Is There a 2016 short story competition?

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Originally Posted by YesNo

One of the requirements was that the story should not have been published previously on Litnet so the author could not be identified. Those who did not win were removed from the thread where the entries were posted. Only the winning story remained posted in the thread. In that sense it was published by Litnet.

I assume, but do not know, that the rights to publish it elsewhere reverted to the winning author after the contest was over, but the first publication rights would have been owned by Litnet.

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The smell of decay is in the air, lad. I have seen forums die before. Finally, only a few stars twinkle now and then, and then it is dark.

Likely the owners have got her up for sale. Some new masters should be coming in, we will see what is in the wind then. Get your whips and chains out. The rumor is erotic humor. Okay, I'll bite.

I took this girl home the other night. She says, "I don't do fetishes."

"Good," I said, "I don't either. Here's an enema kit. Doll yourself up with it and I will see you in ten."

Things come and go. That is one of the reasons I doubted using Litnet as the basis for a magazine or book.

I recently subscribed to a new publication called Aleola Journal: http://aleolajournal.weebly.com/ What I liked about it was the claim that the editors want "enjoyable poetry." I haven't seen a copy yet.

okay, okay… Then why is this thread now gone to a second page?

I'll tell you why, because lots of folks, maybe back in the periphery or background of this thing have wanted to have a go at it! [Again maybe]

I was going to make some kind of crack like, "just because Ben Gunn's moved the treasure, doesn't mean we should come about, and head on back, empty-handed", kind of thing.

Good thing I not say nuttin…

I'd love to have this competition come back alive. I used to contribute a story or so to it myself every year. And I always voted. I didn't win any thing, but I got some practice by writing those stories. That is all I was looking for.

The question is: who exactly organizes the competition?
That only 18 people voted doesn´t astonish me. There are lots of inscriptions every day, but only a very small part of forum members, about 20-30 is regularly active.

It was organized by the moderators, in particular Scherezade, if I spelled that name correctly. I don't really know who owns the site, but I assume they had something to do with it.

I'd just like to add that this contest was one of the first things to motivate me to write and continued to do so. Initially the prize money was an impetus but then I did it mostly for the detailed feedback I'd get afterwards. I have been trying to contribute at least one story a year for 4-6 years now. Very sad to see it end like this without any announcements even.

Maybe we could organize a contest between ourselves, without money prize.

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Originally Posted by Danik 2016

Maybe we could organize a contest between ourselves, without money prize.

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What, turn it into something like those silly poetry contests?

The moderators here do not respond. They may have died. I have to look for another forum where there is more action instead of 99% talk about creating.

I still say if they have any contest it should be poetry, which everyone can get through. Reading a story that bores you can be too much of a chore. From unpublished amateurs you will get a lot of boring work that readers will not even finish. A poem is easy to get through.They could have a prize for poems under ten lines and one for poems over 10 lines and under 50, something like that. I am sure there would be a lot of contributions and many more votes.

I suggested a short story contest whitout prizes because presently this seems the only possibility of having a contest at all.
And I don´t agree with you that good poetry is easier to "go through" as a poem. I for my part find it easier to evaluate a short story, maybe because I am more used to fiction.

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Originally Posted by Danik 2016

I suggested a short story contest whitout prizes because presently this seems the only possibility of having a contest at all.
And I don´t agree with you that good poetry is easier to "go through" as a poem. I for my part find it easier to evaluate a short story, maybe because I am more used to fiction.

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Why would the administrators ever pay again if prizeless story contests became popular?

Of course I would prefer, as everyone would, a contest with prizes. By the way, who got the prize last year as the 3 final short stories got the same number of votes?

A good example of a forum where the owners publish writing is Eratosphere: http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/ I am a member, but I haven't been back there posting in many years although I occasionally offer submissions to their contests. It is up to the owners of this site how they will develop it.

The other thing for writers to consider is that they should have an author's platform. This is often their blog. I don't think Litnet is a good place to host that blog because I don't think it is easy to make that blog independent of Litnet. One would need to go to Google or Wordpress or some other hosting service. Then one needs to attract traffic to the blog. One way of doing that is by entering challenges with other bloggers. They are similar to the poetry contests here except they promote all of the blogs participating in the challenge. Those challenges also give you something to blog about.

What I find most useful about Litnet is the chat feature.

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Originally Posted by Danik 2016

Of course I would prefer, as everyone would, a contest with prizes. By the way, who got the prize last year as the 3 final short stories got the same number of votes?

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My story 'Happy Endings' was one of the 3 stories tied with the others. I can say for myself that at least I did not get the prize money. There hasnt been even any kind of announcement if all 3 were declared winners. That is particularly disheartening to me. I have been participating in this contest for years now and the one time I (kind of) win, there isn't even an acknowledgement about it, let alone getting the prize money.

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Originally Posted by Nikhar

My story 'Happy Endings' was one of the 3 stories tied with the others. I can say for myself that at least I did not get the prize money. There hasnt been even any kind of announcement if all 3 were declared winners. That is particularly disheartening to me. I have been participating in this contest for years now and the one time I (kind of) win, there isn't even an acknowledgement about it, let alone getting the prize money.

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You and the other two "winners" may have to go to sudden death play, as in a 500 word flash fiction runoff.

The silence of the admin has us all baffled at the moment. They may want to roll that $300 over into the next contest, making the prize $600 for the upcoming grand event, capping it right there to discourage skullduggery.