(NOTE: Post remarks, suggestions, and complaints about the above contest here under Comments.)
The arrival of the next post on this blog will mark the beginning of the First Official Pop Lit Story Opening Contest. You can then immediately post your entry.
-200 words maximum
-I request writers use a real identity, just in case you win. I’ll mail out prizes for the top three winning story openings. (If you’re an established writer and want to give your agent’s or publishers address, that’s fine. If you’re not an established writer and you want to give your mother’s or brother’s or chief creditor’s address, that’s fine also.)
-What are those prizes? Collector’s Items all. THIRD PLACE winner receives a rare copy of the 90’s lit-zine Pop Literary Gazette, of which by now there must be very few copies extant. SECOND PLACE receives a cd of noted storyteller Frank Marcopolos (see www.frankmarcopolos.com) reading the classic J.D. Salinger story “Teddy.” FIRST PLACE receives a shrink-wrapped dvd set of every one of Elvis Presley’s appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.
-Scoring System? Each judge picks the three best story openings in their opinion. Points are awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice: 5 points, or 3, or 1. I then total points to find the winners. Any ties will be broken by myself, following the voice of the public.
-I have tentative commitments from two of the necessary three judges. They’ll shortly be announced.
-The idea of story openings is that they be fun or striking in and of themselves, but also make the reader hungry for more.
-Final arbiter of all disputes or questions will be the editor of this blog.
-Any other info or rules will be given here as I think of them!
Why am I running this contest?
ReplyDeleteThose who know my history know I've been a literary promoter. I hope to do this again. First I need to move writers a bit closer toward my ideas. My goal is to sell literature-- but I need writing that will sell. Yes-- works that grab the reader from the get-go.
Therefore: story openings.
Thanks to the writers who've entered so far.
Let's see more!
NOTE:
ReplyDelete-The # of comments went down because I deleted my "Sample Entry," and also one of my remarks about posting.
-It looks like one of the entries will have to be disqualified for being way over the limit (100 words over). A few others skirt the edge-- I counted one of them and it was exactly 200!