"Inscribed" Sponsors Two Writing Contests ~

Inscribed is not only a small press not-for-profit publishing company operating out of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Their mission goal is to provide excellence in literature, poetry and art from around the world to international audiences through their publications in order to support artistic and environmental education and programs. They are also hosting one poetry and one short story competition in 2008. The deadline for both is December 1, 2008, so you have plenty of time to fine-tune your entries! Prizes:

• 1st Place: $50
• 2nd Place: $25
• 3rd Place: $15
• All winners will receive a copy of the printed anthology.

Send all submissions to submissions (at) inscribed (dot) org, with "Poetry Contest" or "Short Story Contest" in the subject.

Write to Win!

For a $5 reading/entry fee, Writer's Journal: The Complete Writer's Magazine, will give you the chance to win $150, publication in their magazine, and: starter phrases! This short-story contest is a great opportunity for those of you who want to write, but don't know what to write about! Postmark deadlines and starter phrases are:

• April 20, 2008 ~ They both stared at ...
• June 20, 2008 ~ The cellar was open, but ...
• August 20, 2008 ~ Those ungrateful ...
• October 20, 2008 ~ Twenty minutes later ...

Maximum word count is 1500 words, entries must begin with the starter phrase, but it may be dialogue, that's your choice. Please go to their website for the rest of the contest guidelines.

For the Birds ~

LBJ is not only an acronym for "Little Brown Job," (used by birders to describe those difficult-to-identify species, such as many sparrows); it is also the name of an upcoming literary magazine. The LBJ is a uniquely literary venue, publishing creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry, narrative scholarship, and literary journalism of the feathered variety. The inaugural issue will be out this June, for which they are not only accepting submissions, but are also announcing prizes of $300 for the best previously unpublished poetry and prose. You may submit only one contest entry per genre. For poetry, each entry may include up to 5 poems; for prose, submit only 1 piece of no more than 20 double-space single-sided pages. The reading fee for the contest is $10 for one category, $15 for both. The deadline for both contest entries and submissions is May 15, 2008, and all contest entries will be considered for publication.
They are also looking for visual art, as well as cutting edge stories about birds, their habitats, and the people around them! So if you are into birding (bird-brained?) or know anyone who is, please go to The LBJ website for further details and the addresses (snail and email) of where to send your work.

Calling All Writers!

Steve Lopez of the LA Times is inviting all LA Times readers to collaborate with him on a novel! His column in next Sunday's paper (March 30th) will be Chapter 1 of "Birds of Paradise: A Novel Collaboration," and readers are invited to contribute chapters 3, 4, 5, and so on until noon PST on Thursday, April 24, 2008 -- just in time for the LA Times Festival of Books on April 25-26! Entries must:

• Be 600 words or fewer
• Be entirely original
• Be submitted under the entrants real name

The final chapter, to be published online on April 25th and in the newspaper on April 26th, will be written by Steve Lopez.
Winners will have their entries published online and in the newspaper, receive two tickets to the LA Times Festival of Books Prize Ceremony April 25th at 8:00 PM, and be invited to read their chapter at the festival. The contest is open to all legal California residents who are 18 years or older as of the first day of the contest period. Please go to the contest website to read the rest of the guidelines and who knows where this could lead you??

Got Erotic? In the Rain?

If your writing has the steam of eroticism, this contest is for you! Desdmona's latest sex story contest will take place in the rain. It could be one of those warm afternoon drizzles, or a gushing torrent, but whatever it is has to contain some of "that wet stuff falling out of the sky." You may enter up to two stories of 1,000 words or less by March 31, 2008. There is no entry fee. Prizes will be awarded to the judges three favorite stories:

• 1st Prize: $250
• 2nd Prize: $150
• 3rd Prize: $75
• Honorable mention prizes of $25 will be awarded at the discretion of desdmona.com and the judges.

Entrants must be at least 18 years old, and no child pornography will be accepted. Your story must have a title, and all your characters must be fictional. Please go to their website for the rest of the contest guidelines, and then tap into your erotic imagination and let your story flow!

