2017 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Chapbook Contest

August 1–October 23, 2017 Judge: Lily Hoang

To receive email deadline alerts about this fabulist fiction contest click here

The winner of the annual Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Chapbook Competition wins a $1,000 prize, publication of the chapbook with a full color cover by Omnidawn, 100 free copies of the winning chapbook, and extensive display advertising and publicity, including prominent display ads in Poets & Writers Magazine, Rain Taxi Review of Books and other publications. (Note that the guidelines for this fiction contest are very similar to the guidelines for Omnidawn's poetry contests.)

Guidelines

For this contest, Fabulist Fiction includes magic realism and literary forms of fantasy, science fiction, horror, fable, and myth. Stories can be primarily realistic, with elements of non-realism, or primarily, or entirely non-realistic.
Open to all writers worldwide. There are no citizenship or residency requirements or limitations.
Postal and online submissions are accepted from around the world.
Manuscripts must be in English, although it is perfectly acceptable to include some text in other languages.
All Omnidawn writing competitions are blind, so you can submit manuscripts that contain identifying information, but please be aware that such information will be removed from manuscripts before they are passed on to our editors who select manuscripts to be sent to the judge.
Manuscript submissions for all contests must be original.
Stories are NOT eligible for inclusion within a submission if they have been previously published online or in print or Ebook editions.
We recommend that you keep the total length of your manuscript between 5,000 and 12,000 words, consisting of either one story or multiple stories.
Simultaneous submissions to other contests are perfectly acceptable. Please send us an email to let us know if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
Revisions are not allowed to a manuscript after it has been submitted to the contest. However, the winning author will have time to revise the manuscript before publication. We do reserve the right to get approval from the judge if those revisions are significant.
The reading fee is $18 per entry. For $2 extra to cover shipping cost, entrants may choose to receive a copy of the winning chapbook or any Omnidawn fiction title, including our highly acclaimed ParaSheres anthology of fabulist and new wave fabulist fiction. A complete list of all Omnidawn fiction titles is available at www.omnidawn.com/products-page/fiction
Multiple submissions to this contest are acceptable, but each manuscript must be submitted separately, with a separate entry fee.
Online entries must be received and postal entries must be postmarked between August 1 and October 23, 2017 at midnight Pacific Daylight Time.
NOT ELIGIBLE are translations; collaborations by more than one author; students, colleagues, or close friends of the judge, Lily Hoang; Omnidawn past and present staff and interns; authors of books Omnidawn has published, and winners of previous Omnidawn BOOK and CHAPBOOK contests. Winners of Omnidawn's Broadside Contest are still eligible to enter and win Omnidawn BOOK and CHAPBOOK contests.

If we find a serious error in your entry we will contact you to obtain a correction at no cost to you, so your error will not disqualify you. Nor will a few smaller errors in your manuscript, including spelling, punctuation, formatting, or typographic errors, reduce your chances of winning. (We fully understand that such errors sometimes occur for everyone, and that these can be easily corrected later.)

The fabulist fiction chapbook contests winner will be announced to our email list and on this web page in March 2018. If you provide us with an email address as part of your contact information (required for online entries, optional for postal entries) we will also send you an email notification of the contest winner and finalists. We expect to publish the winning chapbook in April 2019.

All the essential information for the chapbook contest is contained in the above Guidelines.

If you would like to receive reminders about this contest's opening on August 1 and other reminders about this contest's deadlines (and if you choose, other Omnidawn Email announcements):

Click here to add yourself to our mailing list. (Your email address will not be shared with anyone.)

If you want to read helpful additional details below and then go to the submission procedures, you can:

Click here for helpful additional details and the postal and online poetry contest submission procedures.

OR, if you want to skip the additional details and go directly to concise submission procedures, you can either:

Go to the POSTAL submission procedure below by clicking here.

Go to the ONLINE fabulist fiction submission web page by clicking here, or paste the following link into your browser: www.omnidawn.com/submissions2

Winners of Omnidawn's Fabulist Fiction Prize

J.D. Moyer

2016 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest Winner — Judge: Bradford Morrow

J.D. Moyer — Book Title: The Icelandic Cure

Available April 2018

J.D. Moyer lives in Oakland, California, with his wife, daughter, and mystery-breed dog. He writes science fiction, produces electronic music in two groups (Jondi & Spesh and Momu), runs a record label (Loöq Records), and blogs at jdmoyer.com. His previous stories have appeared in Strange Horizons and Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores. He is currently working on his first novel, The Sky Woman.

