Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Hint Fiction Anthology Open Submissions

Robert Swartwood asked me to pass this along, which i'm doing because I like the guy, like the concept, and like my blog readers, many of whom need to submit to this collection.

I am not the editor, so don't direct any questions to me. Visit Rob.

hint fiction (n) : a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story

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Anthology Guidelines

Tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2010, W.W. Norton will publish an anthology of Hint Fiction. What is Hint Fiction? It’s a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story. The thesis of the anthology is to prove that a story 25 words or less can have as much impact as a story 2,500 words or longer. The anthology will include between 100 and 150 stories. We want your best work.

It’s possible to write a complete story in 25 words or less — a beginning, middle, end — but that’s not Hint Fiction.

The very best Hint Fiction stories can be read many different ways.

We want stories we can read again and again and never tire of. Stories that don’t pull any punches. Stories that make us think, that evoke some kind of emotional response.

Take a look at the winners and honorable mentions of the Hint Fiction Contest for examples.

Payment is $25 per story for World and Audio rights.

Reprints? Sure, but unless you’re one hundred percent confident in the reprint, why not try to write an original piece?

For formatting purposes, you must include a title (which actually works in your benefit, as the title helps give a better “hint” of the overall story).

Writers can only submit up to two stories, both embedded in the same e-mail. Don’t worry about a cover letter. We don’t care where you’ve been published or what graduate program you’ve attended — all author identification will be stripped by a third party so we will only see the stories and nothing but the stories.

To make everyone’s lives easier, embed the stories like this:

TITLE

Story.

TITLE

Story.

Your name.

Submissions will open August 1 and close at midnight Eastern time August 31. Submit only to this address:

hint.fiction@gmail.com

(An auto responder has been set up so you can get immediate confirmation that your submission has been received. On the off-chance you do not receive an automated response within an hour, submit again. If on the off-off-chance you still receive nothing, e-mail me at my personal address and we’ll get it figured out.)

Please note that due to the expected volume of submissions, we will be forced to respond with form letters.

Thank you, and good luck.

***For a limited time, if you link to these guidelines on your blog or Twitter, you can submit a third story. These must be posted between July 1 and August 15. Include the link at the end of your e-mail. If you don’t include a link, the third story will be deleted unread.***

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So what are you waiting for? Write some hint fiction and send it to Rob. And to makes sure you get preferential treatment, tell him JA sent you. :)

Here are two hints that I've written, to give you kids an example of the form:

REFLECTIONS ON REFLECTIONS
Is my hair okay? I can never tell. Is that why you won't invite me in for a bite?

X-JUNKIE
The adrenaline really kicked in when Parker realized he'd forgotten to pack his parachute.

9 comments:

  1. As always, thank you, Joe!

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  2. This is great. Thank you!

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  3. Sure, I'll byte...why not? Just finished a 90,000 worder, so I oughta be able to do this. Hey, that's my story until I ruined it by remarking on it but I think it was 24 words before I started spewing forth at the mouth like I am doing now. Oh dear..,Uggh, screwed....Big Mouth that I am....

    rob

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  4. Sweet! Thanks for the heads up.

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  5. Fiona7:51 PM

    Thanks for posting this. I'm sending in mine today.

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  6. Thanks Joe,
    I entered and linked back to Robert Swartwood at my website.

    I also read some of his fiction while I was visiting his website getting the rules and looking at the examples.

    My favorite example of a short short that he listed was one of his own stories:

    He had told her it was a treat, yeah, but it was her own damned fault for assuming the gooey middle would be marshmallow.

    Hee hee hee. I see why you like the guy.


    Thanks for pointing me to the contest.
    Karen :0)

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  7. If I could write a cogent thought in 25 words or less, I would. I truly would. :-)

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  8. Shoot, now I really want to know what happens after the first- and third-place winning lines here.

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  9. I sent my subs in... :-)

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Thanks for the comment! Joe will get back to you eventually. :)