Finalist of Crossed Genres 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Contest!!!
My story "Of Mice and Astronauts" was just named one of ten finalists in the 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Contest held my
Crossed Genres Magazine. Crossed Genres is a free e-zine that publishes once a month and puts out an annual print edition featuring the best stories from the year. I'd come across their site before but each month they have a different theme and I hadn't felt the urge to write a story to fit their requirements as of yet. Monday of this week I was browsing my weekly e-mail newsletter from Duotrope (discussed in
this previous blog) and saw that the next day, Tuesday, would be the last day Crossed Genres would be accepting entries to their 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Contest. I don't normally enter writing contests because the competition is even stiffer than trying to get published through normal means and they usually require a entrance fee. This contest did not. Further peaking my interest was the requirement that the scifi story be less than 500 words. I didn't have anything laying around I hadn't already submitted somewhere but I love whipping a bit of flash fiction so I looked at my long list of untapped ideas, picked one out and churned out the story in a single afternoon.
Today I received word that mine was chosen as one of ten finalists!!!
Here is where you, oh loyal reader, come in. Anyone can go to their website (you have to register but it's free and takes all of ten seconds) and vote. My story is number 8 entitled "Of Mice and Astronauts." The prize is small, $25 but because the story is less than 500 words that comes out to five cents a word or better which is a professional payment. There will be three runners-up but I want top prize. Not for the 25 bucks but because they will then publish my story where anyone can see (not just those you log into the site) and so I can put on my story cover letters that I am the winner of the Crossed Genres 2010 Flash Fiction Contest. Yes, I like how that sounds. So help a fella out and lend me your vote!
Until next time, I'm Eric and if I win this I can't really say I'm unpublished anymore.