Contests

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A Few Things Regarding Hint

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Yesterday Robin Vidimos reviewed the Hint Fiction anthology for The Denver Post and said many nice things, including:

"Hint Fiction" is not a collection of memoirs, but a collection of short stories meant to challenge and enlighten. These works feel like a beginning with a number of possible conclusions, it is left to the reader to do the heavy lifting.

The resulting stories offer a punch that runs intuitively counter to their length. The resulting volume will end up broken-spined and well-thumbed, because the favorites are ones that will be returned to and shared, time and again.

Whisper n Thunder has been inspired by the NPR piece to hold a Hint Fiction contest of their own, with some pretty decent cash prizes.

Speaking of contests, there is still time to enter SmokeLong Quarterly’s 30-Word contest.

Friday night was the last stop on the mini Hint Fiction tour at the Big Blue Marble. Not many pictures were taken, but those that were can be found here.

Finally, depending on what time you read this, you might be able to check out my live interview with Sean Moncrieff of Newstalk, Ireland’s independent talk radio station. It's supposed to start at 3:30 GMT (10:30 am EST) today. You should be able to listen live on the website, I believe.

Coming soon: a non Hint Fiction post. I promise.

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The Ultimate Flash Fiction Package

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Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer hits bookstores on November 1st here in the United States, and to celebrate, we're having a contest!

First, what is Hint Fiction? Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's six-word story -- "For sale: baby shoes, never worn" -- Hint Fiction is a story of 25 words or fewer that suggests a larger, more complex story. The anthology features 125 stories by writers worldwide, including such luminaries as Joyce Carol Oates, James Frey, Peter Straub, and Ha Jin. Here is what people are saying already:

“The perfect story collection for all of us with too little time on our hands is a brilliant reminder of the magic that happens when you string the right words together. A must-read for anyone who is or wants to be a writer.” — Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of House Rules

“Some of these stories suggest entire novels in just few words. So, in this small book, you have a whole library. It’s reading at the speed of light.” — Robert Shapard, editor of Sudden Fiction and Flash Fiction

“The stories in Robert Swartwood’s Hint Fiction have some serious velocity.  Some explode, some needle, some bleed, and some give the reader room to dream. They’re fun and addictive, like puzzles or haiku or candy. I’ve finished mine but I want more.” — Stewart O’Nan, author of Last Night at the Lobster and Songs for the Missing

The anthology is currently available for pre-order at:

You can follow Hint Fiction on Twitter, "like" it on Facebook, and even add it to your shelf on Goodreads.

Now what's the Ultimate Flash Fiction Package? These eight wonderful anthologies of course!

The total cost for these eight books is $120.00, and it can all be yours.

How?

By simply linking back to this contest. Put it on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Then paste the URL in the comments section of this post (if on Facebook or any other password-protected site, paste your profile URL). The contest runs until midnight, October 31st, EST. A winner will be picked by random and notified by e-mail and announced here November 1st. Five runners-up will receive a copy of Hint Fiction. Have fun!

(Note that the website may hold your comments for moderation, so don't worry if it doesn't appear right away.)

4th Annual Micro Award Open For Submissions

Alan Presley, the new Micro Award Administration, asked me to pass along the following information:

The 4th Annual Micro Award will be open for submissions from Oct 1 - Dec 31, 2010. The Micro Award is presented annually for flash fiction of any genre, not exceeding 1000 words, published in 2010. Editors may submit two stories; writers may submit one. The winner of the $500 prize and all other finalists will be announced on Feb 17, 2011. Visit our website for official rules and submission guidelines: http://www.microaward.org.

By the way, in case you didn't know, it's already October 1st, so send in those submissions!