BFS Short Story Competition 2012

[CarolineC]

The BFS Short Story Competition is back!

This years’ BFS Short Story Competition will be judged by award-winning editor and BFS stalwart Allen Ashley.

Allen Ashley is an author, editor, poet, critic and writing tutor as well as a long-standing, active member of the BFS. Allen is a regular contributor to The BFS Journal and attendee at FantasyCon. Allen won the BFS award for Best Anthology in 2006 as editor of The Elastic Book Of Numbers (Elastic Press).

Allen says: “Judging a competition is something I have wanted to add to my accomplishments for a long time, so I’m really pleased to be given this opportunity. I’m sure it’s going to be a tough decision to choose the eventual winners as I know that the standard is always very high. There’s just me judging - no filtering committee or anything like that. Also, this year it’s not anonymous as that was felt to be an unnecessary complication. Word limit is 5000 words and all the usual rules apply. Submission window opens on 1 March 2012 and closes on 30 June 2012.”

Further details and full submission guidelines are here:
http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/the-bfs-short-story-competition-2012/

For enquiries please email Allen on shortstorycomp@britishfantasysociety.org

[joshua rainbird]

yippee 

[CarolineC]

Good luck, Josh - and everyone else who is entering the comp of course! 

Just a clarification following a query on the website. I understand from Allen that international entries to the competition are, of course, most welcome too. So, it doesn't matter where you live, you can still enter this competition.

[Allen]

Clarification regarding the Short Story Competition
Oh the best laid plans of mice and men!  And it looks like I’m the mouse in this scenario!  Seriously, though, I’ve just checked through the BFS Short Story Competition information pasted into the “BFS Journal Spring 2012”and it’s not 100% accurate.  Blame a lack of diligence on my part.  When I was formulating the rules, I based a lot of them on a template of Stephen Theaker’s rules from previous years.  What appears to have happened is that this early draft has gone off to the editors and been published.  So, the upshot is that the most up to date rules are those on the BFS website.  The main difference is that, after consulting with Lee, I decided that the competition will not be anonymous.  I know that a lot of story (and especially poetry) competitions are anonymous but it was felt to be an unnecessary complication as there is only me doing all the judging and the admin.
So, to reiterate – follow the rules at the website.  If you have any queries, email me on: shortstorycomp@britishfantasysociety.org

[CarolineC]

Whoops!

Just to reiterate, the link for the rules on the website is:
http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/the-bfs-short-story-competition-2012/

[CarolineC]

Don't forget that the BFS Short Story Competition closes this month. Allen Ashley, judge of this year’s competition, sent this message:

Now, I know that some people who enter competitions leave it till the last minute to get their entry in. I’m also sure that many of you are frantically writing and revising your entry to this year’s BFS Short Story Competition. So, this is just a gentle reminder to all you authors out there to make sure you do not miss the boat on this year’s competition. Entries close at midnight British Summer Time on Saturday 30 June 2012. Full details are available at the BFS website at this link - http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/the-bfs-short-story-competition-2012/

If you have any queries or if your manuscript is ready to go (as an attachment in Rich Text Format or MS Word 2003, NOT doc.x) you can email Allen on shortstorycomp@britishfantasysociety.org

[CarolineC]

This is a final call for submissions to the 2012 BFS Short Story Competition. Allen Ashley, judge of this year’s competition, sends this gentle reminder to anyone who has yet to enter:

Thank you to everyone who has already sent me a story for consideration. I have my work cut out reading the stories already received and have booked out most of July to do so… but there is still time to send in an entry for this year’s Short Story Competition which offers fantastic, generous prizes to the winner and two runners-up. Full details are available elsewhere on the site but, in brief, I want to see new, unpublished stories in the broad fantasy / science fiction / horror/ slipstream / fabulation genres. 5000 words strict maximum. One free entry for BFS members. £5 entry fee for non-members (or Paypal calculated equivalent for non-UK residents). Send your story as an attachment saved in Rich Text Format or Microsoft Word 2003. Not .docx format please, it upsets my computer!

The competition closes at midnight British Summer Time on Saturday 30 June 2012, so don’t delay too long in sending your story to me. If you are sending from abroad, allow for time differences.

If you have any queries or if your manuscript is ready to go, you can email me on shortstorycomp@britishfantasysociety.org

[Allen]

Update on the BFS Short Story Competition
Phew, the deadline for entries to the British Fantasy Society Short Story Competition 2012 – which I am judging – has now passed! I say “Phew” because, as I suspected, there was a very late surge in the influx of submissions. I closed at midnight on Saturday 30 June and one writer left it till 23.58 and a few seconds to email me their story. Lucky for you that there wasn’t a power outage or Internet breakdown, pal.
I’m reading every story all the way through from beginning to end, in silence. After that, I’ll be whittling them down into a “Second Reading” pile. Anything that makes it to a third reading has a decent chance of winning one of the three prizes or making my “Commended” list.
Further updates to follow.

[Allen]

Latest Update on the BFS Short Story Competition 2012
I am pleased to report that I have now read every entry thoroughly and diligently. This year’s crop has shown a very high standard and all the stories had something to recommend them. Twenty percent of the entries have now made it through to the second reading stage.
Further update to follow.

[Allen]

Latest Update on BFS Short Story Competition 2012
I am approaching the really hard part now.  Every entry had something to recommend it but, having read all the stories at least twice - often thrice or more - I have now whittled the field down to a Top 7.  Yes, I know that’s an unusual number – people usually go for a top 10 or a top 5 – but that’s how things stand.  Another round of reading and a few unfortunates will be, sadly, eliminated.
Thank you to everybody who contributed to this year’s competition.  I hope you can all stand the suspense until the Sunday of Fantasy Con!

[Peter Coleborn]

Well done!

[Allen]

Thanks for your encouragement, Peter. I appreciate it.

OK - big news - I am now down to the final five. It's getting harder and harder to separate them... but it will have to be done eventually.

[GeoffNelder]

Hard work isn't it, Allen? I'm judging the Whittaker Prize this summer. Six rounds and not only do I have to grade each but write an individual critique for the competitors. An honour, of course, but bang goes my own writing.

[Allen]

Good luck with that, Geoff. The BFS competition doesn’t offer a critique but I am making plenty of notes to guide my judgement. You’re right, of course, that judging / editing / critiquing and so forth can dissipate one’s energy and time for writing. But it’s still great to be involved in the field in all the various ways.

[Allen]

That's it! I have now chosen my top three, in order. Results will be announced at Fantasycon.