensibility
• The cover should also reflect some aspect of speculative fiction – all flavors of sci fi, fantasy, paranormal or horror accepted.
• The logo and title will be added later.
• The winners will be chosen by a panel of four judges.
• Whether a submitted cover meets all the qualifications is at the discretion of the judges.
• One entry per person.
• Entries are due by midnight PST on 6/1/15.
• The cover should be in a standard graphic format (.jpg, .png etc)
• Please include a statement that you have the rights to any images, etc used in the cover
• Cover size should be 6 x 9
• The top winners will receive cash prizes of $40, $20, and $10 respectively; everyone who enters an accepted work will receive a free copy of the eBook. No royalties will be paid.
• The winning entry will be used as the cover of an eBook created by Dreamspinner that will then be sold on the QSF site and in other places.
• The top five entries (three winners and two honorable mentions) will also be published on the QSF blog.

So get creating!

If you have any questions about this contest, you can email me at scott@queerscifi.com, or hit me up on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworth.

We want to see entries that cover the whole LQBTQI/QUILTBAG spectrum, so be creative.

We’re excited to see what you come up with!

–Scott, Angel, Beth and Cari