StoryFest 2011 Preparations

We have all worked so hard, don’t you think it’s fair that we get to show off a little; celebrate?

Announcing:

The Story A Day StoryFest, June 11-14, 2011:

An Online Celebration of the Second Annual Story A Day Challenge

What Is It?

From June 11-13 the front page of this site will change to the StoryFest Page.

The StoryFest page will contain blurbs about and links to each author’s favorite story (or collection of stories if you’re writing super-short stories)

Readers can come by on their coffee breaks, browse the best of our work, leave comments, tell their friends.

(See last year’s StoryFest front page, to see what I’m talking about.)

What Do You Do?

  • First, pick your favorite Story A Day stories  that you wrote (this can be the same story you intend to enter in the contest).  Pick one, if it’s a long or multi-part story. Pick a couple if they are short. Pick ten if you’re a twitter-fiction writer ;) No real restrictions here.
  • Write a short blurb about you/your stories/the challenge (about 50-75 words).
  • Optional extra: pick your favorite one or two stories by other people to recommend to readers.
  • Email a blurb and the links to your own stories and your ‘recommended reading’ stories as soon as possible. (editor at story a day dot org / subject: StoryFest Submission) I will put them on the StoryFest page for readers to find.
  • On June 11, start tweeting and blogging and Facebooking (sorry) and telling all your friends and family to stop by. (I will provide some sample messages, in case you’re uncomfortable with self-promotion, but you should feel free to write whatever you like.
  • During StoryFest be sure to share your recommendations for stories you’ve enjoyed by other StADa writers.
  • On June 13, send another reminder to people that time is running out, to access the StoryFest page, and discover all the wonderful new writers that you’ve been reading and enjoying throughout May.
  • Sit back and bask in the feedback.

I’ve created a StoryADay StoryFest graphic that you can hang on your StoryFest stories, no matter where you posted them (here or your personal blog)

What Can Readers Do?

Readers can stop by any time between June 11 and June 14.

They will find the front page all decked out for StoryFest and featuring links to your favorite stories.

They can read, comment and, I hope, recommend stories to their reading friends.

What’s The Point?

It’s a celebration! Writing a story a day was hard, wasn’t it?

This is our chance to show off. This is our recital. (Tutus strictly optional).

It’s also a chance for readers and writers to connect. Readers are always looking to find great new writers and interesting stories. Writers want to be found.

I’ve been thrilled by the quality and diversity of the stories I’ve read here, and I want to share that with other readers.

Why So Short?

Making the StoryFest an event with a limited timeline gives readers a good reason to come NOW, not just think ‘that’s cool, I’ll stop by later maybe’ and then forget about us. Instead, we’re creating scarcity and a deadline. It’s basic sales psychology, and it works!

None of the Story A Day blogs will disappear (unless you delete them), so readers can still find your stuff for as long as you want them to.

The StoryFest is just a big promotional/celebratory party, and we all know that at some point, every party has to wrap up and someone has to turn out the lights.

(Luckily, no one will have to mop anything up after this one.)

A Time To Live

I was going to be starting the StoryADay Warm-Up Your Writing Summer Course today, but I’ve decided to postpone it until September.

I’m going to explain why and then I’m going to offer you some free tools, and a chance to help a worthy cause. If you just want the goodies, you can skip ahead.

Why I’m Not Running The Warm Up Writing Course This June

I live in one of those mythical neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone else and we like each other. We have Easter Egg hunts and a Christmas party and our kids all ride bikes and play in the street together all summer and there is always a parent or five hanging out with them. It’s the kind of neighbourhood where you know that if your kid does something stupid while you’re not looking, one of the other parents will hunker down and gently discuss why ‘we don’t that’ and negotiate a peace treaty between whichever kids need it.

And if anyone needs help, the neighbourhood springs into action.

And we’re springing into action.

Last weekend my next door neighbour’s five year old daughter, Gabriella, was suddenly admitted to the local children’s hospital and diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain cancer.

