Author Topic: Escape Pod Flash Fiction Contest 2016 - Submission Rules  (Read 33560 times)

eytanz

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A special Flash Fiction contest portal will open at 00:01 on 15 January and close at 23:59 on 15 Feburary. If the portal disappears, submissions are formally closed and will not reopen.

You can find the portal at https://escapepod.submittable.com/submit



In order to be a valid submission to the contest, each story must adhere to the following rules:

1. The story must be no more than 500 words long, not including its title. Do not use the title to skirt around the word count. Word count will be determined using Google Docs.  

2. The story must adhere to the general Escape Pod submission guidelines. Most importantly, it needs to be a science fiction story; other genres, including horror and fantasy, are discouraged. As a general rule, we will take a very liberal view of what constitutes science fiction, but authors should note that past experience shows that stories which attempt to skirt the genre restriction tend to fare badly in the voting.

3. The story must be original and previously unpublished. Stories will be posted on a members-only portion of the forum, so first publication rights will not be spent if your story does not win.

The person submitting the story must be the story's author (or acting for the author with express permission) and hold full publishing rights to the story. A story that is derived from a previous published work in another format (i.e. not a short story) is fine (assuming doing so isn't in violation of copyright, obviously).

If you are not sure whether your story counts as published or not (for example, if an earlier version has appeared on your blog but nowhere else), please write (PM or send a query to eytan@escapeartists.net with the subjectline "QUERY") and ask before submitting. Please do not submit stories that have been entries in a previous Escape Artists contest.

4. Each author may submit ONE story to the contest. Note that this is a change from previous contests.

5. The story should be submitted in its final form, as the author intends it to be read by the voting public. We may or may not allow minor typo corrections if those slip in, but as a general rule, we will not allow authors to submit changes to stories, especially not after submissions are closed.

6. Included the body of the submission should be the title and the text of your story. Any byline will be stripped when the stories are posted in the contest, and will be revealed when either the story fails to advance, or ultimately wins. Feel free to request a pseudonym for the byline, but we will
need a legal name if you win for prize purposes.

7. The top three winning stories will be published as part of a flash fiction episode on Escape Pod, and the author will be paid $30, making this a pro-rate publication. In past contests, the editors sometimes approached authors of additional stories and purchased them as well. This may or may not happen this time, at the editors' discretion.

8. Authors under 18 are welcome. By submitting, any author under 18 asserts they have obtained the permission of a parent or guardian with whom Escape Artists, Inc. can enter into a contract on behalf of the author.

9. Entries in the contest will be judged completely anonymously, with all authors on equal footing regardless of whether or not they are already published elsewhere or if they have any association with EA. In the interest of transparency, the following people have access to the submission portal, and can see the names of authors (and therefore are prohibited from participating): Norm Sherman, Nathaniel Lee, Graeme Dunlop, Eytan Zweig. Note that staff on EA's other podcasts, and other forum moderators, have no access to this information and may choose to participate if they wish.


Please blog, tweet, email, send postcards, telephone, upload your conciousness to the matrix, and otherwise get the word out.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2016, 12:18:19 PM by eytanz »



Unblinking

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Reply #1 on: January 12, 2016, 03:35:16 PM
Can the amount of pay be added to the rules?



Jec

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Reply #2 on: January 12, 2016, 04:06:50 PM
I am excited to enter this contest again.  I need a win! 



South of No North

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Reply #3 on: January 12, 2016, 04:51:03 PM
I know the PseudoPod Contest was huge but I'm sorry this is only one story. The benefit of two stories was the continuing hope that the 2nd story might have a better reception.
But I also understand, getting through all of the stories in the PP contest was a task that ended with no energy to do anything else, couldn't read my current book and unable to do any thing productive and only wanted to rest my burned out eyes....however, it still was a lot of fun.
So my unasked for vote is to allow TWO submissions per author.(so I won't have to always wonder if I should have submitted the other one)
« Last Edit: January 12, 2016, 04:52:52 PM by South of No North »

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eytanz

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Reply #4 on: January 12, 2016, 05:00:55 PM
Can the amount of pay be added to the rules?

It's in the submission guidelines linked above, but I will add it to the rules as well.



eytanz

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Reply #5 on: January 12, 2016, 05:06:58 PM
So my unasked for vote is to allow TWO submissions per author.(so I won't have to always wonder if I should have submitted the other one)

The decision to only allow one submission per author was not an easy one for us to make - but our current goal is to run more frequent contests, and that means that we need to make sure that each contest proceeds relatively quickly and doesn't become a chore for the voters. One story per author seemed the best and fairest way to do so.



