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2011 ROPE and WIRE
WESTERN SHORT STORY
COMPETITION
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Introduction, Rules and Guidelines
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INTRODUCTION
The western website, Rope and Wire, has been online for close to five years now working hard to promote the western genre through a variety of avenues. The approach seems to be working. Since day one Rope and Wire has seen steady growth not only in the amount of its high quality content, but also in the numbers of its loyal followers.
The main idea behind Rope and Wire is to promote the western genre through new, up and coming and established western authors. But the site doesn’t limit itself to just authors. It includes many other western venues.
Short stories are a great way to introduce new readers to what western authors actually write about. It gives them a feel for the genre that will hopefully continue to grow and mature, possibly translating into the sale of a few western novels.
In a constant search for new ways to promote the genre, the Rope and Wire website began accepting submissions for their very first Western short story competition. This was last year, 2010. The competition was so successful that we have decided to make this an annual competition.
The competition is open to both novice and established authors. It creates an opportunity for the top five winning authors to have their work promoted by Rope and Wire and helps authors gain some valuable name recognition.
The competition, although somewhat conventional, does have several unconventional aspects to it.
FIRST, all story submissions must be submitted electronically. The submission link can be found at the bottom of this page.
While there is the possibility that this will reduce the total number of submissions, Rope and Wire believes in keeping up with the times. As I’ve often said; “Even though the setting we write about is one hundred and fifty years in our past, we don’t write about it with fountain pens. For the most part, we use keyboards and computers.” So to me, it only makes sense to take a more modern approach for both, story submissions and fee payments, which brings up the second unconventional aspect of this competition.
SECOND, all entry fees will be submitted electronically through PayPal. You will find a link to this service at the bottom of this page. If you do not have a PayPal account, you can set one up from this link as well.
This is a virtually instantaneous form of payment. After all, if the story submission is being sent electronically, it only makes sense to send the fee payment the same way. No more waiting days for a check to clear before your story can be entered into the competition. I admit there are some who will scoff at this approach. But then I’ve always understood the fact that change does not always come easy, but it does always come.
THIRD, prize money. Most short story competitions offer a set amount, and usually for only one winner. With the Rope and Wire Western Short Story competition, we’ve decided to make prize money available to the top three winners, and, it will be on a sliding scale. Which means that for each $15 dollar submission, the prize amount jumps $10, $3 and $2 respectively. So there is the potential of some rather large prizes. Last year’s top prize was $250. We expect a larger top prize this year.
OFFICIAL RULES AND GUIDELINES
Writers of short western fiction are encouraged to enter the 2010 Rope and Wire Short Story Competition. Rope and Wire is dedicated to enthusiastically supporting the efforts and talents of those who write short western fiction.
1. The competition is open to manuscripts of between 2,500 and 4,000 words. (Word count does not include title of entry.) Entries outside the word limitation will be disregarded. No refunds will be issued for disqualified entries for any reason. A submission link is provided at the bottom of this page.
2. The entry fee is $15 per submission.
You may submit as many entries as you wish. All entries are to be submitted separately and electronically, all payments are to be made to Rope and Wire via PayPal before entries are submitted. A payment link is provided at the bottom of this page.
If you do not have a PayPal account, a link to set up an account is provided at the bottom of this page.
3. All entries must be in English, original, unpublished, and not submitted or accepted elsewhere from the time of submission to the conclusion of this contest. Authors will retain the rights to their entries, although Rope and Wire reserves one-time publication rights to the 1st through 5th place winning entries, to be published in a special section on the Rope and Wire website.
4. All entries must be double spaced, Microsoft Word documents saved in the RTF (rich text format.) Each story must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet with the writer's name, complete mailing address, e-mail address, the title of the piece, and the word count.
5. Entries must be submitted by November 30, 2011 to (email address) as an attachment. DO NOT include your story in the body of an email. Include your full name and PayPal Transaction number in the email title. You will receive a confirmation email from Rope and Wire for each entry you submit.
6. Winners will be notified by December 31, 2011. If you have not been contacted by this date, you may assume that your entry is not a finalist and may be marketed elsewhere.
7. We will not notify you of your story's status unless you are one of the winning entries.
8. The winning entries will be posted onto the Rope and Wire website no later than January 15, 2011.
9. The following are not permitted to enter the competition: Anyone affiliated with the Rope and Wire website including contest judges and their immediate families. This does not include members. All members of Rope and Wire are encouraged to submit entries.
10. The first round of judging will be by two published authors. Each judge will receive a copy of each submission. These two judges will each submit five recommendations to Rope and Wire. These recommendations will then be submitted to a third judge, also a published author, who will make the final decision on the top five winners. (The identity of these three judges will not be known to each other)
Entries will be judged on grammar, plot, story structure, characters, style and tone.
Prize Money
Prize money will be paid out in U.S. dollars and will be divided as follows:
1st place- $10 of each entry fee.
1st place example: 10 entries equals a $100 top prize, 100 entries equals a $1000 top prize.
2nd place- $3 of each entry fee.
3rd place- $2 of each entry fee.
4th place- Honorable Mention Certificate, but no prize money.
5th place- Honorable Mention Certificate, but no prize money.
We comply with the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) Code of Ethics.
Contest Code of Ethics
CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believe that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree (1) to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; (2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelinesdefining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and (3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.
Submit your entry fee here
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