I’m thrilled to bits. I sent Tramp for a professional critique by a short story expert and just got her report back this morning.

It’s a two page report with lots of detailed comments and about a dozen editorial suggestions. It ends by saying it’s the best story she’s critiqued in a long time and that I should enter it in a competition.

She also said it deserves a better title so, by way of celebration, I’ve edited it and uploaded it again as The Man Inside although I’m very open to any alternatives you might suggest.

Also – any ideas for suitable comps??? I'm a bit out of touch with them these days.

Dee
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Excellent news, Dee!

I've got a great huge list of comps, and I've been meaning to consolidate them into a text document for a long time, so I am doing that now and will share it with you when I'm done, okay?

Ani

Dee, out of curiousity, how much was the crit on a short story? Do you feel it was worthwhile? Two pages on a short story is quite impressive, really. I've paid an extra couple of quid as part of a competition entry before for 'critique' in the past, and got back a paragraph saying things like "is this really a story?"

All the best,

Ben

No idea, Ben!

In October I went to a one-day short story workshop organised by my local writers’ circle and this critique was included in the cost. I’m about to email her to thank her, so I’ll ask for her fee scale and if I can post her details on here. I’ll let you know.

Dee
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Okay, here's a list. It could be much larger, but it's only got a handful of US comps, and I've excluded genre comps or flash comps and a couple of broad UK-based comps (VS Pritchett comes to mind) as the info wasn't to hand:


COMPS LIST

31 December 2004 - Jacqui Bennet Writers Bureau Short Story Competition - First Prize: £150 - Second Prize: £50 - Third Prize: £25. Up to 2,500 words, £4 entry fee. Send as email attachment to competitions@jbwb.co.uk.

14 January 2005 - Chapter One Promotions Open Short Story Competition - First prize: £2,500; second prize: £1,500; third prize: £500. Plus the top thirteen pieces will be published in Chapter One Promotions book entitled Collections in 2005. Max. 2,500 words and the piece must be the writer's own work and previously unpublished. Closing date: Friday 14 January 2005. The entry fee is £8 per story. All entries must include a separate sheet outlining the author's details; cheques payable to Chapter One Promotions. Send to P O Box 43667, London SE22 9XU. Tel: 0845 456 5364. For more information e-mail info@chapteronepromotions.com .

15 January 2005 - Glimmer Train Open - Submission dates: November 1st – January 15th. Results on April 10th. Reading fee $15 per story. Prizes: 1st place wins $2,000, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of that issue. 2nd/ 3rd-place: $1,000/$600, respectively. Open to all writers, all themes, all story lengths! No novels, please. On-line submissions. www.glimmertrain.com.

31 January 2005 - The Cotswold Writers' Circle Open Writing Competition - Fee: £5 per entry, short story or poem. PRIZES 1st :£500. 2nd : £250. 3rd :£100. Send SAE for full details and entry form to: Anne Brooks, Cotswold Writers' Circle, Vestry Cottage, Bell Lane, Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire GL6 9BP

31 January 2005 - The Iowa Award - A contest from The Iowa Review. Submit during the month of January 2005. $1,000 to winner plus publication in December 2005 issue. Submit up to 25 pages of prose or 10 pages of poetry (whether one poem or several). Work must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine assuming you advise us of acceptance elsewhere. All submissions will be considered for publication in The Iowa Review. $15 entry fee. No electronic submissions. Website: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/mainpages/iowaaward.html

28 February 2005 - Grace Dieu Writers' Circle Open Competition - Fictional short story up to 2,000 words. Closing date 28th February 2005. First prize £200.00 with other cash prizes. Details are available from: Competition Organiser, 5 Thirlmere, Agar Nook, Coalville, Leicestershire LE67 4SW

1 March 2005 - Mathew Prichard Award - Open competition for an original short story. £1,000 first prize. Previous winners have been first time writers. Other prizes of £600, £300, £100. Details from: Competition secretary Marjorie Williams 2 Rhododendron Close, Cyncoed, Cardiff CF23 7HS Telephone 029 20761170 www.samwaw.org.uk

15 March 2005 -- Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction - Prize money: First: $1,000. First place winners will be published in Bellingham Review. Second and third place winners and finalists may be considered for publication. $15 for the first entry (one nonfiction work, one short story, or up to three poems). Each additional entry, including each additional poem, is $10. Everyone entering the competition will receive a complimentary two-issue subscription to Bellingham Review. Submissions must be postmarked between December 1, 2004, and March 15, 2005. Maximum length for prose is 8,000 words. Winners will be announced by August, 2005. Website: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~bhreview/tobiaswolff.htm

31 March 2005 -- Cadenza - prizes: £300, £100, £50. (Bi-annual, second comp deadline is 30 September 2005.) No more than 4,000 words, emailed in body of email, payment £5 made via PayPal on website: www.cadenza-magazine.co.uk.

