Deadline: 1 September 2023
Writing teams (2 authors per team) are invited to create and submit a pair of short stories consisting of 50 paragraphs.
The contest provides the 1st paragraph and two alternate 50th paragraphs with writing team co-authors taking turns writing a common/shared story from paragraphs 2 through 49 (thus the tag-team handle) and then spinning off two versions using the two alternative 50th paragraphs.
Owl Canyon Press provides paragraphs #1 and paragraphs #50A and #50B for the alternative endings, and the writer team creates the other 48 paragraphs (i.e., paragraphs 2-49) to complete the story.
Prize Details
- First prize is $2000, 2nd prize is $1000, and 3rd prize is $500 with the winning short stories published in a short story anthology, as well as an invitation to give a public reading at Inkberry Books in Niwot, CO. The twenty-four (24) Finalists will also have their short stories included in this anthology.
Contest Details
- Anyone can submit a story (as long as they’re part of a two-writer team), including outside the USA, but the stories must be in English.
- No maximum word count, but each paragraph needs to be at least 50 words; however, feel free to use as many words as you need to tell the story.
- Dialog is fine as long as it’s in a paragraph of at least 50 words.
- Author teams retain all rights to their short stories.
- Author teams agree to permit Owl Canyon Press to publish their stories in an Anthology.
- Failure to comply with any contest guidelines may result in disqualification.
- Winners will be notified in December 2023.
For more information, visit Owl Canyon Press.