"Steal From The Best Contest" -- Short Stories Only!

Hazel Street Productions has chosen some of their favorite lines from some of their favorite movies for their "Steal From the Best Contest." Each submission must contain one of the seven phrases listed below. Choose one per submission.

1. "I didn't know the meaning of fear until I kissed Becky."
2. "Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh ... everything's perfectly alright now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"
3. "Don't say that you're more sorry than I am, because I'm capable of being just as sorry as you are ... "
4. "Murderers are the best, I think; they're so polite."
5. "Just forget you ever saw it. It's better that way."
6. "I'm going to rest my eyes for a moment. But go on. I am listening ... "
7. "I hate it when someone gives away the ending."

Each submission must be between 800 and 2500 words long. Entry fees are $10 per up to 2 submissions per person, and $15 for 3 to 5 submissions per person, and the deadline is March 15, 2008.

• 1st Place: $750
• 2nd Place: $150
• 3rd Place: $75
• 4th Place: $25

In addition, the top winning entries will be published at www.hazelst.com. If this contest receives enough entries, each and every winning entry will also be published in an anthology. So make sure you share this info with other writer friends! All winners will receive 2 copies of the anthology. Please go to their website to see the rest of their contest rules & guidelines.

Short Fiction Contest - International Aeon Award

Albedo One (Ireland’s premiere magazine of speculative fiction) has now launched the International Aeon Award 2008 short fiction contest.

The Aeon Award is all about promoting new writers and writing in the speculative fields, which has long been the goal of Albedo One. The quality of stories and submissions to the first and second Award has served to affirm our faith in the value of the speculative genres, and in the direction they will be taking in the future. Last year’s winner was Nina Allan’s “Angelus”, which was announced at a ceremony during the 29th European Science Fiction Convention, Copenhagen, Denmark, September 2007. The story will be published in issue 34 of Albedo One, due out in February.

This year's contest is open to submissions of up to 8000 words (no minimum word limit) in any speculative fiction genre, from Fantasy and Science Fiction to Horror or anything in-between or unclassifiable. The judges have very broad tastes in this regard. The grand prize is 1000 euro and publication in Albedo One. Thanks to the success of last year’s Award, we’ve been able to add a second and third place cash prize of 200 and 100 euro respectively for this year. The second and third place stories will also be published in Albedo One.

The contest will run in four rounds from January 1st 2008 to November 30th 2008. Submissions can be made at any time between those two dates, and stories making the shortlist will be announced shortly after the end of each of the rounds, which end on March 31st, June 30th, September 30th and finally November 30th. After the last round, the top six stories from the shortlist will be chosen and passed on to respected science fiction, fantasy and horror author, Ian Watson (www.ianwatson.info), who will act as Grand Judge and pick the winner and second and third place stories.

The contest is open to writers from all nationalities, though the entries must be written in English. Indeed, we’re keen to have entries from as many nationalities as possible! Full details and guidelines for entering the Award can be found on the Albedo One website at the following link: http://www.albedo1.com/html/aeon_award.html The entry fee for the Award is a paltry €7 (euro) and can be paid easily and securely on the Albedo One site. Email submissions may be made to fraslaw@yahoo.co.uk

Premier Book Awards

Premier Book Awards is now accepting entries for the 2008 Awards in both fiction and non-fiction.

With so many new titles published every year it is increasingly difficult for any given title to stand out. One of the best ways for a book to gain credibility, exposure, and increased sales is to win an award for writing excellence.

These awards were established to recognize meritorious works by writers who self-published or had their books published by a small press or independent book publisher. POD books are welcome. The contest is open to selected book length fiction and non-fiction titles with a 2007 or 2008 copyright, published in the English language and targeted for an adult audience in the North American market. There are $100 cash awards for the winners in each category, plus a $500 award each for the best fiction and best non-fiction of the year. Winners also receive a certificate suitable for framing and Premier Book Awards will issue a press release to announce the achievement. Check out the website for details: www.PremierBookAwards.com