Since Halloween is the greatest day of the year, I’ll once again be opening the Theme of Absence Halloween Horror Flash Fiction contest. The contest will open September 1, and remain open for submissions until October 10.
The winning story will be announced in advance, but the story will be posted at 3:00 AM October 31. “Witching Hour” as the kids say.
Entry and submission guidelines
Only original, unpublished flash fiction is eligible for this contest. The maximum word count for this contest is 1,000. A story that has at any point been made publicly available in print or online (including personal blogs) is considered previously published and will not be eligible. We are also not accepting multiple submissions, meaning send us only one story at a time.
The pay for this story is $0.01 per word, or $5.00, whichever is greater, payable through Paypal.
I won’t seek any rights, other than the non-exclusive right to archive the story here as long as the site is live. Bear in mind that a large percent of publications will not accept pieces that have been previously published in print or online, so after your work is published at Theme of Absence, it can only be marketed elsewhere only as a reprint. All copyright is retained by the author.
If you agree with these terms, please submit your story in the following way:
How to submit: Email the story to submissions@themeofabsence.com. In the subject, include the word “HALLOWEEN SUBMISSION”, your story title and word count. (Example: HALLOWEEN SUBMISSION: Hello Nurse, 666 words). Paste the story in the body of the email with no tabs or indents and a space between paragraphs. Include an author bio written in the third person with any links you’d like to share.
Best of luck! And make it scary.
Jason Bougger
themeofabsence.com
I need a little clarity on the award. It reads “.01/word or $5, whichever is higher. Does that mean if I write 1000 words, I will receive $10. Or does it mean, no matter how many words I write, I will get $5. Please clarify for me and my group. Thank you!
Michele, Thanks for your interest in the contest. The pay is $.01/word, but if that comes up to less than $5.00 I’ll round up to $5.00. So if your story is, say, 375 words, the pay is $5.00 instead of $3.75. If the story is 900 words, the pay is $9.00. If it’s 1000 words, the pay is $10.00. Hope that helps. Best of luck!