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Reply #6 on: January 12, 2016, 05:38:26 PM
Can the amount of pay be added to the rules?

It's in the submission guidelines linked above, but I will add it to the rules as well.

The guidelines linked above don't include flash fiction, and both Pseudopod and Podcastle pay lesser amounts for flash fiction, so the answer is not at all clear even for someone like me who is familiar with the casts' guidelines.  

I am making a market listing for it at the moment, too, and the answer to that question determines whether it's listed as Pro or Semi-Pro.  The Pseudopod Contest was listed as pro because it paid $30, which came out to at least 6 cents/word for any story within the word count limit.

ETA: I see the update now, thanks!
« Last Edit: January 12, 2016, 05:47:24 PM by Unblinking »



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South of No North

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Reply #8 on: January 13, 2016, 12:36:40 AM
So my unasked for vote is to allow TWO submissions per author.(so I won't have to always wonder if I should have submitted the other one)

The decision to only allow one submission per author was not an easy one for us to make - but our current goal is to run more frequent contests, and that means that we need to make sure that each contest proceeds relatively quickly and doesn't become a chore for the voters. One story per author seemed the best and fairest way to do so.

I don't doubt much thought went into the decision and all in all it is probably the correct one.

More but quicker contests should keep the energy level up.

Good luck with your massive undertaking.

"Yes, of course I can blame you. Without them, where would all of us outlaws be? What would we have? Only a lawless paradise...and paradise is a bore. Violence without violation is only noise heard by no one, the most horrendous sound in the universe." --The Chymist by Thomas Ligotti


Ettan

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Reply #9 on: January 13, 2016, 03:48:20 AM
As it is only one story this time, any chance the word count can get extended to 700 words, or even 600 words?

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benjaminjb

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Reply #10 on: January 13, 2016, 04:52:09 AM
Personally, I would like to see a future contest where each submitter got to submit 1/2 a story, which would force collaboration.



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #11 on: January 13, 2016, 07:56:01 AM
I would like to see FFCs more often, so I don't mind the one entry rule (Just my un-asked-for opinion).




eytanz

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Reply #12 on: January 13, 2016, 10:28:30 AM
As it is only one story this time, any chance the word count can get extended to 700 words, or even 600 words?

Not for this contest, I'm afraid. We had the word count at 750 in the last contest and the consensus among the editorial staff (and myself) was that it was too long, and the decision was made to hold this one at 500 words. It's important to remember that the word count doesn't just affect the voters in the contest, it has an effect on the production of the winners episode later.

That said, every time we have a contest we try to learn lessons from the previous ones, and after this one is over we will definitely evaluate the effect of all our decisions, and the word count for future contests will definitely be under consideration.



Drewbikscube

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Reply #13 on: January 13, 2016, 11:53:52 PM
No prompt?



eytanz

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Reply #14 on: January 14, 2016, 11:48:16 AM
No prompt?

Our contests never have prompts beyond the genre.



Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #15 on: January 15, 2016, 12:50:41 PM
I'm just happy to be ready for this one (still kicking myself for missing the Pseudopod FFC deadline).

Question: is there an age limit for membership/participation? My 13-year-old has a story ready for the PodCastle contest.

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I finally published my book - Tad's Happy Funtime is on Amazon!


eytanz

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Reply #16 on: January 15, 2016, 01:46:13 PM
Question: is there an age limit for membership/participation? My 13-year-old has a story ready for the PodCastle contest.

I'm not sure - I'll check with the editorial staff and get back to you.



Chuk

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Reply #17 on: January 15, 2016, 06:52:20 PM
Submission guidelines on Submittable still say "Each author may submit up to two stories."

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chuk


eytanz

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Reply #18 on: January 15, 2016, 08:49:01 PM
Submission guidelines on Submittable still say "Each author may submit up to two stories."

Thanks for catching that - it's a cut&paste error from the Pseudopod contest. We'll fix it as soon as we can.



eytanz

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Reply #19 on: January 16, 2016, 04:58:41 PM
Note some revisions to the rules above:

- Added a clarification on which members of EA are ineligable to participate
- Added a clarification about participants under 18
- The payment for winning entries will be $30 regardless of word length (this was the maximum possible if we had gone by EA's normally payment scale, as written before).



Devoted135

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Reply #20 on: January 17, 2016, 02:05:52 AM
Just chiming in to say: yay! So excited! :D



danooli

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Reply #21 on: January 17, 2016, 03:13:35 PM
Good luck to the submitters!