The five finalists selected by Bradford Morrow (in alphabetical order by last name) are: Alex Filipowicz, Chicago, Illinois; Katharine Haake, Los Angeles, California; Couri Johnson, Marugami, Japan; GennaRose Nethercott, Guilford, Vermont; and E. K. Wagner, Columbus, Ohio.

David M. Armstrong

2015 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest Winner — Judge: Brian Evenson

David M. Armstrong — Book Title: Missives from the Green Campaign

Available October 2017

David Armstrong’s story collections are Going Anywhere, winner of the Leapfrog Press Fiction Prize, and Reiterations, winner of the New American Fiction Prize, forthcoming in 2017. Individually, his stories have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Narrative Magazine, Mississippi Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, Desert Companion Magazine, Best of Ohio Short Stories, and elsewhere. His short fiction has won the Mississippi Review Prize, Yemassee’s William Richey Short Fiction Contest, the New SouthWriting Contest, and Jabberwock Review’s Prize for Fiction, among other awards. He is a professor of creative writing at the University of the Incarnate Word and lives with his wife and son in San Antonio, Texas.

The five finalists selected by Brian Evenson (in alphabetical order by last name) are: Alex Filipowicz, Chicago, Illinois; Katharine Haake, Los Angeles, California; Couri Johnson, Marugami, Japan; GennaRose Nethercott, Guilford, Vermont; and E. K. Wagner, Columbus, Ohio.

Jackie Craven

2014 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest Winner — Judge: Kate Bernheimer

Jackie Craven — Book Title: Our Lives Became Unmanageable

Now Available

Jackie Craven has work published or forthcoming in Berkeley Fiction Review, Limestone, Mid-American Review, New Ohio Review, Nimrod International Journal, Water~Stone Review, and many other journals. She also writes about architecture and is the author of two books on interior design. She completed her Doctor of Arts in Writing from the University at Albany, New York. Visit her at www.JackieCraven.com.

The five finalists selected by Kate Bernheimer (in alphabetical order by last name) are: Marcella R. Calato, Clifton, New Jersey; Deirdre Coyle, Brooklyn, New York; Caitlin McGuire, Urbana, Illinois; J.T. Townley, Charlottesville, Virginia; and Kate Wyer, Baltimore, Maryland.

Emily Capettini

2013 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest Winner — Judge: Theodora Goss

Emily Capettini — Book Title: Thistle

Now Available

Emily Capettini holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her fiction has previously appeared in places like Not Somewhere Else But Here: A Contemporary Anthology of Women and Place (Sundress Publications, 2013) and her critical work is upcoming in Neil Gaiman in the Twenty-First Century (McFarland and Company). She received her B.A. in English and French from Lake Forest College in 2009. In her free time, Emily runs, bakes, and blogs about women and Doctor Who. She lives in Maryland.

The five finalists selected by Theodora Goss (in alphabetical order by last name) are: Jean Butterfield, Berkeley, California; Katharine Haake, Los Angeles, California; Michael Pearce, Oakland, California; Brooke Juliet Wonders, Cedar Falls, Iowa; Laurie Saurborn Young, Austin, Texas.

James Robert Herndon

2012 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest Winner — Judge: Jeff VanderMeer

James Robert Herndon — Book Title: Mammals

Now Available

A unique tale of love, commitment and redemption. In Mammals an orphaned teenager sent to juvenile detention because of a violent crime becomes part of an odd experiment to see if he can learn about compassion and also teach it to another living creature. The story displays sensitivity without sentimentality and a sense of the strange that is grounded in very real emotions. A thoughtful and unusual gem. —Jeff VanderMeer, judge

James Robert Herndon lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a graduate of the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, and the Clarion West Writers Workshop. His fiction has appeared in Halfway Down the Stairs, and is forthcoming in an anthology of stories by Clarion West graduates. When not writing, he enjoys woodworking and being outside with his wife.

The five finalists selected by Jeff VanderMeer (in alphabetical order by last name) are: Ben Black, Santa Clara, California; Marie Brennan, San Mateo, California; Liz Gilbert, Kansas City, Missouri, Katharine Haake, Los Angeles, California; and Ingrid Alana Silverstein, Sharon, Massachusetts.

