Rope and Wire 2019 Western Short Story Contest Guidelines
March 1, 2019 to March 31, 2019
Rope and Wire came
online in 2006. Since day one we've been working hard to promote the
western genre through a variety of avenues. The approach seems to be
working. Over the years, steady growth in the number of high quality
western authors and western short stories have attracted many loyal
followers.
Short stories are a great way to introduce western
genre readers to western authors they may not have heard of.
To that end, Rope and Wire
is once again holding a western short story competition.
The competition creates an opportunity for the top five winning authors to have their
work promoted by Rope and Wire and helps western genre authors gain
some valuable name recognition.
The competition is open
to both novice and established authors.
How it works: For each $15 dollar submission, the prize amount jumps $10, $3 and $1 respectively. One dollar of each submission goes to cover contest administrative costs. There is the potential of some rather large prizes. First place winner is guaranteed a minimum of $100. First place prize will begin growing after the first ten entries.
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OFFICIAL
RULES AND GUIDELINES
Writers
of Traditional Western Fiction are encouraged to enter the 2019 Rope and Wire
Short Story Competition. Rope and Wire enthusiastically supports the
efforts and talents of those who write western fiction.
1. The
competition is open to manuscripts of between 2,500 and 4,000 words.
(Word count does not include title of entry.) Entries outside the
word limitation will be disregarded. No refunds will be issued for
disqualified entries for any reason. A
submission link is provided at the bottom of this page.
2.
The entry fee is $15.
Each
author may submit one entry only.
Make it your best.
All
payments are to be made to scott@ropeandwire.com via PayPal before entries
are submitted. A
payment link is provided at the bottom of this page.
If
you do not have a PayPal account, a link to set up an account is
provided at the bottom of this page.
Include your full name and PayPal Transaction number in the email title.
You
will receive a confirmation email from Rope and Wire when your entry
fee is received.
3.
All
entries must be Traditional Western Fiction in English, original, unpublished, and not submitted
or accepted elsewhere from the time of submission to the conclusion
of this contest.
All entries must be double spaced, Microsoft Word documents saved in the RTF (rich text format.)
Authors
will retain the rights to their entries, although Rope and Wire
reserves one-time publication rights to the 1st through 5th place
winning entries, to be published in a special section on the Rope and
Wire website.
4. In the body of your email, place the
title of the piece, the author's (your) name, word count, e-mail
address and mailing address.
The
attached story itself should show the title only. (no authors
name)
5. Entries must be submitted by midnight pst Sunday
March 31, 2019
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Send your entries as an attachment to this email address:
ropeandwirecontest@gmail.com
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Entries must be sent as an attachment. DO NOT include your story in the body of the email.
6.
Winners will be notified on or before midnight pst Wednesday, May 15,
2019. If you have not been contacted by this date, you may assume
that your entry is not a finalist and you are free to market your
story elsewhere.
7. Rope and Wire will not notify you of your
story's status unless you are one of the winning entries. We will not
respond to inquires.
8. The winning entries will be posted
onto the Rope and Wire website no later than midnight pst Friday May
31, 2019.
9. Rope and Wire management and contest judges are
not permitted to enter the competition.
10. The first round of
judging will be by two published authors. Each judge will receive a
copy, of each submission. (Which is why you want to include your name
in the body of your email and not on the attached story.)
After the close of the competition, These two judges will each submit five recommendations to Rope and Wire.
These
recommendations will then be forwarded to a third judge, also a
published author, who will make the final decision on the top five
winners. (The identity of these three judges will not be known to
each other)
Entries
will be judged on grammar, plot, story structure, characters, style
and tone.
Prize
Money
Guaranteed
minimum $100 first place prize.
Prize
money will be paid out in U.S. dollars via PayPal and will be divided
as follows:
1st
place- Guaranteed $100 plus $10 of each entry fee after the first ten
entries and a certificate.
1st place example: 1-10 entries equals
a guaranteed $100 top prize. With each entry after the first ten,
another $10 will be added to the top prize.
2nd place- $3 of each entry fee and a certificate.
3rd place- $1 of each entry fee and a certificate.
4th
place- Honorable Mention Certificate
5th place- Honorable Mention
Certificate
We comply with the Council of Literary
Magazines and Presses (CLMP) Code of Ethics.
Contest
Code of Ethics
CLMP’s
community of independent literary publishers believe that ethical
contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by
publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of
guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an
ethical contest. To that end, we agree (1) to conduct our contests as
ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the
part of our readers, judges, or editors; (2) to provide clear and
specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all
parties involved; and (3) to make the mechanics of our selection
process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different
contest models produce different results, but that each model can be
run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity
and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our
contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.
Timeline:
Contest entries accepted starting March 1, 2019
Contest closes March 31, 2019
Preliminary judges to send their top five picks to Rope and Wire by April 15, 2019
Final judge to send top five winners to Rope and Wire by April 30, 2019
Winners notified by May 15, 2019
Winning entries posted on the Rope and Wire website by May 31, 2019
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This link HERE>>will take you to PayPal. Send your $15 fee to: scott@ropeandwire.com
The above link will also allow you to set up a PayPal account if you don't already have one.
Thank you for your participation and Good Luck.