31 March 2005 -- Glimmer Train New Writers - (and 30 September 2005) -- Open only to writers whose fiction has not appeared in any publication with a circulation over 5,000. (Entries must be entirely unpublished.) Stories not to exceed 12,000 words. 1st place wins $1,200, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of that issue. 2nd/ 3rd-place: $500/$300, respectively. $12 reading fee per story. Submit on line via website: www.glimmertrain.com.

31 March 2005 -- The John Gardner Memorial Prize for Fiction - The annual winner receives a $500 Prize and Publication in Summer Issue of Harpur Palate. Opens: January 1. Short story submissions should be: 8000 words or less, and previously unpublished. http://harpurpalate.binghamton.edu/johngardner.html

30 June 2005 -- Arthur Edelstein Prize for Short Fiction - (entries only accepted in the month of June). Three prizes will be awarded: First prize: 500.00; Second prize: 300.00; Third prize: 200.00. Unpublished short stories up to 5,000 words in length. Submit by post or electronically. Entries remain the property of the author and may be submitted elsewhere. $10 reading fee (can be paid electronically on site). Website: http://www.writingsite.com/

30 June 2005 - The Bridport Prize - Max of 5000 words. 1st Prize = £3000, 2nd Prize = £1000, 3rd Prize = £500, + 10 supplementary prizes of £50. Each entry costs £6. http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/

30 September 2005 - Seafield Writing Competition - 'Friends and Other Strange Creatures': Short Story up to 2,000 words (typed and double spaced) Poetry ... up to 30 lines (typed and single spaced) Entry Fee ... £3 per entry, cheques payable to Seafield Publishing. Closing date 30th September 2005. Entries cannot be returned. PRIZES (stories & poems): First £100, Second £50. Send entries to: Seafield Publishing, Flat 2, 83 Greens Place, South Shields NE33 2AQ. For further information ring 0191 4551268

? November 2005 - Fish Short Story Competition - Entry deadline probably in November 2005, 2004 prize money was 10,000 euros (~£6,000),
http://www.fishpublishing.com/index.htm

Monthly - Writers’ Forum -- http://www.writers-forum.com/ - 1,000 - 3,000 words. Prizes range from a minimum of £150 up to £250 in each issue with an annual trophy and a cheque for £1,000 for the best story of the year. The competition is open to all nationalities but entries must be in English. Deadlines 2004 are: 5th day of every month. Any entries missing a deadline will be automatically moved forward to the next competition.

Wow, Ani!

That'll keep me off the streets tonight... thank you.

Dee, I remember the story... it was a goodun!! And I remember how much it made me think about the homeless.

Sorry to be all 'right on' n stuff... But wouldn't it be great if we could compile a load of short stories on the same subject and sell ‘em for charity!... Not that easy I know...Just a thought that crossed my dim brain...


Derek.

Not easy at all, Derek. Earlier this year, myself and a couple of friends wanted to produce a collection of short stories to raise funds for our local hospital radio but we couldn’t find anyone willing to fund the printing costs, so it fell through.

Perhaps you could donate a story to The Big Issue?

Dee
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You make it sound like I'd be doing them a favour! .

Just got back from the UK and on-line again - is it cold or what? And what happened to the sun? It's like perpetual twilight over there.

Anyway, great news, Dee. Not surprised to hear it though. I think it's a tremendous short story, beautifully written and multilayered. Best of luck with it.

Secondly, thanks Ani, for such a great comps list.

Best and happy christmas

Sion

I’ve just had a reply from Bead Roberts.

Her charges for workshops are £70 (plus travel expenses) per morning or afternoon session. They include a free critique given to all workshop participants if sent within the three months following the workshop.

Other than that, she only does critiques for writers she has met – at a workshop, for instance – otherwise it would encroach too much on her own writing time.

She’s happy for me to post her email address here, so do contact her if you want to find out where she’s doing workshops or to organise one yourself.

Beadholm@aol.com

She’s suggested I lengthen this story and enter it for the Bridport! Yippee!

Dee
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You go, girl!!!

(And thanks for sharing those contact details. Do you know where she's based?)

Ani

Thanks, Ani,

She's in Leicestershire. I don't know how far she would travel. She came to us in West Yorkshire for a full day, but I think she stayed overnight with one of our members who she's known for some time.

Dee
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Thanks for that info!