Varda

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Reply #22 on: January 17, 2016, 04:59:47 PM
I'm so excited! I had a neat SF story idea this morning, even. :D Although the real trick will be fitting it into 500 words...

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dagny

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Reply #23 on: January 24, 2016, 04:49:59 PM
Already submitted, but realized this morning I really want to change a word. (Just one!)

Should I withdraw and resubmit? Alert the moderator when my story shows up? Bite the bullet and allow my story to limp along unedited?

"Wolfman's got nards!"


eytanz

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Reply #24 on: January 24, 2016, 04:56:03 PM
Already submitted, but realized this morning I really want to change a word. (Just one!)

Should I withdraw and resubmit? Alert the moderator when my story shows up? Bite the bullet and allow my story to limp along unedited?

At this stage, the best thing would be to withdraw and resubmit. Once submissions close, I'll only make changes to stories to correct obvious typos, but at this stage, I don't think there's a reason to penalise people for submitting early.



dagny

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Reply #25 on: January 24, 2016, 09:25:09 PM
Already submitted, but realized this morning I really want to change a word. (Just one!)

Should I withdraw and resubmit? Alert the moderator when my story shows up? Bite the bullet and allow my story to limp along unedited?

At this stage, the best thing would be to withdraw and resubmit. Once submissions close, I'll only make changes to stories to correct obvious typos, but at this stage, I don't think there's a reason to penalise people for submitting early.

Thanks so much!

"Wolfman's got nards!"


Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #26 on: January 25, 2016, 02:42:04 AM
FWIW - as a voter, I don't penalize people for low-level typos, or spelling/punctuation/etc., because I figure small mistakes will not make it into the audio version. I focus on the strength of the writing overall; how it made me feel, how the story works (or doesn't), and (lastly) how it stands up against the other stories in the frame.

The fact that you care probably means that your story won't have any "fatal flaws"... unless you're writing something very Meta that is about having fatal flaws.   ;)

This Wiki Won't Wrangle Itself!

I finally published my book - Tad's Happy Funtime is on Amazon!


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Reply #27 on: January 25, 2016, 03:52:03 PM
I have nothing to submit and I haven't written anything for a while.  Must get the writer-brain engaged so that I can fully participate!



biomathics23

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Reply #28 on: January 26, 2016, 09:44:08 PM
Very excited, hope to submit something worth reading!



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #29 on: January 28, 2016, 12:15:39 PM
Woot!

Draft one of both (planned) stories complete.

Now all I have to do is:  decide which story is superior, revise it 75 times, end up hating it, throw it out, write two new stories, revise those, end up hating those, go back to the original, decide it really wasn't so bad and send it in!

Only 18 days to go.  Calm down!  
« Last Edit: January 28, 2016, 12:22:32 PM by Not-a-Robot »



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Reply #30 on: January 28, 2016, 05:29:07 PM
I typed up a first draft without watching the word count closely, just eyeballing the word count.

498 words!  Like a glove!  All in one sitting without any idea beforehand of what I was going to write about.

I rather like it, and will give it a bit of polish before sending it in.



Thunderscreech

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Reply #31 on: January 29, 2016, 07:29:07 PM
My first draft came in at 550 words, a remarkable feat because in the past I've found myself at like 800.  "This is impossible, there's no way I can trim 300 words from this!  Every one of them is vital GOOOOOOLD!"

No, they aren't, and it's a funny thing about wrenching a story down to 500 words from 800, for me it seems to improve them remarkably.  That's not the same as 'they're good now', but they're not as bad afterwards.



FireTurtle

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Reply #32 on: January 29, 2016, 10:31:16 PM
Oh BAD WORDS. How am I just seeing this NOW???

*runs around with hands in the air shrieking incoherently about not having enough time*

Oh well, I never do to well in Escaped anyway.

*deep breaths*

“My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.”
Ursula K. LeGuin


SpareInch

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Reply #33 on: February 05, 2016, 01:50:58 PM
Oh BAD WORDS. How am I just seeing this NOW???

*runs around with hands in the air shrieking incoherently about not having enough time*

Oh well, I never do to well in Escaped anyway.

*deep breaths*

LOL

I know how you feel. I only heard about it after the sub window had been open for a week or two. I suppose the moral of the tale is to keep an eye on those EA blogs.

Or on The Arcade, of course. :)

Fresh slush - Shot this morning in the Vale of COW


Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #34 on: February 06, 2016, 04:18:46 AM
Yup - I did the same thing with the Pseudopod contest; fell behind on the feed, and found out too late to write anything.

