Many thanks to all who submitted stories to this year's Book a Break short story competition. The number of submissions is considerably lower than previous years - just 41 this time. Perhaps the theme - nourishment - didn't provide much food for inspiration, but I look forward to reading some tasty stories packed with plenty of protein.
Is this low number of entries a problem? As far as the competition is concerned, not at all. And as indicated in the guidelines, the name of the winner will be announced here on this blog on March 11th.
For the anthology, though, it could well be a problem, since a certain number of quality stories are needed to put together a volume. Given the 2000 word maximum for the stories (and many are shorter than that), I would say a minimum of 25 would be needed. Depending on how many stories make the cut, it might be possible to extend the submission period for the anthology (not the competition) till we get enough. But we'll take a rain check on that. For the moment I'll be tucking in to the stories already received. Many thanks to all - stay tuned!
Dang, so sorry I missed this, Curtis. I’m not getting individual notifications from your blog anymore (I guess; not sure why, as I didn’t unsubscribe or anything), just an occasional newsletter. Nonetheless, hope you got some great entries among the 41. (And loved hearing you read the biography of Curtis about the pram in the garden!)
Hi Leigh – many thanks for the message. Since going self-hosted, the blog doesn’t feature in the reader any more, so it’s gone very confidential. No worries about the anthology. If you’re up for another, here’s a link to consider: https://writercoop.wordpress.com/the-co-op-anthology-submission-guidelines/
Cool. I’ll boost the signal to other people who I think might be interested. A couple questions, tho: do you accept multiple subs and do you accept simultaneous subs? Thanks so much, Curtis. Take care!
Good questions – yes, why not? For the simultaneous, we’d just need to be informed straightaway if it was accepted elsewhere.
P.S. Curtis, I read your latest newsletter. Here’s a coinkydink: my master’s thesis is on Eliot’s Four Quartets. For an agnostic, I am (abnormally?) fond of the quartets, which has some magnificent lines; I focused on the “intolerable wrestle with words and meanings” in my paper. Anyway, catching up on all your several posts I missed.
Yes, there’s plenty in the Quartets whatever one’s spiritual stance. And the wrestling with words is of course central to any writing endeavour. You probably gathered from the letter that I’m not big on hymns, church pews and the rest. Just a good poem suits me fine!
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