I hope everyone had a productive week and recovered quickly from the holiday. Just think, only 3+ weeks until Christmas! Early Christmas presents for you below.

Contests
Montana Prize in Fiction. Sponsored by Cutbank, the submission period is December 1-February 29. Prize is $500 and publication in Cutbank 69. Entry fee of $13 includes 1 issue subscription. 

Carolina Wren Press Doris Bakwin Award. A prize of $2,000 and publication by Carolina Wren Press is given biennially for a collection of short stories, a novel, or a memoir by a woman. Jeanne M. Leiby will judge. Submit two copies of a ms of 150 to 500 pages with a $20 entry fee by December 1. (Sorry this is such short notice)

Cintas Foundation Fiction Fellowship. A fellowship of $15,000 will be given biennially for a fiction writer of Cuban descent to pursue a writing project. Cuban citizens, or writers with a Cuban parent or grandparent, who are not pursuing academic studies are eligible. Submit two copies of a fiction manuscript of up to 25 pages and two letters of recommendation by January 14, 2008. There is no entry fee. Visit the Web site for the required application and complete guidelines.

New Magazines 

Horror/dark fantasy/dark mystery. Shroud Magazine is looking for 5000 word submissions for their debut issue in 2008. Shroud will be a bi-monthly print magazine. They pay 2-5¢ a word ($250 max) and 1 copy. "Shroud considers horror, dark mystery, dark fantasy and suspense short stories. In addition, we are interested in tightly woven flash fiction, and (in some cases) serialized novellas. Thriller and Suspense tales with a horror aspect are also welcome."

SciFi/Fantasy. NewMyths.com is a Web quarterly looking for 10,000 word stories. They pay $30 flat. "There must be  some fantasy or science fiction element to the story. No pornography."

Anthologies

Science Fiction. Norilana Books is doing an anthology called Warrior Wisewoman. They want 10,000 word stories and pay 2¢ a word plus royalties. “I am looking for stories that shed light on the truth of what it means to be female, that illuminate the wisdom and the strength of a woman, but not in cliché 'goddess' stories. I love action and adventure, grand space opera, thrilling discovery, and intelligent protagonists. Make the story thoughtful, wise, and surprising, not merely the same old metal spaceship hull filled with cardboard military uniforms with female names 'barking' orders and firing at aliens. In addition, the stories in the anthology should appeal to genuine emotions, suspense, fear, sorrow, delight, wonder. The science can be part of the background and the characters foremost, or the science can be central to the story, as long as the characters are realistic and appealing." Deadline of January 31, 2008

Humorous fairy tales. Catscurious Press needs 5000-10000 word stories for a new anthology. Pay is 5¢ a word ($500 max). "Needs well-written, humorous fairy tale re-tellings! But there's a catch -- these stories must be written from ONE POV only... the protagonist's." Will open to submissions Jan 1, 2008. Deadline of March 31, 2008

Literary Speculative Fiction. Cone Zero is doing an eigth anthology, and Cone Zero: Scriptus Innominatus needs 2500-12000 word ms. Pay is £65. "Ideally, this story should be specially written for the gathered Nemonymous 'style' and for its new incarnation as 'Cone Zero'. Ideally, too, your story might be entitled 'Cone Zero'." Deadline of March 31, 2008

One of the fun parts doing verifications is the mail. I asked the magzines and journals to send me a recent issue for my archives. I have so much fun opening my mail and seeing the magazines I've known of for years. The first time you look at magazine or journal after hearing about it for years can be a surreal experience, and sometimes it's just plain fun. I started laughing with glee when I opened the envelope containing Tales of the Talisman this afternoon, and I had to show the terrific green, flat-footed, one-eyed alien cover to my neighbor Terri. She's one of our designers, and sometimes I just have to show her the especially beautiful, creative or ugly covers. I'm having to force myself not to rush this post because I am going to read Tales of the Talisman as soon as I'm done.

So here we go.

One item to update a listing in 2008 NSSWM: Literary agent Helen McGrath died over the summer and her contact info is now obsolete.

