Payback’s a bitch, right?
A little while back, a writer managed to annoy the fiction editorial staff of Spinetingler. Well, we at Spinetingler like the idea of writing therapy, and the idea of reading therapy, so we’ve decided to have a special contest.
Here’s the deal. Write us a story about revenge. About getting back at someone who deserves it. All the usual Spinetingler submission guidelines apply, except for any that differ from what I say here.
Story length: 1000-1450 words
Contest Entry Period: June 21, 2010 to July 21, 2010
In your subject line when you submit the story put: Contest/Payback
This fall – this fall…. yes… just a few months from now – we will publish the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners, as well as 3 honorable mentions.
Prize for 1st place: Publication and $25
Prize for 2nd place: Publication and $15
Prize for 3rd place: Publication and $10
Prize for honorable mentions: Publication
Normally, we stipulate that we don’t pay for stories under 1500 words, but that’s really because we don’t normally publish stories that short. (I mean, I still get writers emailing and asking if they can sent their 6679-word story to us when it’s over the limit, and people have submitted novellas to us, as well as novels. I’d be tempted to say we don’t pay for stories over 5000 words in length, except every now and again, you get one that’s 5598 words in length and it’s amazing and we’re happy to have it.)
I think it goes without saying that Itchy Feet, Solo, and any other writer on our $!@%list need not enter. But what we hope is that some of you other writing dynamos will rise to the challenge, have some fun with this, entertain the hell out of us, and help us make a great collection of stories for readers to enjoy.
And I’m sure I may have forgotten a few things… So if you have any questions, hop on the comment trail and ask away. Jack and I will do our best to get you answers asap.
I am thrilled to say we have almost a dozen entries, including some very nice reads — and some very nasty episodes of revenge.
I have a 363 word story. I believe it is worth checking out for a revenge story but as you guys say it has to be 1000 words or so. Let me know if I should bother submitting.
Shit. I wrote something, let it sit for a bit before polishing it and forgot about it. Shit shit shit.
Thanks everybody for entering, or in Calvin and Steve’s case, just wanting to. We really appreciate all your efforts, and will be reporting soon on the results. Some very entertaining stories will be published this fall in Spinetingler. We wish we could feature them all.
Who won the competition?
We’ll be announcing that when we go live with the stories.
When will you go live with the stories?
Have the winners been notified yet as I don’t see them published.
Who won?
Can’t bear it any more. I assume I haven’t won but any chance of reading the stories that have?
Three winners and three honorable mentions have been notified, although none know their exact status. Hey, we like suspense.