Then, of course, reading everyone else's stories inspired me to write one that was too creepy for this contest... so I'm ready for the next Pseudopod contest in 2-3 years.  :-\

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I finally published my book - Tad's Happy Funtime is on Amazon!


Fenrix

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Reply #35 on: February 06, 2016, 06:45:10 PM
Yup - I did the same thing with the Pseudopod contest; fell behind on the feed, and found out too late to write anything.

Then, of course, reading everyone else's stories inspired me to write one that was too creepy for this contest... so I'm ready for the next Pseudopod contest in 2-3 years.  :-\

So long as interest remains, the current plan is to roll approximately every six months into a new contest. So, two years.

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”


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Reply #36 on: February 08, 2016, 05:49:07 PM
To those who've said that you haven't heard about contests until too late, I have something that might be of use to you.

Do you use the Submission Grinder to track submissions or find markets? 
If you do, then you can go to the market listing for each contest and click on Follow, and then when it opens or closes you'll get a notification when you visit the site. This will at least give you the full length of the submission window to write something.
(Note: This will probably only be helpful if you continually submit and visit the site anyway, since there's not an email notification, you have to actually visit the site to see the notification)

Pseudopod contests:
http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market.aspx?mid=1164

Escape Pod contests:
http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market.aspx?mid=4650

Podcastle contests:
http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market.aspx?mid=2275



Plans are in the works to give warning about the opening of upcoming submission windows in the weekly newsletter, this isn't implemented yet, but might be for future contests.  And it is also planned to give notifications when markets have recently opened or closed which might be more useful if one is not visiting the Grinder site frequently.
http://diabolicalplots.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9ff86969c64fb1747f3b87a64&id=6c170a4b10



FireTurtle

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Reply #37 on: February 08, 2016, 08:41:56 PM
It is IN. eep. This is definitely not my contest. Someone says science fiction and my brain just locks up. Oh shoot, that should have been my story! :P

“My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.”
Ursula K. LeGuin


Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #38 on: February 10, 2016, 01:37:59 AM
It is IN. eep. This is definitely not my contest. Someone says science fiction and my brain just locks up. Oh shoot, that should have been my story! :P

That might work for Cast of Wonders, if you play it write.  ;)

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Thunderscreech

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Reply #39 on: February 10, 2016, 06:30:44 PM
Alright, I've got my story submission int. It took me a week to realize I'd never actually FINISH it because I kept agonizing over every sentence. Structurally, my story stayed the same but I kept screwing with little parts that probably didn't make a big difference. I'm not sure I made anything better after all this thrashing so a few minutes ago I uploaded it before another wave of doubt hit.

I'd probably do better if I followed the Klingon method. Instead of 'being submitted' maybe a story should escape, leaving a bloody trail of bodies in its wake.

I don't know if it'll go anywhere in the contest, but I feel better getting it out the door. Watching authors in movies, I thought writing would be fun but it's more like a painful itch I have to scratch no matter how much damage I do.

Maybe that's not normal, but ahhh... that last itch is finally gone. Now, what's this next tingle all about? Aw nuts.



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #40 on: February 11, 2016, 09:31:05 AM
Alright, I've got my story submission int. It took me a week to realize I'd never actually FINISH it because I kept agonizing over every sentence. Structurally, my story stayed the same but I kept screwing with little parts that probably didn't make a big difference. I'm not sure I made anything better after all this thrashing so a few minutes ago I uploaded it before another wave of doubt hit.


I sent mine in too.  I don't know, I like agonizing over every sentence.  I think that it gives the overall work a very polished feel, but, yeah, I agree. At some point it just has to storm off on its own, leaving a bloody trail of letters and phrases in its wake. 



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Reply #41 on: February 11, 2016, 02:35:40 PM
Alright, I've got my story submission int. It took me a week to realize I'd never actually FINISH it because I kept agonizing over every sentence. Structurally, my story stayed the same but I kept screwing with little parts that probably didn't make a big difference. I'm not sure I made anything better after all this thrashing so a few minutes ago I uploaded it before another wave of doubt hit.


I sent mine in too.  I don't know, I like agonizing over every sentence.  I think that it gives the overall work a very polished feel, but, yeah, I agree. At some point it just has to storm off on its own, leaving a bloody trail of letters and phrases in its wake. 

These blast points are much too precise for sandpeople.

