9/3/11

LDSP 2011 Christmas Short Story Contest


It's that time again! Announcing the 5th Annual LDS Publisher Christmas Short Story Contest.

I know I said this would post on Monday, but I just realized I'll be out of town then. So here we go!

And, YES, we've done five of these contests. I can't believe it.

The best stories of the first two years were compiled into a collection, Stolen Christmas and Other Stories of the Season.

I'm hoping we'll have enough great stories this year to add to those from 2009 and 2010 to produce a second collection.

Submission Rules:
  • FOLLOW rules carefully! I hate it when I have to reject a story because the submission rules were ignored.
  • Write a short Christmas story in any genre. Stories should be positive and family friendly. I reserve the right to refuse any story I deem inappropriate for this blog/book.
  • Maximum word count: 3,000; no minimum.
  • Story must be previously unpublished. Stories published anywhere other than your personal website or blog are ineligible. (That includes books, magazines, e-zines or other contests.)
  • Stories submitted for previous years' contests are also ineligible for this contest. (But may be selected for publication in the book.)
  • Paste entire story into an e-mail. NO ATTACHMENTS, please.

    —Put "Contest: Title of Story" in the subject line of your e-mail. (Example: Contest: A Christmas Gift for Mary)

    —At the top of the body of your e-mail, type your name, mailing address, phone number, e-mail address, word count and whether you are a published or unpublished author (defined below). (Example:

    LDS Publisher
    123 My Street
    My Town, ST 00000
    123)456-7890

    ldspublisher@gmail.com
    word count: 1990
    published author

    —Skip a line, then put the title of your story

    —Skip a line, then paste in your story.

  • "Published"—as in published author—is defined as someone paid you money or comp copies (in the case of magazines) for any story or book written by you. (So either a publisher paid you, or you self-published and people bought your book.)
  • If you are a published and/or agented author, check with your publisher and/or agent before submitting. They will want to know the information listed under "Book Details".
  • You may submit more than one story. Send each submission in a separate e-mail. Include all your info, as outlined above, with each e-mail/story.
  • SUBMIT your story any time between NOW and Saturday, September 24, 2011.
  • I will post the stories beginning on September 19th, in the order that they arrived. Comments will be turned off on these posts until time to vote.
  • We will have Reader Voting for the best stories, as we have done in previous contests. The winner is guaranteed a spot in the book. Voting will take place September 26–30th. I will post voting rules then.
  • You may tell your friends that you've submitted a story and to please go vote, but DO NOT tell them which story is yours. We want the stories to win on merit, not personal popularity.

PRIZE: Publication in the next LDSP Christmas Anthology
  • There will be four winners:
    Readers' Choice/Published Author
    Readers' Choice/Unpublished Author
    Editor's Choice/Published Author
    Editor's Choice/Unpublished Author

    These four winners are guaranteed a spot in the anthology.
  • As usual, I reserve the right to not award one of the Editor's Choice awards if I feel none of the stories deserve it.
  • Other stories in the anthology will include my choices from this and previous Christmas contests held on this blog, selected based on providing a variety of stories and book size.
  • Anthology will probably be published for Christmas 2012, depending on the number of quality submissions received. All authors to be included in the book will be notified before publication.

Book Details (Read Carefully):
  • By submitting a story to this contest, you are agreeing to all the conditions below.
  • Authors shall give LDS Publisher One-Time Publishing Rights for inclusion of story in the as yet untitled Christmas story compilation. This is the non-exclusive right to publish your story in this compilation, in various formats, and to retain your story in the compilation until LDS Publisher takes the compilation out of print.
  • Authors shall retain all other rights and copyrights to their stories and may sell this story to any other party with a publication date after release of the compilation.
  • Compensation for use of story in this compilation shall be: one free e-book copy of the published book sent to author upon publication; author's name listed in the Table of Contents and on the first page of the story; and rights to use this compilation as a publishing credit. No royalties, advances or other monetary compensation will be given to any author. Author may not print or sell the e-book files.
  • Compensation exception: If sales of the book exceed costs to produce it, LDS Publisher shall notify authors and arrange an equal royalty split between all authors, illustrator and typesetter. Conditions and terms of royalty and payment shall be determined at that time.
  • LDS Publisher shall assume no rights to any future works by author.
  • LDS Publisher shall have full editorial rights to the stories included in the compilation, including, but not limited to, title changes, editing for space and content, design and layout of book, title of book, and book cover.
  • The compilation will be available for purchase online in both print and e-book formats at a TBA future date.
  • The compilation may or may not be made available to bookstores at discounted pricing, but in any case, no marketing will be done by LDS Publisher to guarantee placement in any bookstore.
  • Authors agree to help spread the word about the contest and the book by any or all of the following methods:

    —Word of mouth to friends and family

    —Website/blog buttons, links, posts, etc

    —Facebook, My Space, Twitter, or other networking sites or forums

Help spread the word! Post about the contest on your blog, in your forums, and e-mail all your friends.


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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Will the submissions from 2010 ever learn if they were good enough for your compilation or get the promised critique? It's hard to want to participate again when we're still all in limbo from B of M and last year's Christmas contest.

Debra Gray-Elliott said...

I sent in my story again. Last I got missed somehow, but trying again.

Shushannah said...

Is a poem eligible, please?

LDS_Publisher said...

If it is a poem that could be used as the text for a children's picture book, yes.

A regular poem, no.

There needs to be a story arc to be included in the contest.

Sher A. Hart said...

Came here through ANWA sort of, when I saw this post in the Runaway Bridal Planner sidebar. I joined ANWA a couple months ago and wish there was a linky list posted of all the ANWA blogs so I could follow them all at once. I almost missed this. Now following. If you don't recognize my name in ANWA, my pun name is parts of my real name. Hope my submission arrives intact.

AZ SMITHS said...

I just sent in my story. I didn't see a time limit so I hope 8:30 pm is still eligible. Do we get confirmation that you recieved it?