Ellipsis Flash Collection Competition
Please take a moment to read through the guidelines set out below before submitting, thank you.
What and how to submit
- This call for submissions is only open to authors who have not had a collection/novel/novella published previously. Having a single piece within a multi-authored anthology or collection does not exclude you.
- The competition will be judged by Stephanie Hutton.
- Only submit one collection per author.
- Simultaneous submissions are fine but please let us know as soon as possible if your collection is accepted elsewhere.
- All collections will be blind-read.
- Submissions close: Midnight, 17th Jan 2019.
- Long list announced: 21st March 2019.
- Short list announced: 28th March 2019.
- Overall winner announced: 29th March 2019.
- Publication date: Late April 2019 (date TBC).
- All collections must include at least 50% content that is unpublished online or in print, this also includes self-published pieces.
- No racism, sexism, homophobia or religious hatred.
- Email all submissions to: EllipsisZineSubs@gmail.com and format the subject line of your email with FC (Flash Collection) and the title of your work. For example: FC – My Collection Title.
- Your covering email MUST include the following: Your name, the title of the collection, the total word count and the theme of your collection if it is a chapbook, or a single line synopsis if you are submitting a Novella-in-Flash.
- Attach your collection to the email as a .doc or .docx file.
- Add the title of the collection to the footer of each page. Do not include any personal information to this document.
- Include a title page and add your theme/synopsis to this page. For example: Three Sisters of Stone – Follow three sisters over three decades as they manage adversity in very different ways, culminating in loss, growth and self-knowledge.
- Please format your document with a 12pt, double-spaced font, preferably Times New Roman or Arial.
- The total word count should not exceed 17,000, including the title.
- The minimum word count should be no less than 7,000.
- Each individual piece should be no longer than 1,000 words.
- Please include a contents page with the names of each flash and the individual word count. Where pieces have been previously published please indicate this on the contents page and ensure that you have permissions to re-publish them.
- We may ask for, or suggest, minor edits/changes to your collection before publication.
- The published author will receive 10 complimentary copies and a royalty payment of 25% of each collection sold, in line with our standard royalty payments.
- Any submissions that don’t adhere to the guidelines will be declined automatically. (We all make mistakes so if you notice something after submitting, let us know. If the issue isn’t addressed before the close of submissions, then the collection will be declined unread.)
- This is a free to enter competition, however, if you would like to support this website and Ellipsis, you could make a small donation, purchase a product or take out a subscription via the buttons below. ( A digital zine cost from as little as £2.50 or approx $3) This is completely voluntary and will have no impact on the selection process.
What we are looking for
Our vision for the winner is for either a themed collection of works that clearly sit together coherently or a novella-in-flash in which the individual pieces stand alone but create a narrative arc across the submission. For a perfect interpretation of the latter, see ‘Three Sisters of Stone’ which we published earlier in the year.
We are not looking for poetry or non-fiction / memoir collections.
Results and feedback
All long listed authors will be contacted via email, to confirm their placement. Stephanie Hutton will provide feedback/comments on all shortlisted collections.