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”


Not-a-Robot

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Reply #42 on: February 11, 2016, 09:56:56 PM
Alright, I've got my story submission int. It took me a week to realize I'd never actually FINISH it because I kept agonizing over every sentence. Structurally, my story stayed the same but I kept screwing with little parts that probably didn't make a big difference. I'm not sure I made anything better after all this thrashing so a few minutes ago I uploaded it before another wave of doubt hit.


I sent mine in too.  I don't know, I like agonizing over every sentence.  I think that it gives the overall work a very polished feel, but, yeah, I agree. At some point it just has to storm off on its own, leaving a bloody trail of letters and phrases in its wake. 

These blast points are much too precise for sandpeople.

Ahhem... We sandpeople prefer to be called Native Tatooinites.



Thunderscreech

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Reply #43 on: February 11, 2016, 11:03:46 PM



Chairman Goodchild

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Reply #44 on: February 13, 2016, 12:58:39 AM
Alright, I've got my story submission int. It took me a week to realize I'd never actually FINISH it because I kept agonizing over every sentence. Structurally, my story stayed the same but I kept screwing with little parts that probably didn't make a big difference. I'm not sure I made anything better after all this thrashing so a few minutes ago I uploaded it before another wave of doubt hit.

I'd probably do better if I followed the Klingon method. Instead of 'being submitted' maybe a story should escape, leaving a bloody trail of bodies in its wake.

I don't know if it'll go anywhere in the contest, but I feel better getting it out the door. Watching authors in movies, I thought writing would be fun but it's more like a painful itch I have to scratch no matter how much damage I do.

Maybe that's not normal, but ahhh... that last itch is finally gone. Now, what's this next tingle all about? Aw nuts.

You've completely summed up my experience here.  I think, tho, that my story did benefit from all the tinkering I did with it.  I'm a pretty harsh critic.  I'm harsh on other peoples' writing, and I'm harsh on myself.  I spent much time ripping apart my paragraph and sentence structures and restructuring them, over and over, until well beyond the point of getting sick of it.  When I got down to picking apart individual word choices, I decided to give it a day or two and call it quits.  At that point, all of the love I had for my story had long since drained out of me, and I felt like a factory worker on an assembly line.  

And I've been working on a vampire story now for a long time that I thought had a cool concept when I started, but I'm losing faith now.  I know I just need to keep on going with it.  I keep telling myself the experience of writing it will be its own reward no matter how it turns out.

And I'll call them Sand People if I like, they didn't have any problem with being called that back in my father's day.  



Renobarb

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Reply #45 on: February 13, 2016, 02:37:08 AM
@eytanz Thank you for your assistance in navigating the forum.  I'm looking forward to reading the entries!



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #46 on: February 13, 2016, 05:54:51 AM
And I'll call them Sand People if I like, they didn't have any problem with being called that back in my father's day.  

Chairman Goodchild, I am your father.  

« Last Edit: February 13, 2016, 07:00:40 AM by Not-a-Robot »



Thunderscreech

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Reply #47 on: February 15, 2016, 02:24:37 AM
Stay on target.  We're almost there; if you've been poking and prodding your story for a few days, it's time to submit!  Don't miss the window!



Moritz

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Reply #48 on: February 15, 2016, 10:02:35 PM
Submitted.

After last year's pseudopod contest, I wrote down some ideas for fantasy stories. Among them, there was one SF story, so that's what I wrote. In a hurry :D



Thunderscreech

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Reply #49 on: February 16, 2016, 01:31:28 AM
Submitted.

After last year's pseudopod contest, I wrote down some ideas for fantasy stories. Among them, there was one SF story, so that's what I wrote. In a hurry FLASH :D
(Corrected, you're welcome.  :D)



Anthony Creamer

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Reply #50 on: February 16, 2016, 06:00:37 AM
That made me laugh Thunderscreech.

I submitted a story and I was able to convince one of my coworkers to start writing again and submit one as well. So now we are eagerly awaiting the polling. I think it was more fun just pushing each other to complete something and having a few beers while we edited than it was actually pressing the submission button. On top of it we both left our endings slightly open so it was fun to take the other guys story and add to it as a writing exercise.



Thunderscreech

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Reply #51 on: February 16, 2016, 01:24:09 PM
Right on!  I am looking forward to reading all the submissions, the Flash Contests are the parts of EA I look forward to more than anything.



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #52 on: February 16, 2016, 01:54:22 PM
Right on!  I am looking forward to reading all the submissions, the Flash Contests are the parts of EA I look forward to more than anything.

Dude, right on.  High Five!



eytanz

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Reply #53 on: February 16, 2016, 02:05:41 PM
Anyone who is planning to submit but hasn't yet - don't forget! The portal will close midnight tonight (EST)!



