CafeDoom's Sixth Annual Writing Competition -- Rules thread

[Ed]

So, to summarise, you get 100 subs a month, chasing something like 4 or 5 slots in the magazine, which comes out every three months. That's 1200 ish submissions that have to be weeded down to 4 or 5 keepers by a process of elimination. Scary figures.

What would you say the majority get rejected for, and what makes those 4 or 5 stand out, Ken?

[Rev. Austin]

I'm on #44.  This doesn't really resemble what it is like to be an editor.  If I had to read 50 stories in two weeks I would certainly think twice about editing anthologies.  It is good fun though.  If there's a competition next year, I'll surely enter. 

I think a similar comp with flash fiction would be fun.

We get nearly 100 submissions a week at Shock Totem, sometimes more. I'd gladly take 50 every two weeks. Haha.

I stand corrected.  Damn that's a lot of stories.  My last anthology received 200 submissions in four or five months.  100 a week would melt my brain, though I would have to assume you have some slush readers.

There's five of us reading, which is great, but it's still tough on all of us, especially those with kids.

How so?  Do you get the kids to read the slush pile? wah wah wwaaahhhhhhhhh

[delboy]

That's 1200 ish submissions that have to be weeded down to 4 or 5 keepers by a process of elimination. Scary figures.

Scary indeed! In fact, that's the scariest thing I've read in a long time - CD comp entries exlcuded, of course.

Derek

[starktheground]

One more day left. My own story doesn't seem to be doing too well, so now I'm excited to see who wrote what!  This has been a fun contest regardless;  I hope to see it happen again next year. Thanks Ed!

[Rev. Austin]

Yeah thanks Ed - I've really enjoyed it this year - feel more in the psirit and all that.  Yeah psirit!  I'm full of THAT.

[delboy]

Couldn't agree more. Hats off to Ed - this competition works on so many levels. It's a huge and vakuable learning experience. Like Stark said, really looking forward to the next stage and finding out who wrote what.

Derek

[Ed]

You're welcome -- I'm glad you're all enjoying it. I've just sent off a bunch of PMs to those folks who haven't yet voted, so hopefully I won't have to disqualify anybody this year. That always makes me a little sad, especially when it's down to an oversight.

I'm still struggling to read through all the entries, but I'll get there one way or another. Jeysus, but it's been a tough week. I've got the day pretty much to myself tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get a lot done

[Rook]

It has been terrribly entertaining and informative experience!  The buildup to finding out who wrote what is exquisite!

And Ed, thanks for doing it! I hope the response puts you in the mood to do it next year, as well!  I don't think I would be the only one to miss the whole shebang!

 
 

[Charlie In The Box]

I'm getting there, I was only able to read a few a day with my day job, 2 year old, writing projects and all. I will make sure I finish and have it posted by tonight!!

[Pharosian]

It has been terrribly entertaining and informative experience!  The buildup to finding out who wrote what is exquisite!

And Ed, thanks for doing it! I hope the response puts you in the mood to do it next year, as well!  I don't think I would be the only one to miss the whole shebang!

 
 

Absolutely! I'm just glad that the third time was the charm for me, as I'd intended to enter the 4th and 5th Annual Comps but never managed to finish a story I was willing to submit. It's a lot of fun, and I'm really looking forward to doing it again next year!

Thanks for providing such a great opportunity, Ed. I for one really appreciate having a place like this to hang out with other writers who aren't teenagers and where it's possible to follow all the conversations and get to know everyone. The contest is a great way to see what other people like and don't like in the dark fiction genre.

[Rook]

Thanks for providing such a great opportunity, Ed. I for one really appreciate having a place like this to hang out with other writers who aren't teenagers and where it's possible to follow all the conversations and get to know everyone. The contest is a great way to see what other people like and don't like in the dark fiction genre.

Well put! 

[Kenwood]

So, to summarise, you get 100 subs a month, chasing something like 4 or 5 slots in the magazine, which comes out every three months. That's 1200 ish submissions that have to be weeded down to 4 or 5 keepers by a process of elimination. Scary figures.

What would you say the majority get rejected for, and what makes those 4 or 5 stand out, Ken?

Well, we have a few more than five stories per issue. Issue #1 had 9 stories and one poem, and issue #2 had eight stories. The upcoming issue (see the cover here) will have 12 stories and one poem.

But we actually get about 300 to 500 subs a month, anywhere from 50 to 100 a week. There's an average in there somewhere. But generally we go through about 1,200 submissions every four months, to get about ten pieces. Though it seems that this reading period has been a bit on the lower end. Not sure if that's because we're now known as a tough market or if writers aren't using the submissions management system we now use. I could believe the latter given the fact that so many people clearly never read our guidelines before. They probably don't know that things have changed. Haha.

Anyway, we're a tough market. There are five of us involved, and everyone has a say. I don't pull the boss card, you know. We all do this for free, and even pay into it, so we all have equal say. That means we have a majority-rules process. A story is accepted ONLY if at least three of us vote to accept it. A story is rejected after two votes, or three if one person votes to accept. We've all had stories that we loved ultimately rejected. I still remember this story called "The Work of Clocks" that was rejected. I fucking LOVED that one. It needed a little editing, but I still loved the tale. But I had to reject it. We've all been there. It sucks, but we work as a team.

So that's why a lot of stories get rejected: You have to please three of us. But the majority are just not very good. And some...man, you can't imagine how bad they are. Haha.

Am I making sense? I'm at work, been writing this reply for about an hour. I keep getting interrupted.

[notsoscarey]

eeep!  Time is winding down....

[Rev. Austin]

That's brilliant to know Kenwood - when I first started taking my writing seriously (Rev. Austin does WHAT?!) I wish I knew more stuff about the workings of publishers, be they small press, established zine or whatever.  I think it really helps if you (as in a general 'you') know how places do business as it were, so as to better understand the process.  Places like CD help, because  the folks on here really know their their onions and have various experiences to share and all the rest of it, which is something I'd like to do if I get the chance, now I know some onions  but anyway, I secretly hate you all.  Stop getting all cuddly and warm with me!  Eurgh!

[ozmosis7]

I've actually used your new sub system Ken and its great.  Some others have ones like it, but they don't seem as clean....and....perhaps the stories sometimes get forgotten and end up being there near 350 days so far...but I'm not naming names LOL.