The BFS Short Story Competition 2012back to homepage
Information prepared on Tuesday 21 February 2012 by Allen Ashley
The BFS short story competition 2012 is now open to entries. Anyone can enter, regardless of how many times they have been previously published. The competition is open to entries from 1 March 2012 to 30 June 2012. This year’s judge is award winning editor and BFS stalwart Allen Ashley.
Prizes
1st prize: £100, a year’s membership of the BFS, and publication in the BFS Journal.
2nd prize: £50, a year’s membership of the BFS, and publication in the BFS Journal.
3rd prize:£20
Schedule
Open to entries from 1 March 2012 to 30 June 2012
No entries will be accepted outside these dates.
Allen Ashley is the sole judge of this year’s competition and will read every entry all the way through.
The winners will be announced at the British Fantasy Awards ceremony in September.
Rules
Any kind of fantastical story is welcome. For example: fantasy, science fiction, horror, supernatural, fabulation, magic realism, slipstream, etc, or indeed any combination of those genres.
The competition is open to both members and non-members of the society, but non-members must pay a £5 entry fee.
Stories must not exceed 5,000 words and must be previously unpublished. This means they must not have been published in books, magazines, on websites or have been broadcast on TV, radio, etc.
Multiple entries are welcome, but only one free entry per BFS member
Unlike some other competitions, this one is not being judged anonymously. Therefore, please put your name on your manuscript.
The decision of the judge Allen Ashley will be final.
No correspondence will be entered into regarding the judge’s decision.
Formatting the Stories
Documents should be formatted as follows:
Double-spaced text
Left and right hand margins of at least 2cm
12pt font
First line of paragraphs indented
Pages numbered, but no other text in the footer or header
Section breaks should be indicated by a single hash mark (#) or asterisk (*)
Please put title and author name in the header for each page
Failure to submit manuscripts in this manner may lead to disqualification. Stories that exceed 5000 words will not be read but you may still be charged.
Entering the Competition
Entries should be submitted by email.
Head your email “BFS Short Story Competition”
Attach your story as an rtf file
In the body of the email give your name, title of the story, the word count and details of membership/payment
Format the document according to the guidelines given above.
Send to: shortstorycomp@britishfantasysociety.org
Or by cheque, payable to “The British Fantasy Society”.
Send an email to Allen Ashley on shortstorycomp@britishfantasysociety.org for the address of where to send your cheque.
Email entries are preferred but if you wish to submit your story on paper, please email Allen Ashley on shortstorycomp@britishfantasysociety.org for the address of where to send your submission.