Post by Martin T. Ingham on Aug 2, 2014 18:00:24 GMT
The Martinus Publishing 2014 Summer Writing Shootout will be kicking off on August 9, 2014. Writers who wish to participate may do so by contacting me via this forum or by email at mtiediting(at)inbox.com
After running through a tremendous amount of work and clearing my schedule, I'm pleased to announce that a new "writing shootout" will be starting on August 9, 2014. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, a "shootout" is a writing competition in which writers of significant talent take on the challenge of writing and reviewing short stories. Participating writers are given a prompt and one week to write a short story based on that prompt. The subsequent week, the stories are reviewed by the participants. Story authors remain anonymous until the reviews are final, and the reviews are kept anonymous for fair and unbiased opinion.
The shootout is part writing contest and part writing exercise, as it tests each participant's skills in many ways. It is designed to be fun for the writers participating, even while it is challenging.
As has become customary in these shootouts, we'll be setting up a team system, where writers will be competing to be the top of their particular group. There won't be eliminations, so each writer will get the chance to write and review in 3 regular rounds. After those 3 rounds, the top scoring writers on each team will compete for the win.
There will be one Grand Prize awarded to the writer who wins the final round: Publication! The winning writer will have their final story accepted for publication to an anthology that I will be editing for Martinus Publishing. There will also be some runner-up prizes to be announced.
Limited Space Available: Martinus Publishing's Summer Shootout will have a maximum of 21 participants. First come, first serve. Once the 21st person has been accepted to participate, the entry period will be closed. To sign up, contact me via this forum or send an email to mtiediting (at) inbox.com asking to be included.
For those of you who haven't participated before, you may be asking this question. Above and beyond the grand prize, these are the main reasons to participate in the shootout:
1: Entertainment –This is an important aspect of the shootout. It is designed to be a fun experience, something a writer does because they like to write, and they want to test themselves against their contemporaries. It started out as a game writers played, and evolved into its current contest form.
2: Reviews –A lot of writers enjoy the critique part of the contest. Not only do you receive valuable reviews about your own creations, but you also have the opportunity to give your two cents worth on the stories of fellow writers.
3: Free Stories –If you're a writer, you have to enjoy reading, and participating in the shootout gives you the opportunity to read fresh material from your fellow writers.
4: Prestige –There is a certain level of pride one can have in themselves and their skills when they successfully run the entire gamut of a shootout. Even though the finalists and eventual winner may have the greatest bragging rights, any participant can feel good about successfully creating new works of fiction in a short amount of time based on the particular prompts.
5: Further Publication Potential –Besides the grand prize winner, other stories may be offered publication in forthcoming Martinus Publishing anthologies. The shootout is designed to create diverse works of fiction, and many may find a home in various collections, some of which haven't even been announced yet. While publication is not guaranteed unless you win, there is no telling what might pique my interest and get a publication offer.
So, even if you don't win the shootout, you have some very positive reasons to participate!
Q: How long do my stories have to be?
A: While there is no set limit on word count, shootout stories usually fall within the 2,000-5,000 word range, though we sometimes see flash fiction, and a few longer pieces.
Q: How many stories will I have to review each round?
A: Depending on the number of participants, each writer will have to review 7 stories maximum each round (possibly only 5, depending on the number of participants).
Q: Is there a specific Genre requirement for shootout stories?
A: There is no strict genre requirement, though some prompts tend to steer writers toward one genre or another. Keep in mind, Martinus Publishing is a Science Fiction & Fantasy publisher, so stories written in those genres are more likely to be considered for publication with us. However, writers are free to write in any genre, so long as their stories fit the prompt.
Q: How in-depth do my reviews have to be, and how do I "score" them?
A: The amount of detail you give to each review is up to you, and there will be both a scoring chart and a reviewing format provided during the contest, to make it easy and balanced.
Q: How does the "team" system work?
A: Writers will be separated into different teams of 4 to 7 participants each. The writers on a single team will be competing against each other, and not competing against the other teams. Each writer will be reviewing stories from a team other than their own, so people won't be reviewing the stories of the writers they're competing against (no conflict of interest).
Q: What kind of "prompts" are we going to see?
A: The prompts are loose guidelines given out at the beginning of each round, and each writer interprets them in their own way. For example, some prompts given in past shootouts have been:
Instrument Failure
Medical Emergency
The End of the World Seems Imminent
Curses
The First Time Traveler
Q: How do I submit my stories & reviews?
A: The stories and reviews will be sent via email. All stories and reviews must be in a format compatible with mircosoft Word (.doc or .rtf format preferred, though I can now accept .docx files if you must send them that way). We'll also be using a private section of this forum to help coordinate things and to chat with fellow participants during the contest.
