Not About The Buildings Fiction Contest and Prize

Not About The Buildings
Fiction Prize


The Idea:
Here at Not About The Buildings, we like reading. A lot. And we got to thinking that there's really no better way to keep people reading than to encourage good writing. Ideas started getting tossed around, and we decided that we should be rewarding good writers for their work. That's why we're extremely pleased to announce the first-ever Not About The Buildings Fiction Prize.

The Writing:
Entries must be previously unpublished works of fiction, 5000 words or less. Works will not be excluded from the contest based on genre, and stories geared towards a specific audience, including children or young adults, are also acceptable.

The Writers:
Writers need not be from Providence or Rhode Island to qualify for the Prize. The award is open to all writers, regardless of their location or previous publishing history. Entries will be judged solely on the merit of the story submitted, not on the author's location or reputation.

The Judging:
The winner will be decided by guest judge Rachel Cohn. The ever-delightful Cohn is the author of many wonderful teen novels, including Gingerbread, Shrimp, Cupcake, and Pop Princess. With David Levithan, she also co-authored Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (soon to be a movie, out October 3rd) and Naomi and Ely's No-Kiss List. She is based in Manhattan.

The Prizes (aka The Part You Really Care About):
A limited letterpress edition of the winning story will be published as a chapbook. An edition of 50 books will be published, with publishing rights to the story reverting back to the author immediately after publication. The printing will be done by Not About The Buildings in conjunction with the AS220 Print Shop, and the author will receive five copies of the edition.

Additionally, the winning author will receive other fabulous (and fabulously yet-to-be-determined) prizes.

The Winner:
The winner will be announced on or around November 1st, with publication of the winning story beginning soon after.

How To Enter:
Entries must be previously unpublished stories of 5000 words or less. Entries must be received (not postmarked) by October 15, 2008, and may be sent by mail (the preferred method) or e-mail.

There is no entry fee, but a $10 donation to Not About The Buildings is encouraged. (We realize this may sound suspicious, but it's not! We would never ask for bribes! We work from your donations, but at the same time we'd never want anyone with a great story to lose the contest just because they don't have the money! It's totally legit, and the contest judge will have no idea who donated anything.) You can donate using the Paypal link on the left of this page.

By submitting work you are acknowledging that Not About The Buildings has first publication rights to the story, which will revert back to the author immediately after the first edition is printed.

Entries may be sent to:

Not About The Buildings
Short Fiction Contest
246 Rankin Avenue
Providence, RI 02908

Print submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter, including the author's name, address, and contact information (telephone or e-mail.)

They may also be e-mailed (as .doc or .rtf attachments) to thebuildings@notaboutthebuildings.com E-mails should have the subject line FICTION PRIZE ENTRY, and should have the author's name, address, and phone number in the body of the e-mail (but not in the attachment.)

Further questions can be directed to thebuildings@notaboutthebuildings.com

Note Well: I consider Matthew Lawrence to be a friend and ally, and not only because we're "facebook friends". I know nothing beyond the above about this contest judge.