Weekly Roundup: The Craft and the Business

Conferences
This fall, local Zürich writers and editors from Nuance Words are sponsoring WriteCon Zürich 2012. I love the tagline: ". . . because everyone can write."


Contests

Flash your fiction with Writer Unboxed's 7 Sundays of Summer Flash Fiction Contest. Every Sunday a new image will be posted on Writer Unboxed. Just put your story (250 words or less) in the comments section. The competition deadline for the first week has passed, but it's not too late to add your story and then continue with the new image on Sunday, 8 July. 

After revving up with flash fiction, why not submit a somewhat longer story to the Writer's Digest Short Short Story Competition? The deadline is November 15. If you're a genre writer (whether romance, crime, young adult, or science fiction), check out the competitions in these categories (deadline September 14).

Getting into Print (or Pixels): One More for May

Ellen reminded me about another great publishing opportunity: Glimmer Train. The quarterly accepts unsolicited stories and reports "86% of the stories we accepted last year came to us directly from the writer. That’s exactly how we like it."

In general the press looks for previously unpublished stories and pays $700 on acceptance of a standard submission. There is no reading fee for standard submissions, but competitions require a modest fee (and pay out more). For more on submitting to Glimmer Train, see the guidelines.

Great American Fiction Contest

The Saturday Evening Post has launched the Great American Fiction Contest. The Post's publisher says, "We are looking for stories with universal appeal touching on shared experiences and themes that will resonate with readers from diverse backgrounds and experience." The contest is a great opportunity for previously unpublished authors.

Stories must be 1500–5000 words, and the deadline for entry is July 1, 2012. Find out more here.