This fabulist fiction contest's 2017 winner will be announced in March 2018.

Additional Details

The Most Important Requirements

Note that if we find any significant problem with your manuscript (your manuscript file is incomplete or won’t open, important information is missing, or any other significant problem) we will contact you so that you have every opportunity to correct the issue at no charge to you. Smaller errors or deficiencies in your manuscript, including spelling, punctuation, formatting, typographical errors, or coffee stains will not disqualify you from the competition, nor will a few small errors reduce your chances of winning. (We fully understand that such errors sometimes occur for everyone, and that these can be easily corrected later.) The only really critical requirements are to:

Check the eligibility requirements (described described in the "Guidelines" section at the top of this web page).
Make sure that you are fully satisfied with your manuscript (because revisions are not allowed during the contest).
Submit your entry by the deadline.
When submitting make sure that you have provided correct contact information. (If you like, you can provide alternate contact info such as additional phone numbers, Email addresses, and postal addresses. For online entries these can be added to the "Comments" field. For postal entries these can be added to the title page along with your primary contact information.)
If you provide an Email address (optional for postal entries, required for online entries) we will send you an Email to confirm we have received your entry, and for entries submitted online we will also check your contact information and your manuscript file and send you the last few lines of your manuscript so you know your manuscript has been received completely, and so you can resolve the problem at no cost to you if it has not. Additional details about these verification Emails are contained below in item number 13 of the online submission procedure and item number 6 of the postal submission procedure.

How We Judge: Identifying Info is Removed, Then Manuscripts are Read by Two Editors

Any identifying information will be removed from all manuscripts before they are sent to the editors who choose the semi-finalists to be sent to the judge. All manuscripts will be given a number to associate them with the contact information of their submitters. The Omnidawn staff members who remove the identifying information are NOT involved in the reading or selection of manuscripts.

Only Omnidawn's Fiction Editors will read submissions, and these editors will not have access to the identities of the submitters. For the sake of avoiding any conflict of interest, if an editor believes that he/she recognizes the work of a colleague, student, or friend, then that manuscript is given to another editor. The editors will select the semi-finalists to be sent to the judge. The judge will then select the winner and five finalists. If the judge wishes to see additional manuscripts, she or he may request them; the judge is not, however, permitted to request specific manuscripts. Colleagues, past or present students, and close friends of the judge are not eligible to compete. Past or present Omnidawn staff, interns, and authors whose books Omnidawn has published are also not eligible to compete. The judge is not allowed to choose manuscripts that present a conflict of interest.

Omnidawn abides by The CLMP Code of Ethics. The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses’ community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our staff, editors, or judges; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

Two Submission Options

Option 1: Submit on our secure web site. (Most submissions are via our online contest web site. This is usually the easiest way to submit.)

Option 2: Submit via postal mail.

Procedures for each of these options are listed in detail below.

Option 1: Procedure to submit on our secure online contest web site.

We suggest you read at least the bold type in the directions below. Reading the non-bold type is optional.

