short story contest

clicking this link will take you to contest guidelines, where/how to submit, and other information about the contest that may be of interest to you

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# of contest entries: 52 (1 pending cash delivery)

currently, the winner will receive*: $254.80
+ muumuu house 'lifetime subscription'
+ 1-year subscription to pear noir!
+ *NEW* The Brandon Book Crisis by brandon scott gorrell and tao lin (editors) (signed)
+ during my nervous breakdown i want to have a biographer present by brandon scott gorrell (signed)
+ i am going to clone myself and kill the clone and eat it by sam pink (signed)
+ LIGHT BOXES by shane jones (signed)
+ A JELLO HORSE by matthew simmons (signed)
+ the condemned by noah cicero (used)
+ issues 1 & 2 of NO COLONY, edited by blake butler and ken baumann
+ i am in the air right now by kathryn regina
+ boring meadows by colin bassett
+ YUM YUM I CAN'T WAIT TO DIE by sam pink
+ the latest issue of the name of this band is the talking heads, a literary magazine by zachary german
+ all the ways i have failed you by kendra grant malone
+ personal firewire hard drive of gene morgan, editor of bear parade ("80g of music... 99.8% is without DRM restrictions. Lots of personal songs. Some secret recordings. Things that will likely embarrass me. 8058 songs total.")

*all items other than 'cash' are pending delivery/release

the net value (incl. retail) of the winning prize is currently: >$200

currently, the runner-up will receive:
+ during my nervous breakdown i want to have a biographer present by brandon scott gorrell (signed)
+ the latest issue of the name of this band is the talking heads, a literary magazine by zachary german (pending delivery)

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updates:

5/12/09: three days left. a new prize has been added: The Brandon Book Crisis, a new Muumuu House book

'the stranger's' blog has 'covered' this contest

5/11/09: 'silliman's blog' has 'covered' this contest (mad hits kind of)

'(un)solved mysteries' has 'covered' this contest

this contest has gained a blurb: "A literary contest that knows what it's about." - ron silliman, writer and editor of over 24 books to date, including the anthology In The American Tree.

5/08/09: 'a lot' of people have agreed to send me cash, but i will no longer add them to the tally right away, i will just wait until i get their cash. it's too confusing/ possibly misleading to track all people who say they will send cash. more updates soon, maybe

5/07/09: prizes are 'coming in.' received YUM YUM I CAN'T WAIT TO DIE by sam pink, BORING MEADOWS by colin bassett, I AM IN THE AIR RIGHT NOW by kathryn regina, and gene morgan's hard drive.

18 people are now in this contest. please tell your family and coworkers. please 'cover' this on your literary magazines' blogs. and on your blogs.

5/06/09: 'good morning "!"' 2 new additions to the winning prize have been added: a signed copy of matthew simmons' debut novella, 'A JELLO HORSE' and kendra grant malone's forthcoming chapbook 'all the ways i have failed you'

';' has 'covered' this contest

5/05/09: 'happy cinco de mayo"!"' 2 new additions to the winning prize have been added: a 1-year subscription to the literary pagazine pear noir! and the personal firewire hard drive of gene morgan

'google web history' has 'covered' this contest

5/04/09: in the past 36 hours, 4 new additions to the winning prize have been confirmed: LIGHT BOXES by shane jones, THE CONDEMNED by noah cicero, BORING MEADOWS by colin bassett, and YUM YUM I CAN'T WAIT TO DIE by sam pink.

i have 'taken down' "+ a chapbook by kendra grant malone (don't know which one yet, waiting further email communication) (pending delivery)" from the list of prizes until i receive further email communication from her.

'muumuu house' has 'covered' this contest

bambi almendinger has 'covered' this contest

5/03/09: 9 people in contest, seems sweet

today we have 2 more additions to winning prize: noah cicero's 'the condemned' (used) and colin bassett's 'boring meadows' (+ some more things by him, maybe)

the retail value of this prize is now over like $200

no joke

i have read 5 of the entries so far, feeling good

feeling sweet

just, like, feeling sweet about life and shit

i'm detracting from the informational tone of my contest

would anyone like to donate or 'cover' this on their website?

5/2/09: 'as you can see' the winning prize has been expanded to include a number of books, literary journals, and chapbooks

'what this means for contestants': contestants now have the chance to win not only cash and my book, but a number of other books, literary magazines, and chapbooks (retailing at over $180).

'hope this is ok' with current contestants, hope they don't feel 'cheated' because now that the prize has suddenly gotten so big, the number of contestants is more likely to rise, thus making individual entries' chances of winning lower (based on # of contestants alone)

if you are a contestant and feel 'cheated' by this course of events, please let me know and i will refund your entry fee

'what this means for potential contestants': potential contestants will probably increase, resulting in more contestants

thank you zachary german, kendra grant malone, kathryn regina, blake butler, sam pink, and tao lin for agreeing to 'donate' merchandise to this contest

if you would like to donate a book, literary magazine, or chapbook to this contest, please email me at brandongorrell[at]gmail.com. i will also trade for a book of mine.

i will continue to work on expanding the prize

giles ruffer has 'covered' this contest

thomas p levy has 'covered' this contest

5/1/09: to be transparent as possible, after the winner and runner-up are announced, i will send screen shots of my paypal history to anyone that requests them. this way, it will be clear that i did not 'cheat' anyone (in terms of money paid out)

i have decided to allow people affiliated with 'muumuu house' to join my contest. this will not affect, i believe, my perspective when judging your story or their story (if they choose to enter - none of them has yet). i have made this decision because i feel that there is no 'real reason' to disallow anyone on the basis of 'who they are,' since i am judging 'writing' not 'who a person is'

i have offered, to 3 people who are 'low on cash'/'down and out', to 'front' them the entry fee (2 people have rejected this offer already, one hasn't replied). if i do 'front' anyone money, this will not affect prize winnings. if the person who i have 'fronted' money to does not win, i will 'front' their portion to the pool, and that person will owe me the entry fee

a thought: if you haven't deduced this already, there are both benefits and drawbacks to both me and contestants/ potential contestants of very few people entering this contest. there are also benefits and drawbacks to both me and contestants/ potential contestants of a lot of people entering this contest. however, i encourage you, if you believe that your story has a very high chance of winning, regardless of how many contestants there are, to 'spread the word' about this contest

it would also be in both mine and contestants' interests to notify blogs/ literary magazines of this contest; the more people that hear about the contest, the more 'exposure' the winner and runner-up will have

another thought: i appreciate contestants inherently 'placing their trust in me' by entering this contest

htmlgiant has 'covered' this contest

tao lin has 'covered' this contest

'the sprawl' has 'covered' this contest

'buy her candy' has 'covered' this contest

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if you have any further questions about this short story contest, please do not hesitate to email me at brandongorrell[at]gmail.com

thank you