Wednesday, September 7, 2016

IWSG Anthology Contest 2016

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

Our awesome co-hosts today are C. Lee McKenzie, Rachel Pattison, Elizabeth Seckman, Stephanie Faris, Lori L MacLaughlin, and Elsie Amata!

September’s question of the month - How do you find the time to write in your busy day?


Announcing the 2016 IWSG Anthology Contest!

Eligibility: Any member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is encouraged to enter – blogging or Facebook member. The story must be previously unpublished. Entry is free.

Word count: 5000-6000

Genre: Fantasy

Theme: Hero Lost. It could be about a hero turned villain, a villain's redemption, a hero's lack of confidence, a hero's lack of smarts, etc. It can be about any kind of hero including superheroes, mythological heroes, unexpected or unlikely heroes, or a whole new kind of hero. This theme has plenty of scope and we’re open to pretty much anything along these lines. No erotica, R-rated language, or graphic violence.

Deadline: November 1st 2015

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted, previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details and if you are part of the Blogging or Facebook IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

We’re excited to see the creativity and enthusiasm that’s such a part of this group put into action. So don your creative caps and start writing. And spread the word!

Our amazing judges this year:

Elizabeth S. Craig writes cozy mystery series for Penguin Random House, Midnight Ink, and independently. She curates links on Twitter as @elizabethscraig that are later shared in the free search engine WritersKB.com.

Richard Harland finished his first novel in 1993 and resigned a university lectureship to become a full-time writer. With seventeen fantasy, SF and horror novels published since, he went international with his steampunk fantasies, Worldshaker, Liberator and Song of the Slums. He has won six Aurealis Awards and the A. Bertram Chandler Award in Australia, the Tam Tam Je Bouquine Award in France. Writing Tips

Laura Maisano has an MA in Technical writing and is a Senior Editor at Anaiah Press for their YA/NA Christian Fiction. She’s excited to release her debut YA Urban Fantasy SCHISM, and she’s finishing up the sequel UNITY.

Russell C. Connor has been writing horror since the age of 5, and has been in the self-publishing industry for a decade. He has published 8 novels and 4 novellas in both paperback and eBook, including the Box Office of Terror Trilogy and "Whitney," an epic horror novel about hurricane survivors fighting a washed-ashore sea monster. He also designs books for clients and assists them with self-publishing endeavors.

Dawn Frederick is the founder of Red Sofa Literary, previously of Sebastian Literary Agency, and she brings a broad knowledge of the book business to the table—with multiple years of experience as a bookseller in the independent, chain, and specialty stores; sales, marketing, & book development at a YA publisher, a published nonfiction author, and an agent associate literary agent at Sebastian Literary Agency.

Michelle L. Johnson is a literary agent, the founder of Inklings Literary Agency and has a business administration background in addition to a lifetime of working with books (sales, editing, and writing) and authors (marketing, promoting, event planning), and also has been a script/story consultant for an independent film.

Ion Newcombe is the editor and publisher of AntipodeanSF, Australia's longest running online speculative fiction magazine, regularly issued since January 1998. His qualifications and employment range from horticulture through electronics into literature and communications.
Author, Public Speaker, and Executive Producer, Lynn Tincher was born just outside of Louisville, Kentucky in the beautiful city of La Grange. She has written four books, with the fifth one currently in the making. Her first book, Afterthoughts was optioned for movie production by Kilted Pictures and Dancing Forward Productions in Los Angeles. It is currently in pre-production with plans to shoot in Louisville, Kentucky very soon.

35 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Can't wait to read the entries for this year's contest!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Susan - the anthology set up I'm sure will inspire many ... cheers to all entrants - Hilary

nashvillecats2 said...

I'm sure there will be many entries. for The Anthology.
Yvonne.

Pat Garcia said...

Yes, indeed. We do have an excellent selection of judges. The anthologies just keep getting better and better.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat Garcia

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Good luck to all who enter the anthology contest! Go for it! :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Reading those entries will be so much fun.

Bish Denham said...

I'm looking forward to the anthology!

Pat Hatt said...

Should be a fun one to do indeed.

Christine Rains said...

What a fantastic theme! I need to think of a story for it this year.

Diane Burton said...

What a great concept. I hope there are lots of entries.

M.J. Fifield said...

I love the theme for the new anthology. It'll be a great read!

Juneta key said...

Looking forward to the new anthology.
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

Juneta key said...

Looking forward to the new anthology.
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

It's an exciting time! Happy IWSG Wednesday, Susan.

cleemckenzie said...

Great to see the details of the next anthology contest.

cleemckenzie said...

Great to see the details of the next anthology contest.

Laura Clipson said...

I love this theme, I can't wait to start planning my entry!

Nissa Annakindt said...

The anthology sounds like a great idea, but I don't write well to themes selected by other people, perhaps because I'm too weird. I also don't really do fantasy.

But I'm sure that many of my writing friends will be interested to learn about the anthology. I will be sharing the info on Facebook.

Nissa from
http://myantimatterlife.wordpress.com

Crystal Collier said...

Yay! I'm so happy another anthology is in the works. I want to come enter too, but it just clashes with my book release insanity. *sigh* Next time, eh?

C.D. Gallant-King said...

Does LOST fan fiction count? ;-)

IWSG September

J E Oneil said...

Sounds like a lot of fun!

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi, Susan,

I am REALLY looking forward to submitting. I finally have something to pull me out of the muck I've been in for way too long!

Anonymous said...

I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to join in on the anthology or not. Decisions, decisions.

Elsie
co-host IWSG

Jemi Fraser said...

Sounds fun! I haven't written fantasy before - but I do love it!!
Maybe it's time to try my hand at a short story :)

Michelle Wallace said...

I have a feeling that we'll be flooded with entries!
Happy IWSG Day!

messymimi said...

Always liked anthologies, they are a great way to get to know a lot of writers and figure out whose style you want to explore more.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Hooray for the anthology! And thank you for the thorough introduction to the team!
Happy writing!

Tyrean Martinson said...

Oh, and by the way, I started reading Michael Sullivan's books because you recommended them, and I love them!!! Thank you!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Oh, you made my day. He is such a nice guy too. My daughter, two sons and I have had so many discussions about them and his newest book starts a new series that occurs earlier and goes into the history. Very cool.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Yes, we'll drag you back into writing.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Thanks for sharing. I know we'll get lots of entries.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

I haven't attempted to write fantasy since I was a child, but I just might be tempted... Maybe.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I didn't submit last year. Maybe this year I'll have a story to submit!

The Happy Whisk said...

Bet your entry will be killer good :-)

The Happy Whisk said...

If you go with yes, that is.