Moritz

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Reply #54 on: February 16, 2016, 06:06:44 PM
The decision to only allow one submission per author was not an easy one for us to make - but our current goal is to run more frequent contests, and that means that we need to make sure that each contest proceeds relatively quickly and doesn't become a chore for the voters. One story per author seemed the best and fairest way to do so.

This sounds like the best decision to me, too. The last pseudopod contest was a bit of a chore and left me fatigued. I understand that you might have two or three great stories, but limiting it to one submission means you really have to pick the very best one!



South of No North

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Reply #55 on: February 16, 2016, 06:47:44 PM
The decision to only allow one submission per author was not an easy one for us to make - but our current goal is to run more frequent contests, and that means that we need to make sure that each contest proceeds relatively quickly and doesn't become a chore for the voters. One story per author seemed the best and fairest way to do so.

This sounds like the best decision to me, too. The last pseudopod contest was a bit of a chore and left me fatigued. I understand that you might have two or three great stories, but limiting it to one submission means you really have to pick the very best one!

I understand the reasons and they make sense. It was exhausting sticking through to the end for the last contest.
However, with such gold to pick from ;)...it is like having to decide which child you love the most. ::) Like Sophie's Choice only harder. :'(

"Yes, of course I can blame you. Without them, where would all of us outlaws be? What would we have? Only a lawless paradise...and paradise is a bore. Violence without violation is only noise heard by no one, the most horrendous sound in the universe." --The Chymist by Thomas Ligotti


Thunderscreech

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Reply #56 on: February 16, 2016, 07:00:45 PM
I wish I'd been clever enough to write multiple stories and pick, that would have made so much more sense.  

Hey, I could be efficient about it too so that the un-used ones weren't wasted.  Pod Castle contest?  Throw in a dragon.  Pseudopod?  My spaceship has, uh, a literal 'blood' drive.  Yeah, that's it, the engine runs on blood.  PS nobody can use that idea now patent pending patent pending patent pending patent pending.



Anthony Creamer

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Reply #57 on: February 16, 2016, 07:49:14 PM
However, if it had a Vulcan blood drive it wouldn't be a copy right infringement (at least not of your concept, hehe) and you could submit to the next escape pod contest after traveling into the future using said drive.



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #58 on: February 16, 2016, 10:02:47 PM
I wish I'd been clever enough to write multiple stories and pick, that would have made so much more sense.  

Hey, I could be efficient about it too so that the un-used ones weren't wasted.  Pod Castle contest?  Throw in a dragon.  Pseudopod?  My spaceship has, uh, a literal 'blood' drive.  Yeah, that's it, the engine runs on blood.  PS nobody can use that idea now patent pending patent pending patent pending patent pending.

I threw my unused one up in the crit group.  When it's done with revision, it's going to another market.  There are plenty of places looking for flash.



DetectiveFork

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Reply #59 on: February 17, 2016, 02:04:06 PM
I'm new to this, so I'm not certain how the contest works. Does Escape Pod vote internally or do forum members vote for their favorites?



SpareInch

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Reply #60 on: February 17, 2016, 02:42:35 PM
I'm new to this, so I'm not certain how the contest works. Does Escape Pod vote internally or do forum members vote for their favorites?

You can see how it works if you look at the completed contests. The stories will be posted in a series of groups , with forum polls where we can all vote. There will be at least 3 rounds I imagine, and the top 3 stories from the final poll will be the ones that go onto the podcast.

It's the forum members who decide the winners, not the editors. :D

Fresh slush - Shot this morning in the Vale of COW


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Reply #61 on: February 17, 2016, 03:55:10 PM
I'm new to this, so I'm not certain how the contest works. Does Escape Pod vote internally or do forum members vote for their favorites?
Forum members vote :-) and, welcome!



Thunderscreech

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Reply #62 on: February 17, 2016, 03:58:07 PM
If you're new, it's considered polite to vote for my stories in all contests.  You can tell because they've got that 'well, at least he tried' quality.



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #63 on: February 17, 2016, 06:14:59 PM
I'm new to this, so I'm not certain how the contest works. Does Escape Pod vote internally or do forum members vote for their favorites?

All forum members can vote.  There are a couple of cavats to be careful of:

1) It's anonymous, so if you give away which story is yours, you're disqualified

2) Mods are careful to check IPs (to make sure that no one is cheating), so if you have more than one person using your computer, notify a mod beforehand



eytanz

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Reply #64 on: February 17, 2016, 07:20:36 PM
I'm going to post the full rules over the weekend. I'll also send them by email to all the authors, so that those who aren't forum members will know what's going on.

