The Scribes Prize
Full details
The Scribes Prize is now OPEN for submissions
from June 1, 2024 - September 1, 2024
The Prize
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All winners and honorable mentions will be published in mid-October 2024 in ScribesMICRO's 46th issue and have a full page bio, photograph, and interview listed on our Authors page. In addition, they will receive digital award seals that they may use on their websites and social media to announce their contest placement.
For submitters who aren't chosen as the top 18, we might extend an offer of publication to especially notable stories. You are absolutely NOT required to accept our offer of publication if you do not place in the contest. For more info, here are the regular submission guidelines for our magazine.
All submissions, whether they are chosen to win the top prizes or not, will receive 1-2 sentences of feedback from our first round judges.
The Rules
Please
read these rules carefully before submission. If you have any questions
that aren't answered in these guidelines, please reach out to contest
administrator Alison McBain at scribes.micro@gmail.com.
Submissions will be open between June 1, 2024 EST to September 1, 2024 EST (midnight deadline). Any submissions sent outside of this timing will be disqualified from the prize and the entry fee returned (if already paid).
Any genre of fiction or creative nonfiction is fair game - we like all stories from humor to literary stories, space opera to murder mysteries, and everything in between. However, for this prize we will not be accepting poetry.
We require a $5 entry fee per submitted story. Reprints, multiple submissions, and simultaneous submissions are welcome, as long as the author still retains the rights for their pieces to be published. Maximum of 3 submissions accepted per author; each submission must be sent in a separate email and be accompanied by the $5 entry fee. Even if submitting multiple entries, no author may win more than one prize.
Stories must be between 90-110 words, excluding title. If the story falls outside this word count, it will be returned to the author with a note to fix the word count to fall within our guidelines; authors will be allowed 1 chance to resubmit the same story for consideration, which must be done before the contest's closing deadline of September 1, 2024 (stories sent in the final week on or before September 1, 2024 will get one week's grace period after being notified to revise and resubmit). If the author fails to change their story, their entry fee will be returned (if already paid) and their submission removed from consideration for the prize.
Simultaneous submissions that are published elsewhere during this time are STILL eligible for the the prize as long as you retain reprint rights. However, your winning entry MUST be available to be published in ScribesMICRO's Issue 46 in October 2024. If you do NOT retain publishing rights and a winning entry can NOT be published by us, it cannot win any of the cash prizes. Publication is a part of the requirement for winning the cash prizes.
Writers previously published in ScribesMICRO are welcome and encouraged to submit. No editors of ScribesMICRO or members of the Fairfield Scribes writing group are eligible to enter this contest.
No changes will be made to the winning stories before publication without the written permission of the authors.
Submissions will be open between June 1, 2024 EST to September 1, 2024 EST (midnight deadline). Any submissions sent outside of this timing will be disqualified from the prize and the entry fee returned (if already paid).
Any genre of fiction or creative nonfiction is fair game - we like all stories from humor to literary stories, space opera to murder mysteries, and everything in between. However, for this prize we will not be accepting poetry.
We require a $5 entry fee per submitted story. Reprints, multiple submissions, and simultaneous submissions are welcome, as long as the author still retains the rights for their pieces to be published. Maximum of 3 submissions accepted per author; each submission must be sent in a separate email and be accompanied by the $5 entry fee. Even if submitting multiple entries, no author may win more than one prize.
Stories must be between 90-110 words, excluding title. If the story falls outside this word count, it will be returned to the author with a note to fix the word count to fall within our guidelines; authors will be allowed 1 chance to resubmit the same story for consideration, which must be done before the contest's closing deadline of September 1, 2024 (stories sent in the final week on or before September 1, 2024 will get one week's grace period after being notified to revise and resubmit). If the author fails to change their story, their entry fee will be returned (if already paid) and their submission removed from consideration for the prize.
Simultaneous submissions that are published elsewhere during this time are STILL eligible for the the prize as long as you retain reprint rights. However, your winning entry MUST be available to be published in ScribesMICRO's Issue 46 in October 2024. If you do NOT retain publishing rights and a winning entry can NOT be published by us, it cannot win any of the cash prizes. Publication is a part of the requirement for winning the cash prizes.
Writers previously published in ScribesMICRO are welcome and encouraged to submit. No editors of ScribesMICRO or members of the Fairfield Scribes writing group are eligible to enter this contest.
No changes will be made to the winning stories before publication without the written permission of the authors.
How to Submit
Email your 90-110 word stories to scribes.micro@gmail.com in standard manuscript format. The subject line of your email should include the phrase "The Scribes Prize" - if it doesn't, it might be mistaken for a regular submission to our magazine and treated accordingly.
You do NOT have to send in a bio or cover letter with your emailed submission, but we do appreciate a quick note to say hi (although we won't dock you points if you don't). Please make sure to include a story title and your name/pen name with your submission. If you don't include your title and name, we will have a harder time matching your story with your entry fee (and it makes our judges grumpy if we have to hunt down this info).
***Very Important***
Please include your PayPal email address in your email when you submit to the prize. This is how we will pay the winners of the competition, in addition to helping us match up your entry fee to your submission. If you cannot accept payments via PayPal, we CANNOT send you the cash prize winnings. We apologize if this is an inconvenience for some writers, but we can only accept fees and pay prize monies via PayPal.
After you've sent in your submission, pay your entry fee by clicking the PayPal button below and submitting your $5 entry. In the subject line for your payment, please include your name and story title to help us match entry fees to submissions.
You do NOT have to send in a bio or cover letter with your emailed submission, but we do appreciate a quick note to say hi (although we won't dock you points if you don't). Please make sure to include a story title and your name/pen name with your submission. If you don't include your title and name, we will have a harder time matching your story with your entry fee (and it makes our judges grumpy if we have to hunt down this info).
