String Poet Contest

I would be very interested to know how many of us who write fiction also try our hands at poetry. I don't do much, myself, but sometimes there are deep feelings that only a poem can express. Still, that only leaves 3 or 4 in my poetry folder, and I've never done anything with them.

Anyway, here's a contest. It's inexpensive to enter, and the prizes are pretty good. It's called the String Poet contest, because it's actually sponsored by a music program in New York.

Just be aware, this one requires that you send your poems in by snail mail.

So, do you also write poems, in addition to your books and stories?

Paying Market: The One that Got Away

Dark Prints Press is launching a new mystery line, and they're inviting short story submissions for their inaugural anthology. Here's how they describe what they're looking for:

Too often our crime-solving heroes do just that – solve crimes. But what about the ones who get away – the grifters who con and don't get caught, the criminals who play cat-and-mouse games with the law only to disappear into the unknown? What goes through their minds, or the minds of their victims and pursuers? What legends do they leave behind, both inspirational and terrifying?

They want short stories between 5,000 and 10,000 words, and if your story is chosen, you'll be paid 75 Australian dollars, which is actually about 75 American dollars (and Paypal converts in automatically).

Submissions can be sent to: submissions@darkprintspress.com.au

This is the gist of the information, but be sure to go to the Dark Prints Press website for the full details.

Boxfire Press: 3 Anthologies

Boxfire Press is accepting submissions for three different anthologies it's putting together.

Short Fiction: Short stories between 2,000 and 20,000 words. They accept contemporary science fiction, supernatural, slipstream and fantasy short stories for eBook distribution. Usually offers a small advance and royalties.

Flash Fiction: Sci-fi, fantasy, slipstream, paranormal, alternate history, supernatural, steam punk, super hero, etc. They're looking for original, never published short flash fiction pieces for a planned quarterly magazine. There's no minimum word count here, so it can be as short as you like. But nothing over 500 words. They pay .05 a word for flash fiction.

Red Scarf: There's a red scarf lying in the road. How did it get there? They want sci-fi and fantasy (loosely defined) short fiction stories that answer this question. They pay free copies and royalties if they publish you.