FenCon X - Short Story Contest

The winners of our 2013 short story contest were announced at FenCon X, here on the FenCon website, in social media, and in the FenCon X Program Book.

First Place: "Orbital Decay" by Michael Fair of Cedar Park, Texas
Second Place: "Teeth" by Mark Carroll of Austin, Texas
Third Place: "Recoleta" by Ash Robbins of Aubrey, Texas

FenCon and the Dallas Future Society are proud to announce the return of the FenCon Short Story Contest for an ninth year. We're once again looking for a science fiction or fantasy story on any topic. The only limits are your imagination, a maximum 5000 word count, and the short list of rules below.

The first entry is free for members of FenCon and the Dallas Future Society and just $10 for non-members. Final judging is being conducted by top industry professionals and the winner will be published in the FenCon X Program Book!

PDF problems? Save the entry form to your local hard drive by right-clicking on this link and choosing "Save Link As".

Prizes:

The first place winner will be awarded $50, a certificate, a FenCon 2014 membership, and their winning short story will be printed in the FenCon X program book.
The first two runners-up will each be awarded $25, a certificate, a FenCon 2014 membership, and their stories may be printed (space permitting) in the FenCon X program book.
The other runners-up may receive acknowledgment in the program book, space permitting.
No person may win more than one prize in this contest.

Rules and Regulations:

Entries must be either science fiction or fantasy, less than 5,000 words long, and the original work of the person submitting them.
Entries must conform to the Contest Submission Guidelines and General Manuscript Submission Guidelines detailed below.
Any entry that does not conform to these rules may not be entered into the contest, may not be returned, and may not be acknowledged.
Members of FenCon or the Dallas Future Society may submit one story at no charge. The entry fee for non-members or additional stories by members is $10 per submission.
Applicable contest fees may be paid through PayPal or by check sent to:
      FenCon Short Story Contest
      PO Box 701448
      Dallas, TX 75370-1448
The maximum number of stories any one person may submit is three.
This contest is open to all amateur writers, defined as anyone who has not sold a story of any length (from short-short to novel) to a professional publication before July 30, 2013.

Sale of poetry or non-fiction does not count. "Sold to a professional publication" means being paid at least 3 cents per word. Electronic publications meeting these criteria count. However, some electronic publication involves no promise to pay any definite amount by any definite time; this does not count as a professional sale for the purposes of this contest.
No person may win more than one prize in this contest, regardless of the number of entries.
Persons who have won first prize in any previous year of this contest are ineligible. Persons who have won other prizes but whose stories have not been published in our souvenir program book remain eligible. Once you've been published in our book, it's time to move on to paying markets then fame, glory, debauchery, and rehab.
Entries and fees must have been received no later than August 1, 2013.
FenCon may, at its own discretion, keep archival copies of contest manuscripts, but all other copies may be destroyed. For your own protection, keep a copy of your manuscript. No manuscripts will be returned. All rights will remain with the authors.
The results of the contest will be announced during FenCon X to be held in or around Dallas, Texas, on October 4-6, 2013.
Complete contest results will be available during the convention.
In all cases, the decisions of the judges are final.

Contest Submission Guidelines:

A digital copy of each contest submission story must be submitted in RTF (Rich Text Format) in a separate email, with its own completed official Entry Form.
The official Entry Form (available here) serves as a cover sheet for your story. It must contain your STORY TITLE, NAME, and CONTACT INFORMATION (including phone number, e-mail address, and mailing address). You can't win if we don't know who you are.
On each page of your story, include only the PAGE NUMBER and your STORY TITLE, not your name or other contact information, as described in the guidelines below.
These special contest procedures allow the contest administrators to anonymously circulate your story without the cover page to the judges, to avoid any appearance of bias (in case your name is known to them). Only the contest administrator will have the entry forms with your name and contact information until judging is completed.
Submissions not meeting proper manuscript format as described below may not be included in the contest.
You must not submit the same work of fiction to both the short story contest and to the writer's workshop. Any such entries may be disqualified.
No "fanfic" or shared-worlds fiction. All work submitted must be the original work of the submitting author.
E-mail any questions or comments to storycontest@fencon.org.

General Manuscript Submission Guidelines:

This is a typical proper manuscript format that you, as a writer, should use to submit your work to a publisher and must follow to submit to this contest:

Begin your submission, and all subsequent chapters, approximately 1/3 down the page.
In the top left corner of every page, put only the title of your story. (In a normal professional submission, you would include your title and last name, as in "I, ROWBOAT/Doctorow", but for the purposes of this contest, you must use only your story title.)
Put the page number in the top right hand corner of every page.
Double space your text. Indent paragraphs by .5".
Margins should be at least 1" all around.
You can italicize and/or bold text, when applicable, or underline it. Both styles of indicating emphasis are acceptable.
Use plain fonts. Preferred are Courier and Times (or Times New Roman).
Use 10 point type for Courier, 12 point type for Times.
Plain black text. No colored inks.
Illustrations are not permitted. Text only, please.

These general standards may vary a bit from publisher to publisher and editor to editor but remain substantially the same. They have evolved over many years, and there's a good reason for them. Editors need room to make comments and proofreading marks (hence, the double-spacing). Editors also need to retain use of their eyes (hence, the prohibition of difficult-to-read fonts, small type, and so on). Use proper manuscript format for all of your professional submissions (and, of course, this contest). Good luck!

PDF documents require the Acrobat reader available from Adobe. Click here to download this free utility.

The extended contest entry deadline was August 1, 2013.

2012 FenCon Short Story Contest Winners

The winners of our 2012 short story contest were announced at FenCon IX, here on the FenCon website, in social media, and in the FenCon IX Program Book.

First Place: "Fifty-Two Bicycles" by Victor Manuel of Plano, Texas
Second Place: "The Vessel" by Ash Robbins of Aubrey, Texas
Third Place: "Deputy Dillo Does the 'Do" by Lynda Manning-Schwartz of Pflugerville, Texas

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail Fran at storycontest@fencon.org.

Last updated 04 October 2013

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FenCon is a production of the Dallas Future Society, a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to the advancement of science, literature, and music for the future of all mankind. This material is published by the Dallas Future Society in furtherance of its literary and educational purposes. The opinions expressed are those of the editors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Dallas Future Society, its officers, or directors.
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