Welcome to The Lounge’s Official 2013 Short Story Contest!
Anyone can enter, provided you have a registration date of six months or more from today’s date, and 100 posts in any forum.
Though the spirit of the competition is that submissions are welcome from any poster, I reserve the right to contact a poster and/or reject an entry if a story or the author’s intentions seem questionable. We hope that no one would submit anything but a serious entry into the contest, but there are plenty of pranksters, and we reserve the right to call ya’ll out!
***Please send all submissions to
JOHN COLE.***
IF YOU POST YOUR OWN STORY, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
The identity of each writer will be kept anonymous until the end of the competition.
Maximum word count for any entry is 7k words. There is no minimum word count. Stories will be judged on quality, not length. A great 100 word story will kill a mediocre 7k word story, and vice versa. Please do not feel compelled to make your story long or short unless that is the length appropriate for your story.
All entries will be whittled down to the top five stories by a panel of anonymous judges, after which public voting will determine the winner.
The judging panel will consider several factors for quality, including but not limited to grammar, story, characterization, and pacing. I’m including grammar at the front of that list to let you know that poor grammar could spell doom for an otherwise great story. You’ve got a month before the deadline, so please proof your story before you submit it.
There are no revisions allowed. Once you submit your story, that is the version the judges will consider.
Please note the schedule for the competition.
March 1-March 31: Submit your story via PM to
JOHN COLE.
April 1-April 30: Discussion/Review/Private judging. We will post all entries on a staggered schedule with the authors’ names removed. A discussion thread will be opened for everyone to pontificate on why they like/dislike certain stories. The judges aren't from 2+2, so you can say whatever you want. They won't know and won't care. This period might be shortened but will depend on how many entries we receive.
May 1-May 14: Top five stories are announced. Public voting determines the winner.
First place prize: Custom undertitle
Second place prize: LOL you don’t get a prize
Third place prize: LOL not you either