If you have any questions send an email to submissions@omnidawn.com
You will find the button to direct you to the submissions web page at the end of this procedure.
Since you provide contact information on our web site, a page within your manuscript with contact information is OPTIONAL. We prefer that you not include a bio, acknowledgements page, cover letter, or headers or footers that include your name, but you will not be disqualified for including such info. Please note that all identifying information, including acknowledgements, will be removed from the copy of the manuscript file that is sent to editors who select manuscripts.
You will be able to upload your manuscript on the submissions page. Manuscripts must be sent in one file, not multiple files. Manuscripts must be in PDF, RTF, or Microsoft Word .DOC or .DOCX format only. Files without a .pdf, rtf, .doc, or .docx extension cannot be uploaded. Most word processing programs can save files as .RTF (Rich Text Format) by going to FILE—SAVE AS, and then choosing RTF (Rich Text Format) in the FORMAT drop-down box.
The size limit for online manuscripts is 1 megabyte. If your file is larger than this please send your entry via postal mail. The average manuscript file is less than 100 kilobytes, or one tenth of a megabyte. Graphic images dramatically increase the size of a file, so if you include graphics your manuscript may exceed one megabyte.
If you HAVE previously entered an Omnidawn contest, either online or via postal mail, you probably already have an account, and you will not be able to create another account using the same email address. However, you will be able to logon to that account using that email address. When you go to the secure online submissions page you can log in using the box on the upper left by entering your email address and your password. If you don’t have your password, click “need help” below the login button, and you can update your password, or you can Email or phone us and we can give you a new password. We don't want to send a password to you via email because that is very insecure, but if you provide us a phone number we can call you or leave a message with a new password. Once you are logged in you can click “submit your work” in the new box on your left, which will take you to a secure web page to submit a new manuscript and enter credit card information. (Contact information is retained in our database, but credit card numbers are not. For security reasons all credit card information goes only to PayPal and it is not possible for Omnidawn staff to see this information.)
If you HAVE NOT previously entered an Omnidawn contest, when you go to our secure online submission page, you will be asked to enter your credit card billing and contact information, the title of your manuscript, and an 8-20 character password (with no spaces) of your choice. (Contact information is retained in our database, but credit card numbers are not. For security reasons all credit card information goes only to PayPal and it is not possible for Omnidawn staff to see this information.)
If you use a pen name, or if the author’s name differs from the name on the credit card, or if you are submitting for someone else, please list the pen name or author’s name in the writer name field, and put your credit card billing name and information in the other fields.
For this Fabulist Fiction Chapbook competition, in the “genre” field you can use the up-down arrow keys to choose one of three options:
(1) You can choose to pay just the reading fee of $18 to receive NO Omnidawn book. (This is the default, so if you do not use the drop-down arrow keys for this field, this is the choice you will make.)
Or, if you have a U.S mailing address (or can provide a U.S. mailing address in the comments field), you can choose to pay $20 ($2 extra for shipping cost) to receive:
(2) This contest's winning chapbook, or
(3) Any Omnidawn fiction book of your choice, including our highly acclaimed ParaSheres anthology of fabulist and new wave fabulist fiction. If you choose this option, be sure to enter the name of the fiction book you have chosen in the “comments” field at the bottom of the online submissions page. A complete list of all current Omnidawn fiction books is available at www.omnidawn.com/products-page/fiction/. If you forget to specify a fiction book in the “comments” field, you can send an email to submissions@omnidawn.com to let us know your choice, or if you want to change your selection from the winning chapbook to your choice of fiction book, or vice versa.
Please DO use the “comments” field at the bottom of the online submissions page to tell us where you learned about this Omnidawn contest to the best of your recollection, and also to give us any feedback about your experience submitting to this contest, and any other information you would like us to know. We are always trying to simplify and improve the submissions process, so your feedback will be very helpful to us. Note that any personal publication history is irrelevant here because these comments will only be read by staff who are NOT involved in the selection process.
If you want to submit additional work, update your contact info or password, or view your submissions you can login at the end of this process or at any time in the future using the Email address and password you entered so that you will not need to complete contact information again. Once you have logged in simply go to the box in the upper left hand corner with the heading "Choose an action" and click on one of the options as follows:
(a) Click "account summary" to view the work you have submitted. You can double click on the numbered file names (for example 123.doc or 234.pdf) under the "file" heading to download a copy of a file you have previously submitted. Note that your original file name has been replaced with a number to help keep your manuscript both unique and anonymous. Also note that by the time you download a file all identifying information in the file may have already been stripped from the file, so that our editors can also download these files to read them without compromising the bind nature of this contest.
(b) Click "update your account" to change your password or any item of your contact information, such as your mailing or email address or your phone number. Be sure to click "submit" after you have made any changes.
(c) Click "submit your work" to submit a new entry. A screen will appear where you can enter the title of your work and credit card information and select the file you want to enter. Note that the "status" field of your entry or entries will first indicate "received," and then later, often after the contest submission period has closed, will change to "1st forward," "2nd forward," etc. as your manuscript is forwarded between readers, but this does not indicate anything more than that it is being read by various editors.
If when you click “Continue” your credit card is NOT accepted (usually because of a typo) your contact information and manuscript still will have been uploaded to our database so that we have everything we need except your payment. You can resolve this issue in one of two ways. (If this happens we will also send you the following instructions in an email):
(A) Mail a check for the reading fee to the address at the bottom of this web page. Please write your email address and the title of your manuscript on your check (or money order, which is also acceptable). We will send you an email confirming that your manuscript has been entered into the contest when your check arrives.
OR
(B) Enter your credit card info again by going to https://omnidawn.com/submissions2 and using the box on the left to log in using the email address and password you just entered. A screen will appear displaying the contact info you have entered with a record showing the entry you just submitted. In the second field of that record click on the words “pay now” and a secure screen will appear so that you can enter your credit card information again. If successful you will receive an immediate notification of success and an email stating that your submission has been entered into the contest. If your credit card still does not work you can still use option (A) above by mailing a check.
When you have successfully finished submitting your entry online you will immediately receive an automatic Email confirmation from our Submission Manager program, and within three days a staff member will also open your account, check your contact info, open your manuscript file, and send you a second email which contains the last lines of your manuscript so you know your entry has been completely received, and so you can resolve the problem at no cost to you if it has not. If you do not receive the first automatic Email immediately after you submit, or the second Email containing the last few lines of your manuscript within three days of submitting, something may be wrong, and we strongly suggest you contact us by sending an Email to submissions@omnidawn.com