In case anyone is curious at this point, we had 133 submissions, which is pretty decent given the short lead time to this contest. I'm currently thinking the first round will consist of 12 groups of 11 stories each (one will have 12)



Fenrix

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Reply #65 on: February 17, 2016, 07:49:06 PM

In case anyone is curious at this point, we had 133 submissions, which is pretty decent given the short lead time to this contest.


Nice! It should also be a little less taxing than 212 stories.

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Anthony Creamer

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Reply #66 on: February 17, 2016, 08:51:46 PM
Forum members vote in their favorites from each round



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #67 on: February 17, 2016, 10:55:25 PM
I'm going to post the full rules over the weekend. I'll also send them by email to all the authors, so that those who aren't forum members will know what's going on.

In case anyone is curious at this point, we had 133 submissions, which is pretty decent given the short lead time to this contest. I'm currently thinking the first round will consist of 12 groups of 11 stories each (one will have 12)

When is the estimated launch date?



eytanz

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Reply #68 on: February 17, 2016, 10:56:50 PM
If all goes well, March 1st.



Not-a-Robot

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Reply #69 on: February 17, 2016, 11:03:08 PM
If all goes well, March 1st.

Damn, it's a leap year.  One more day of waiting  >:( >:( >:(



Moritz

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Reply #70 on: February 18, 2016, 05:25:33 PM
I'll also send them by email to all the authors, so that those who aren't forum members will know what's going on.


This makes a lot of sense, given that in the past contests there were people who submitted something and didn't know what happened next because they weren't active forum members.



Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #71 on: February 19, 2016, 01:22:38 AM
If you just want the links to previous contest winners, they are on the wiki page, here.

This Wiki Won't Wrangle Itself!

I finally published my book - Tad's Happy Funtime is on Amazon!


Not-a-Robot

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Reply #72 on: February 19, 2016, 09:33:12 AM
In case anyone is curious at this point, we had 133 submissions.

Funny.

I have a rule that I worked out.  Take the number of submission grinder reports, multiply by 5 and you have the real number of submission.  This has worked pretty well for me for most markets where editors have announce the total submission numbers

Escape Pod FCC = 26 x 5 =  130

Pseudopod FCC didn't follow this rule at all... there were only 15 submission reports.



Bdoomed

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Reply #73 on: February 20, 2016, 08:55:35 PM
Pseudopod FCC didn't follow this rule at all... there were only 15 submission reports.

We're a reclusive, shadowy bunch.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


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Reply #74 on: February 20, 2016, 09:42:18 PM
Sounds great.


ZekeSixsmith

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Reply #75 on: February 26, 2016, 12:58:03 PM
Quote
We may or may not allow minor typo corrections if those slip in

Is this still an option? Just found a typo, and it's really bothering me.



Thunderscreech

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Reply #76 on: February 26, 2016, 01:49:33 PM
Quote
We may or may not allow minor typo corrections if those slip in

Is this still an option? Just found a typo, and it's really bothering me.
Same, there's one part where I have 'the' and I actually meant to type 'thespaceshipblastedupwardsonamightypillarofflameasitsfusionreactorlaboredmightillybeforeburstingoutoftheatmosphere'.  Also, there was an instance of 'dog' that I wanted to replace with another, eh, compound word.  Yes, compound word.



Unblinking

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Reply #77 on: February 26, 2016, 03:06:08 PM
Quote
We may or may not allow minor typo corrections if those slip in

Is this still an option? Just found a typo, and it's really bothering me.
Same, there's one part where I have 'the' and I actually meant to type 'thespaceshipblastedupwardsonamightypillarofflameasitsfusionreactorlaboredmightillybeforeburstingoutoftheatmosphere'.  Also, there was an instance of 'dog' that I wanted to replace with another, eh, compound word.  Yes, compound word.

 :D



South of No North

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Reply #78 on: February 26, 2016, 03:13:57 PM
Quote
We may or may not allow minor typo corrections if those slip in

Is this still an option? Just found a typo, and it's really bothering me.
Same, there's one part where I have 'the' and I actually meant to type 'thespaceshipblastedupwardsonamightypillarofflameasitsfusionreactorlaboredmightillybeforeburstingoutoftheatmosphere'.  Also, there was an instance of 'dog' that I wanted to replace with another, eh, compound word.  Yes, compound word.

The rules advised to not use the title to subvert the word count restriction but no there was no mention of, eh, compound words.

