A Season of Strange - Writing Contest
--
Three Months of Monsters, Mysteries, and Madness + Money!
The Editors of Midnight Mosaic Fiction are excited to officially announce our Summer Series Contest, “A Season Of Strange”.
For three months — June, July, August — of 2019, we are looking for the best of Dark & Weird writing in the Season’s chosen themes:
Monsters, Mysteries, & Madness
How you address a theme is up to you — we encourage creativity and enjoy the unexpected. You may select one theme as your focus or a combination of all three.
Poetry, Flash Fiction, and Short Stories will have their own monthly spotlight (details below).
Qualities of particular importance will be: well-crafted, evocative writing; dark or strange concepts/characters/worlds; clean editing.
Submissions MUST be previously unpublished.
Submissions for A Season of Strange will open June 1st and you can find our submission form HERE on that date. Publication begins 6/16 and continues through 8/31.
A Season of Strange Submission Form
Submissions accepted from 6/1/19 — 6/15/19.
Poetry submitted outside of these dates will not be eligible for the contest, but will still be considered for publication during the Season. All selected poetry contest entries will be published between 6/16 — 6/30.
Poetry entries should be no more than 750 words each.
Each writer may submit up to 3 poems to the contest.
Submission does not guarantee publication.
Published poems have a chance to win one of the following prizes* and may be selected to be published in our upcoming anthology:
1st Place: $25 and an author spotlight
2nd Place: $15
3rd Place: $5
- Prizes are subject to increase if we receive enough sponsorship.
- Prizes will come in the form of an Amazon.com giftcard
Submissions accepted from 6/1/19 through 7/15/19.
Flash fiction submitted outside of these dates will not be eligible for the contest, but will still be considered for publication during the Season. All selected flash contest entries will be published between 7/16 — 7/31.
Flash Fiction should be between 300–1,500 words.
Each writer may submit up to 2 flash fiction pieces to the contest.
Submission does not guarantee publication.
Published Flash stories have a chance to win one of the following prizes* and may be selected to be published in our upcoming anthology:
1st Place: $30 and an author spotlight
2nd Place: $20
3rd Place: $10
- Prizes are subject to increase if we receive enough sponsorship.
- Prizes will come in the form of an Amazon.com giftcard
Submissions accepted from 6/1/19 through 8/9/19.
Please note that entries for this contest will be due sooner in the month than the Poetry & Flash Fiction contests. This will allow the editors ample time to review each short story entry. Short stories submitted outside of these dates will not be eligible for the contest, but will still be considered for publication.
All selected short story entries will be published between 8/1 — 8/31.
Short Stories should be between 1,000–3,000 words.
Each writer may submit up to 2 short stories to the contest.
Published Short stories have a chance to win one of the following prizes* and may be selected to be published in our upcoming anthology:
1st Place: $40 and an author spotlight
2nd Place: $30
3rd Place: $20
- Prizes are subject to increase if we receive enough sponsorship.
- Prizes will come in the form of an Amazon.com giftcard
There will be one additional $60 grand prize for the author who submitted the best overall collection of pieces for A Season of Strange.
The winner will have submitted pieces for at least two of the three monthly contests: Poetry, Flash Fiction, Short Story
The winner need not have won any other contest to be eligible.
In addition to the aforementioned criteria, Grand Prize judging will take into account the author’s ability to carry a theme from one piece to the next. We’d love to see poetry that relates to the author’s flash fiction or flash fiction with the same world or same characters as the author’s short story.
Bonus points will also be given to authors who match the season’s themes best: Monsters, Mysteries, Madness
All of the Season’s Prizes will be awarded via Amazon Gift Card. In cases where winners do not have access to Amazon, prizes will be awarded via PayPal.
Midnight Mosaic Fiction has a mission to bring money to the Fiction side of Medium. Since October of 2018, our publication has been hosting challenges and contests to honor dark & weird writing of all stripes, and to light a beacon for readers of the strange and hauntingly beautiful.
Like all publications on Medium, Midnight Mosaic does not make an income from the work we publish! We believe that writers of Fiction and Poetry deserve to earn for their creative work. This is why we allow writers to publish behind the paywall, provide free editing services as time permits, and publicize your work on Twitter.
The choice to create a Patreon account came from our discussion of how to continue providing additional incentive for authors to bring us their best work. You may have noticed there is a prize pool nearing $300 this season — sponsored entirely by your adoring editors. We are also gearing up to create a print anthology with the best works from Midnight Mosaic and shopping for the best cover art to bring attention to your tales.
This is why we are asking for sponsors.
Patreon is not designed for one time donations, however, you can pay once in any amount, and cancel your sponsorship directly after should you choose to do so. Otherwise, you can support Midnight Mosaic monthly for as long as you desire. All income will be used to fund prizes for future contests, costs associated with print-publishing, and support the editors.
Sponsorship is not required to enter our contests nor will it ever be required to publish with Midnight Mosaic. Sponsorship will not make anyone more likely to win the contest. :)
You can visit our Patreon page to see more about sponsorship.
A Note on Rights
By submitting works to our publication you agree that it is original, of your own composition, and that you have all the relevant rights to do so.
If your work is accepted, you agree to give Midnight Mosaic Fiction first serial electronic rights to your work and nonexclusive electronic and print rights. You are agreeing to let us archive your work on our website and to include it in future publications and anthologies.
Your work is yours, but we will continue to have the right to share it.
If your piece has been previously published elsewhere you agree that you have informed us and give Midnight Mosaic Fiction the right to republish, print, and archive the work (and that you have the right to do so).
All other rights revert to the author upon publication.
If you publish the work elsewhere in the future, we ask that credit be given Midnight Mosaic Fiction for first publication.
Question about Rights? Email MidnightMosaicFiction@gmail.com
