This was in my inbox today – do you have a story you could enter?

The deadline for the fifteenth annual Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Contest is Monday, October 3. Enter now at www.all-story.com/contests.cgi. 

GUEST JUDGE:
National Book Award-finalist Jim Shepard will award the prizes.

PRIZES:
First prize is $1,000; second prize $500; and third prize $250.

LITERARY AGENCIES:
The three prizewinners and seven honorable mentions will be considered for representation by William Morris Endeavor, ICM, Regal Literary, the Elaine Markson Literary Agency, Inkwell Management, Sterling Lord Literistic, Aitken Alexander Associates, Barer Literary, the Gernert Company, and the Georges Borchardt Literary Agency.

DATES:
All entries must be complete by October 3, 2011. Results will be announced at the website December 15, 2011, and in the Spring 2012 issue of Zoetrope: All-Story; and the winning story will be published as a special online supplement to that Spring 2012 issue.

Complete contest guidelines are available at the website. Please read them before submitting.

Please e-mail us at contests@all-story.com with further questions. We look forward to reading your work.

Best of luck,
The editors at Zoetrope: All-Story

I saw this and wondered if it might be a good venue for some of you writing stories between 5,000-30,000 words long.  It certainly opens up complicated questions about eBooks and publishing, but at least take a look: here  Perhaps you’ve got nothing of that length yet – if not, then try writing something with that type of word-count, just for fun.

I’m teaching a workshop tonight on Getting Your Writing Published and I wanted to share a little bit of what we’re going to cover.

It’s always going to be hard to find the perfect home for your work, but there are some things you can do to help improve your chances.

1- Do your homework – my editor suggests this, and goes on to say, Be very sure of what the company publishes.  Lots of writers send out to publishers who would never be a good fit, or to publishers who aren’t even considering new work.  A little research can save you a lot of heartbreak.

2- Make sure the text is perfect.  Rewriting, re-reading, rewriting again…  The better your words on the page, the better your chances.  And you only get one chance to impress that editor.

3- Don’t make the mistake of sending out a substandard cover letter or half-hearted synopsis.  And be careful with your email to any agent or publisher – spelling mistakes and sloppy grammar can leave a lingering bad impression.