EWN Spring Rush Short Fiction Contest Guidelines

We at Extreme Writing Now are proud to announce our first ever, open to the general public, short stories competition complete with a judge (Bev Owens) and cash prizes!

The Spring Rush is all about the seasons. The submissions and contest winner announcements will travel with the transition between winter and spring, a time of rebirth and celebration; a time of casting off the dark shroud of winter and donning the warm cloak of spring. In the spirit of transition, we will be looking for submissions based on SEASONS. All four seasons are welcome, and anything remotely connected with any or all seasons will be accepted.

This is a Flash Fiction contest with submissions to be between 700 and 1000 words. We will use the definition of Flash Fiction as defined by Wikipedia:

Flash fiction differs from a vignette in that the flash-fiction might contain the classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, obstacles or complications, and resolution. However, unlike the case with a traditional short story, the limited word length often forces some of these elements to remain unwritten, that is, hinted at or implied in the written storyline. This principle, taken to the extreme, is illustrated in a possibly apocryphal story about a six-word flash reportedly penned by Ernest Hemingway: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Spring Rush Contest Details:

[stextbox id="custom" float="true" align="right" width="300"]Meet The Judge: Bev Owens writes under the pen name of BevsPaper and Grandma Bev across the internet. Her blog Native American Totems gives insight to her journey on the Sacred Path and the animal spirits that guide her each day. She reviews and suggests toys and gifts for grandchildren on her blog Gifts For Grandkids. Bev also writes about womens spirituality and the legacy of women on her blog Sisterhood – A Journey of Women. She also is a member of the Giant 100 club on Squidoo, a hubber on HubPages, and is a member of the writers community 10-Finity.[/stextbox]

Submissions will be accepted from Tuesday, Feb 1, 2011 to Midnight EST March 13, 2011 (unless the entry limit is reached before the March 13 date)
One winner and four runner ups will be announced on the April 17, 2011 broadcast of EWNN
Submissions will be limited to 100 entries. Once the entry limit of submissions is met the submissions page will be closed
There is an entry fee of $3.00 USD payable by PayPal only. There is a PayPal button located on the SUBMISSION PAGE.
No refunds for entries that do not meet the structural rules
One entry per participant
No previously published submissions allowed, even if they were published at your personal blog
Only submissions in the Flash Fiction format (see above) of a word count between 700 and 1000.
The cash prizes will be awarded from the entry pool with EWN retaining 10% administration fees
The Winner will receive 30% of the pool and each of the runners up will each reap 15% of the pool
All finalist entries will be published at EWN with the Winner being featured on the home page from April 18, 2011 to May 31, 2011
A special Easter 2011 EWNN broadcast will offer guest spots and interviews to the five finalists
Bev Owens and Alex Crabtree are prohibited from entering, otherwise all are welcome

SUBMISSION PAGE

Have Fun and good luck to all!