Flashquake micro contest

Less Is More: A Celebration of Micro-Flash

We invite you to enter flashquake's new contest featuring some of the shortest forms of flash literature.

Our Less Is More contest will open on January 1. We're accepting entries for micro-fiction of 100 words or less and mini-poems called "Fibs." And to acknowledge flashquake's long commitment to the visual arts, we'll showcase "micro" photographs taken with cell phone or PDA cameras.

Entries will be accepted until midnight on January 31, and we'll announce winners on February 20, for publication in the Spring issue of flashquake. There is no entry fee.

We'll have ten winners in each of the writing categories. The first-prize winner in each category will receive $75, the second-prize winner will receive $50, the third-prize winner will receive $25 and seven honorable mentions will be awarded $10 each. In addition, we'll award $10 each for the ten best photographs we receive.

Subjects in all categories can be light and humorous, dark and gloomy, or anything in between. The "micro" forms often lend themselves to topical subjects.

Entries in the fiction category must be complete stories with all the main elements of storytelling: clear characters, conflict and setting. A satisfying ending is a must.

In the poetry category, we'll have some fun and try something new. "Fibs" are six-line poems originated by Gregory K. Pincus at GottaBook (http://gottabook.blogspot.com), based on the mathematical Fibonacci sequence featured in The Da Vinci Code.

The first line of a Fib is one syllable and each line after that combines the total syllables of the previous two lines, so the six-line syllable count is 1-1-2-3-5-8. This challenging form of writing stimulates the mind as well as the muse. You can find tips and plenty of examples at GottaBook.

Please follow these entry rules carefully:

• Writers are welcome to enter any or all of the categories with up to two submissions in each. Entries will be accepted by e-mail only. All entries must be unpublished work.

• Send each category submission in a separate e-mail to microflash@flashquake.org. In the subject line, put "Contest entry - (Category):Your Name." If you submit two in any category they can be put in the same e-mail, but don't mix categories; send separate e-mails if you enter more than one category.

• Prepare your fiction and poetry entries as PLAIN TEXT and paste them into an e-mail message. You can indicate bold by enclosing text in asterisks, italics by enclosing text with underscores. Entries submitted as attachments will be deleted, unopened.

• For photo entries, include a brief description of the picture in the body of the e-mail and attach the photo as a .jpg file. The photo must be submitted exactly as it came off the cell phone or PDA camera. No Photoshopping. And on your honor: No doctoring SLR photos to make them look like they came from a cell phone. Is it really worth being banished to artistic hell for ten bucks?

• At the top of your e-mail message, provide the following personal information:

  • Name
  • Land Mail Address
  • E-mail Address
  • Brief biography (no more than 100 words, written in the third person)

• Proofread your work carefully and submit your entry only once. Corrections received after the original submission will not be considered.

• Entries must be received by midnight on January 31 EST. Those time-stamped later will not be considered.

• Each entry must have a title with a limit of seven words for fiction and and three words for poetry. Titles will not be included in the word-count. Use them wisely to throw extra light on your story or poem.

• Fiction entries must keep within the 100-word limit or they will be disqualified. Contractions count as one word, as do abbreviations, initials, acronyms and numbers, whether spelled out (ten) or written as numerals (10). Each word in a hyphenated string of two or more words will be counted separately. Punctuation marks do not count as words.

• In poetry entries, syllable counts must conform exactly to the Fibonacci sequence.

• By entering the contest, you agree, if your entry is selected, to allow us to publish your story online, record your story in spoken word, include it on a CD for distribution to the winners, and possible use in a future anthology for sale.

Thank you for your interest in and support for flashquake.