Thread: Findning the right competition

Dear all,

Hello. My name is Jon Ronnquist and I have just joined up. I am looking for some advice on entering a story competition.

I recently completed what I was sure was a short story at just under 22000 words. It had taken considerable effort on my part to keep it that short. So you could probably hear my sinking heart when I set about looking for a short story competition. One to two thousand, no more than five thousand and a single offering at no more than eight thousand words. I can just about describe what I do on a dull morning within these boundaries. How anyone can tell a story under these conditions is beyond me.

So what is a 22000 word story, if not short? And is there an arena in which to compete with such a work? I can't cut it down and I don't think I will ever write more than a shopping list that is shorter, so where do I go?

Anyone have a suggestion?

22,000 words is a novella. I had always thought 20,000 to 25,000 was a novella but of course I Googled it before posting and learned that novella is actually considered to be 20,000 to 50,000 words. Short story I would think (didn't Google) is around 1,500 to 7,000 words.

Good luck finding somewhere for your story. Personally I don't think you should try to shorten it, I had an english teacher who always told me that a story writes itself and it will be the length it needs to be. I don't know what they would have to say about editing but it's something that I've always stuck to.

^ Agreed. If you can't find a competition that will cater to your work, I suggest finding other venues for it. Check out if any agents dig a novella. Or self-publish your work.

I have found the market in the UK to be far more restrictive in terms of word count (1000-3000), and the US market generally considers short fiction of up to around 7000 words. It seems as though you simply need to redefine your work, as Sara said, as a novella. I'm unsure of the market place for novellas, though am certain your story won't be selected for publication in the short fiction market, whose word limit can be as low as 20000 for an entire magazine.

Good luck with your search.

Scott

Jon if you don't get anyone interested in your novella on it's own why don't you put it in as part of a package (perhaps with another novella or some shorts). This way if you don't get interest in it you have a ready made compilation for self-publishing.