After running through a tremendous amount of work and clearing my schedule, I'm pleased to announce that a new "writing shootout" will be starting on August 9, 2014. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, a "shootout" is a writing competition in which writers of significant talent take on the challenge of writing and reviewing short stories. Participating writers are given a prompt and one week to write a short story based on that prompt. The subsequent week, the stories are reviewed by the participants. Story authors remain anonymous until the reviews are final, and the reviews are kept anonymous for fair and unbiased opinion.
The shootout is part writing contest and part writing exercise, as it tests each participant's skills in many ways. It is designed to be fun for the writers participating, even while it is challenging.
As has become customary in these shootouts, we'll be setting up a team system, where writers will be competing to be the top of their particular group. There won't be eliminations, so each writer will get the chance to write and review in 3 regular rounds. After those 3 rounds, the top scoring writers on each team will compete for the win.
There will be one Grand Prize awarded to the writer who wins the final round: Publication! The winning writer will have their final story accepted for publication to an anthology that I will be editing for Martinus Publishing. There will also be some runner-up prizes to be announced.
Limited Space Available: Martinus Publishing's Summer Shootout will have a maximum of 21 participants. First come, first serve. Once the 21st person has been accepted to participate, the entry period will be closed. To sign up, contact me via this forum or send an email to mtiediting (at) inbox.com asking to be included.
Additional purpose and value of the shootout:
For those of you who haven't participated before, you may be asking this question. Above and beyond the grand prize, these are the main reasons to participate in the shootout:
1: Entertainment –This is an important aspect of the shootout. It is designed to be a fun experience, something a writer does because they like to write, and they want to test themselves against their contemporaries. It started out as a game writers played, and evolved into its current contest form.
2: Reviews –A lot of writers enjoy the critique part of the contest. Not only do you receive valuable reviews about your own creations, but you also have the opportunity to give your two cents worth on the stories of fellow writers.
3: Free Stories –If you're a writer, you have to enjoy reading, and participating in the shootout gives you the opportunity to read fresh material from your fellow writers.
4: Prestige –There is a certain level of pride one can have in themselves and their skills when they successfully run the entire gamut of a shootout. Even though the finalists and eventual winner may have the greatest bragging rights, any participant can feel good about successfully creating new works of fiction in a short amount of time based on the particular prompts.
5: Further Publication Potential –Besides the grand prize winner, other stories may be offered publication in forthcoming Martinus Publishing anthologies. The shootout is designed to create diverse works of fiction, and many may find a home in various collections, some of which haven't even been announced yet. While publication is not guaranteed unless you win, there is no telling what might pique my interest and get a publication offer.
So, even if you don't win the shootout, you have some very positive reasons to participate!
Shootout FAQ:
Q: How long do my stories have to be?
A: While there is no set limit on word count, shootout stories usually fall within the 2,000-5,000 word range, though we sometimes see flash fiction, and a few longer pieces.
Q: How many stories will I have to review each round?
A: Depending on the number of participants, each writer will have to review 7 stories maximum each round (possibly only 5, depending on the number of participants).
Q: Is there a specific Genre requirement for shootout stories?
A: There is no strict genre requirement, though some prompts tend to steer writers toward one genre or another. Keep in mind, Martinus Publishing is a Science Fiction & Fantasy publisher, so stories written in those genres are more likely to be considered for publication with us. However, writers are free to write in any genre, so long as their stories fit the prompt.
Q: How in-depth do my reviews have to be, and how do I "score" them?
A: The amount of detail you give to each review is up to you, and there will be both a scoring chart and a reviewing format provided during the contest, to make it easy and balanced.
Q: How does the "team" system work?
A: Writers will be separated into different teams of 4 to 7 participants each. The writers on a single team will be competing against each other, and not competing against the other teams. Each writer will be reviewing stories from a team other than their own, so people won't be reviewing the stories of the writers they're competing against (no conflict of interest).
Q: What kind of "prompts" are we going to see?
A: The prompts are loose guidelines given out at the beginning of each round, and each writer interprets them in their own way. For example, some prompts given in past shootouts have been:
Instrument Failure
Medical Emergency
The End of the World Seems Imminent
Curses
The First Time Traveler
Q: How do I submit my stories & reviews?
A: The stories and reviews will be sent via email. All stories and reviews must be in a format compatible with mircosoft Word (.doc or .rtf format preferred, though I can now accept .docx files if you must send them that way). We'll also be using a private section of this forum to help coordinate things and to chat with fellow participants during the contest.
