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Rope and Wire 2019 Western Short Story Contest Guidelines

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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 [email protected] 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 All entries must be Traditional Western Fiction in English, original, unpublished, and not submitted or accepted elsewhere from the time of submission to the conclusion of this contest.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:

[email protected] 

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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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Send your $15 fee to: [email protected]

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.

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