Contests

Annual Atlantic Writing Competition. Sposored by the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia. Award's purpose is "to provide feedback to emerging writers and create a venue for their work to be considered against that of other beginning authors." Prizes are in Canadian money: $200, $150, $100 for adult novel; $150, $75, $50 for children's literature and YA novel; $100, $75, $50 for short stories and essay/magazine article. Entry fee is $25 per novel entry ($20 for WFNS members); $15 per entry in other categories ($10 members). Deadline is the first Friday in December of each year. Entries must be unpublished. Length: story 3,000 words maximum; novel 100,000 words maximum; children's writing 20,000 words maximum, YA novel 75,000 words maximum. To be eligible, writers must be residents of Atlantic Canada, older than 16 and not extensively published in the category they are entering

Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction. Sponsored by the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. Offered annually for fiction published January 1-December 31. Contest aims "to encourage examination of the Civil War from unique perspectives or by taking an unusual approach.” All Civil War novels are eligible. Publishers should make nominations, but authors and critics can nominate as well. Prize: $5,000. No entry fee. Deadline of December 31. Judged for presentation of unique perspective, use of unusual approach, effective writing, contribution to existing body of Civil War literature.

Fish Short Story Prize. Purpose is to "find and publish new and exciting short fiction from all over the world; to support the short story and those who practice it." Offered annually for unpublished fiction mss. Prize: 1st Prize: 2,500 Euros (approx. $5,000); 2nd Prize: 1 week at Anam Cara Writers' Retreat in the west of Ireland plus 250 Euros; third prize is 250 Euros. The top 15 stories will be published in Fish's anthology, which is launched at the West Cork Literary Festival in June. Entry fee is $30 per story. Deadline of November 30. Length of 5,000 words maximum. Open to any writer except those who have won before or who have been a runner-up twice. See Web site for additional contests, including "One Page Story Prize," "Short Fiction Prize," "Short Histories Prize," and "Fish-Knife Award."

Long Story Contest, International. Sponsored by White Eagle Coffee Store Press. Offered annually since 1993 for unpublished work to recognize and promote long short stories. Open to any writer, no restrictions on materials. Prize (A.E. Coppard Prize) of $1000 and publication, plus 25 copies of chapbook and 10 press kits. Entry fee is $15, $10 for second story in same envelope. Length: 8,000-14,000 words (30-50 pages double-spaced) single story; may have multi-parts or be a self-contained novel segment. Deadline of December 15. Accepts previously unpublished submissions, but previous publication of small parts with acknowledgment is okay.

The Trollope Society Short Story Prize has been suspended.

Kurt Vonnegut Fiction Prize is on hiatus.

L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest is one of the foremost competitions for new and amateur writers of unpublished science fiction or fantasy short stories or novelettes. Open to new and amateur writers who have not professionally published a novel or short novel, more than 1 novelette, or more than 3 short stories. Eligible entries are previously unpublished short stories or novelettes (under 17,000 words) of science fiction or fantasy. Quarterly awards of 1st place: $1,000; 2nd place: $750; and 3rd place: $500. Annual grand prize: $5,000. Judged by K.D. Wentworth (initial judge), then by a panel of 4 professional authors. Deadlines are December 31, March 31, June 30, September 30. Limit one entry per quarter. No entry fee; entrants retain all rights to their stories. Open to any writer.

StoryQuarterly Fiction Contest deadline for submission is November 30. The contest offers a First Prize of $2,500, a Second Prize of $1,500, and a Third Prize of $750. Additionally, ten Finalists will each receive $100. Winners will be announced by December 31. 

James Tait Black Memorial Prizes' deadline has changed from Jan 31 to Dec 1. "Two prizes each of £10,000 are awarded: one for the best work of fiction, one for the best biography or work of that nature, published during the calendar year January 1 to December 31." No entry fee. "Eligible works are those written in English and first published or co-published in Britain in the year of the award. Works should be submitted by publishers." Open to any writer.

Conferences

The first ever ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga will take place on Thursday, December 6th on the eve of New York Anime Festival. “Meet, mingle, and learn from confirmed panelists including top executives from anime and manga companies; from intellectual property houses; digital content and youth marketing experts; and trade buyers. Publishers, producers, toy and game companies, retailers and distributors, and librarians and educators can all benefit from this informative programming. Register today.”