***Very Important***
Please include your PayPal email address in your email when you submit to the prize. This is how we will pay the winners of the competition, in addition to helping us match up your entry fee to your submission. If you cannot accept payments via PayPal, we CANNOT send you the cash prize winnings. We apologize if this is an inconvenience for some writers, but we can only accept fees and pay prize monies via PayPal.
After you've sent in your submission, pay your entry fee by clicking the PayPal button below and submitting your $5 entry. In the subject line for your payment, please include your name and story title to help us match entry fees to submissions.
PayPal Link for The Scribes Prize:
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We will send an email response at every stage of the contest, including:
-When you first send in your submission, you will get an automatic response back that we received your story.
- When we receive BOTH your emailed story submission and entry fee and your story has been entered into the contest.
OR
- Email notification that we received your story but not your entry fee - or that we received your entry fee but not your story (in either case, we'd ask you to submit the missing component).
If you do not receive these two emails within a week of BOTH your submission and entry fee payment, please reach out to us at scribes.micro@gmail.com. It might mean your submission has been lost, your payment has not been received, or that our emails are going to your SPAM folder.
In addition, we will send these further emails as the contest progresses:
- Release of your story if it doesn't advance past the first round of judging, plus feedback from the first round judges.
- A notification sent to the finalists asking for your bios, photographs, and answers to interview questions that will be published with your story if you are chosen as a winner.
- Announcement to all entrants when The Scribes Prize's winning entries are published in Issue 46. Unless you are one of our winners or signed up to our email list, this will be the final email you receive from us - we do not hold onto email addresses or add you to our email list without you voluntarily signing up to it yourself. Prize winners will receive additional notification to complete the payment of the cash prizes to them.
-When you first send in your submission, you will get an automatic response back that we received your story.
- When we receive BOTH your emailed story submission and entry fee and your story has been entered into the contest.
OR
- Email notification that we received your story but not your entry fee - or that we received your entry fee but not your story (in either case, we'd ask you to submit the missing component).
If you do not receive these two emails within a week of BOTH your submission and entry fee payment, please reach out to us at scribes.micro@gmail.com. It might mean your submission has been lost, your payment has not been received, or that our emails are going to your SPAM folder.
In addition, we will send these further emails as the contest progresses:
- Release of your story if it doesn't advance past the first round of judging, plus feedback from the first round judges.
- A notification sent to the finalists asking for your bios, photographs, and answers to interview questions that will be published with your story if you are chosen as a winner.
- Announcement to all entrants when The Scribes Prize's winning entries are published in Issue 46. Unless you are one of our winners or signed up to our email list, this will be the final email you receive from us - we do not hold onto email addresses or add you to our email list without you voluntarily signing up to it yourself. Prize winners will receive additional notification to complete the payment of the cash prizes to them.
The Judging Process
All the judges for The Scribes Prize are editors from ScribesMICRO,
and we have certain stories we like or dislike that are not based
solely on the quality of the writing itself. If your story isn't chosen
as a finalist, it doesn't mean it wasn't a good story; it simply means
it wasn't the right story for us at this time. Our best advice is to
take a look at what we publish at ScribesMICRO - all our previous issues are free to read online and will give you a good sampling of our taste.
Each incoming submission will be read by our first round judges, who will decide if the story will move on to the finalist round. Once the submission passes to the finalist round, there WILL be a bit of a wait, since the winners and honorable mentions can't be chosen until after our submissions close on September 1st, 2024.
Those stories that advance to the finalist round will be judged as a blind read. What that means is that the author's name and other identifying information will be removed from each story submission, so that the prizes will be awarded according to the merits of each story alone.
***Very important***
WE WILL NOT HOLD FIRST ROUND SUBMISSIONS. We understand that a lot of the publishing game is about waiting... and waiting... and waiting some more, but we believe it's not fair to writers when contests indefinitely hold onto submissions that will not become competition finalists. For all submissions that do NOT pass the first round, we will immediately notify you that we are releasing your story back to you so that you are able to send it elsewhere and hopefully find a good home for it.
So what that means is you will hear back from us within a couple weeks whether your story is still under consideration and has passed the first round of judging or is being released to you. Every story will receive an email notification after the first round of judging. If you don't receive this initial placement email from us within 2-3 weeks of your submission, please query us to make sure your story has not wandered off.
The longer your story is held, the higher up the food chain it's going... and the more likely it is a contender for one of the prizes. So, after you receive your initial placement email, NO news is GOOD news.
Each incoming submission will be read by our first round judges, who will decide if the story will move on to the finalist round. Once the submission passes to the finalist round, there WILL be a bit of a wait, since the winners and honorable mentions can't be chosen until after our submissions close on September 1st, 2024.
Those stories that advance to the finalist round will be judged as a blind read. What that means is that the author's name and other identifying information will be removed from each story submission, so that the prizes will be awarded according to the merits of each story alone.
***Very important***
WE WILL NOT HOLD FIRST ROUND SUBMISSIONS. We understand that a lot of the publishing game is about waiting... and waiting... and waiting some more, but we believe it's not fair to writers when contests indefinitely hold onto submissions that will not become competition finalists. For all submissions that do NOT pass the first round, we will immediately notify you that we are releasing your story back to you so that you are able to send it elsewhere and hopefully find a good home for it.
So what that means is you will hear back from us within a couple weeks whether your story is still under consideration and has passed the first round of judging or is being released to you. Every story will receive an email notification after the first round of judging. If you don't receive this initial placement email from us within 2-3 weeks of your submission, please query us to make sure your story has not wandered off.
The longer your story is held, the higher up the food chain it's going... and the more likely it is a contender for one of the prizes. So, after you receive your initial placement email, NO news is GOOD news.
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