"Yes, of course I can blame you. Without them, where would all of us outlaws be? What would we have? Only a lawless paradise...and paradise is a bore. Violence without violation is only noise heard by no one, the most horrendous sound in the universe." --The Chymist by Thomas Ligotti


Jec

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Reply #79 on: February 26, 2016, 03:26:41 PM
Has the first set of stories been posted yet?  I am not on here much so I don't know where to look.



Thunderscreech

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Reply #80 on: February 26, 2016, 03:32:14 PM
Has the first set of stories been posted yet?  I am not on here much so I don't know where to look.
Last I heard, the initial target is first week of March so...  holy butts, that's right around the corner!



eytanz

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Reply #81 on: February 26, 2016, 03:57:55 PM
Quote
We may or may not allow minor typo corrections if those slip in

Is this still an option? Just found a typo, and it's really bothering me.

It is. Please email me at eytan@escapeartists.net with the title of your story and the intended correction (please don't attach a whole new version of the story).

As for the stories - the first round will be posted on 1 March. I was going to post a full schedule earlier this week but real life intervened - it'll be up later today or tomorrow.



danooli

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Reply #82 on: February 26, 2016, 04:53:05 PM
Has the first set of stories been posted yet?  I am not on here much so I don't know where to look.
The contest is set to start on Tuesday, March 1st. The first group should be posted then. It will be in this subforum.



Jec

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Reply #83 on: February 26, 2016, 09:34:50 PM
Has the first set of stories been posted yet?  I am not on here much so I don't know where to look.
The contest is set to start on Tuesday, March 1st. The first group should be posted then. It will be in this subforum.
Ok. Thank you.



nikolop

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Reply #84 on: February 27, 2016, 02:02:09 PM
Hi, everyone.

So we vote for 0-3 stories in each group, right?



danooli

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Reply #85 on: February 27, 2016, 02:55:11 PM
Hi, everyone.

So we vote for 0-3 stories in each group, right?
Howdy :) That is indeed correct. Welcome!



nikolop

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Reply #86 on: March 01, 2016, 02:21:45 PM
Hi, everyone.

So we vote for 0-3 stories in each group, right?
Howdy :) That is indeed correct. Welcome!
Thanks! :)



mchertock

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Reply #87 on: March 08, 2016, 02:40:43 AM
I'm new to this messaging board, and I'm trying to participate in commenting on the Escape Pod fiction contest. But every time I click on the links to the sets of stories, I get an error message saying: "The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you." How do I get access to read the stories?

Thanks!



SpareInch

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Reply #88 on: March 08, 2016, 04:36:24 AM
I'm new to this messaging board, and I'm trying to participate in commenting on the Escape Pod fiction contest. But every time I click on the links to the sets of stories, I get an error message saying: "The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you." How do I get access to read the stories?

Thanks!

Have you tried again since posting this?

I don't work for EA, so I don't know the  mechanics of it, but they like everyone to have at least 1 post to their names. Not because they hate honest lurkers, but because of the risk of an account with no posts to its name suddenly filling the forum with adverts for penis enlargers.

Try again now that you've posted once, and see if that works. :)

Fresh slush - Shot this morning in the Vale of COW


Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #89 on: March 13, 2016, 02:52:42 PM
I assume the answer to this question is "No," but...


I know we submitted these "as is" for the voting, but if a story wins the contest despite some glaring error, will there be an opportunity for the author to fix anything in the text before the story is read?

Also, even if the answer is "Yes" I assume that will be at the editor's discretion by that point - not the author's last-minute attempt to re-draft.

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eytanz

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Reply #90 on: March 14, 2016, 08:43:07 AM
I assume the answer to this question is "No," but...


I know we submitted these "as is" for the voting, but if a story wins the contest despite some glaring error, will there be an opportunity for the author to fix anything in the text before the story is read?

Also, even if the answer is "Yes" I assume that will be at the editor's discretion by that point - not the author's last-minute attempt to re-draft.

Once the winners are selected, they are treated as any other story accepted for publication in the podcast. Which means that it's entirely possible for the author to make suggestions to the editors if they feel that there's something in the submitted version that needs correcting, and it's up to the editors to decide whether or not they are willing to publish the story with the changes or not (and if they say no, it's up to the author to decide whether to agree to publish unrevised, make another suggestion, or withdraw the story, etc.).

I cannot speak for the EP editors as to what they'll feel is reasonable for contest entries - my involvement with the contest ends with the final round - but I know that in the recent pseudopod contest, there were some minor changes between the podcast version of the stories and the contest version.