Publishing consultant Laine Cunningham teams up annually with The Blotter, a nonprofit literary magazine, to sponsor a writing contest. The award is open to all book-length fiction, such as novels, novellas, collections of linked short stories, and manuscripts that merge genres. The first contest winners included a literary manuscript, a crime novel, and a linked collection of short stories.
Prizes include $500 for first place and $125 for second place. Over $1,000 in books is shared among the first through third place winners. All winners also receive a certificate. Winning entries are published in The Blotter’s print and internet versions.
Submission period runs until January 31, 2012. The entry fee is $25; all entry fees are used to offset the costs of the contest. Entries consists of ten to twenty pages, double-spaced, without the author’s name. A separate cover sheet should include the author, snail and e-mail addresses, phone number, title of the entry, and a one-page synopsis.
Additional information is available at The Blotter’s Web site, www.blotterrag.com. Read more about the judge at www.WritersResource.us.