To go to the secure submissions page after August 1 and begin the electronic submission process, please click the button below. (it is not possible to enter an online submission before August 1.)

[ CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ONLINE ]

Or paste the following link into your browser: www.omnidawn.com/submissions2

Option 2: Procedure to submit via postal mail

If you have any questions send an email to submissions@omnidawn.com

Please DO NOT send Fed Ex, UPS, or signature required US Post Office envelopes. These will not be accepted.

Note that if you send a cover letter, acknowledgements, or bio these will be removed before your manuscript is read.

Please enclose the following:

1. One title page with your name, contact information, and where you learned about our contest (to the best of your recollection). Please include your mailing address, phone number, and Email address if you have one. (Alternate contact info, such as additional phone numbers, Email addresses, or mailing addresses can also be added here if you like.) This title page with contact info can be at the front or, so you don’t have to repaginate, at the back of your manuscript

2. One title page with manuscript title only and nothing else.

3. Your fabulist fiction chapbook manuscript.

4. For this chapbook contest, include a check or money order made out to Omnidawn for the reading fee of either $18 or $20.

Enclose $18 if you choose to receive NO book

OR,

if you have a U.S mailing address (or can provide a U.S. mailing address), you can enclose $20 ($2 extra for shipping cost) to receive your choice of the winning chapbook or any Omnidawn fiction book, including our highly acclaimed ParaSheres anthology of fabulist and new wave fabulist fiction. If you choose to pay $20, please use the title page that has your contact info to write your choice of the fiction book or to write “send this contests winning chapbook.” A complete list of all Omnidawn fiction titles is available at www.omnidawn.com/products-page/fiction/. If you pay the extra $2 and forget to specify your choice of book you can send an email to submissions@omnidawn.com to let us know your choice.

5. All manuscripts will be deleted or recycled at the end of the contest. For entries sent by postal mail, please do NOT send an SASE for return of the manuscript.

6. If you provide an Email address with your contact info, within a ten days of receiving your entry we will send you an Email to confirm we have received it, so if you mailed your entry via either United States First Class mail or Priority Mail you should receive this verification Email within two weeks of mailing your manuscript. If you have provided us with an Email address and you do not receive this confirmation Email within two weeks, something may be wrong, and we strongly suggest you contact us by sending an Email to submissions@omnidawn.com (Note that if you choose to submit online our turnaround time is much faster, and we will send you two Email notifications of receipt, one automatic Email sent immediately after you submit online, and a second Email from a member of our staff within 3 days after you submit, with the last lines of your manuscript so you know your manuscript has been received completely, and so you can fix the problem at no cost to you if it has not.)

7. (Optional) A self-addressed stamped postcard and/or a standard sized SASE. You may, if you choose, include a self-addressed stamped postcard, and we will mail this back to you to verify that your manuscript has been received. (If you include an Email address, you will also receive an email when we enter your submission into our database, so this email will likely precede your receipt of a postcard. You may also enclose a standard size SASE and we will use this to send you information on the winner and finalists when these are determined. (If you include an Email address, you will also receive an email notification of the winners and finalists when they are chosen.)

Send postal submissions via First Class or Priority Mail to:

Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Chapbook Contest
Omnidawn Publishing
1632 Elm Avenue
Richmond, CA 94805-1614