So we’re babysitting and running errands and making sure life seems as normal as we can for all the kids here at home. We’re raising money and cooking meals and organizing prayer chains and trying to be available for anything our friends might need.

And yes, though all this I could find time to run the course. But I wouldn’t be able to give it my all, and that’s not fair to anyone. So I’m postponing until September, when I will offer the Warm-Up Your Writing Course again, at the summer rate.

And in the meantime, I’m going to spend the summer creating high-quality free content and tools to help my lovely StoryADay friends focus on creativity and productivity and to keep writing every day, not ‘someday’.

An Important Reminder For Writers

But this bump in the road has reminded me of a very important rule for writers:

As important as it is to keep writing, it’s even more important to keep living. Only by grabbing life with both hands and holding on tight through every experience, can we hope to be able to write stories that help, heal, entertain, make readers think, and, in our own small way, change the world for the better.

Writing Contest 2011

So you’ve spent a month writing stories. Now what?

Announcing: StoryADay.org’s First Writing Contest!

I am thrilled to announce that Heidi Durrow, author of last year’s breakout debut novel (and NYT bestseller) The Girl Who Fell From The Sky has agreed to judge our first ever StoryADay Writing Contest.

Anyone who has a StoryADay username and has been writing this May (I’ll have to trust you on that) is eligible to enter one story in the contest. There is no entry fee, but there are prizes!

  • 1st Prize: $50, A copy of the Writers Digest Short Story & Novelist’s Markets book, a copy of The Breakout Novelist by Donald Maass, a box of Rory’s Story Cubes
  • 2 Runners-up: $25 and a box of Rory’s Story Cubes.

The deadline is June 15, with results announced in early August. There will be two rounds of judging. The first round will be judged by experienced editors and working authors, the final round by Ms. Durrow.

You may submit using a special submission from that will go be up by June 10, 2011. Details to be posted here.

Click here for the complete rules.

FAQ

Is the contest open to everyone?

Only to people with a StoryADay username.

I was writing during May but didn’t sign up at the site. Can I still enter?

Sorry, no. This is only open to people who were in the online community. It’s a way for me to reward the community and ensure that only stories written this May get entered

But that’s not fair is it?

No, not entirely. But it’s the best I can do. Sorry. I will rethink this for next year.

How will you ensure the contest is fair?

Entries will go to judges without names attached. Beyond that, judging is entirely subjective as it is with all writing contests.

Will Heidi Durrow read all the stories?

No, she is going to read a short-list of ten. The first round will be judged by working editors and writers.

When will the results be out and how will I be notified?

Not later than August 15. Results will be posted on the site (https://storyaday.org) and entrants will receive an email telling them the winners and runners up.

How are the prizes funded?

The prizes are funded mostly by me, Julie Duffy of StoryADay.org. The copies of Rory’s Story Cubes were generously provided by Gamewright Games.

If I don’t win, does that mean my story is no good?

No, it very definitely does not. I have judged these kinds of contests myself and can assure you that judging is entirely subjective. If your story is not picked, all it means is that it did not appeal to this particular set of judges in this particular month as much as someone else’s story did. Keep writing (and submitting)!

Story A Day Update for March

It’s been a couple of weeks since I was in touch and there’s lots happening behind the scenes at StoryADay HQ, gearing up to make this year an awesome year for you.

First, A Pep Talk

There have been a lot of new subscribers to the newsletter recently (hi!).
I know that you might have signed up thinking, “oo, that sounds like fun”, but the more you think about it, the more you go “Um, hmm, that sounds a bit, er, scary”.
But I don’t want you to think that Story A Day is all about extremes of writing and terror. One of the greatest things about the challenge last year was the community. Until it opens up, I’ve got a video for you to remind you why you wanted to sign up in the first place and to reassure you that, yeah, you can totally do this.
Stay tuned to the end for a special offer on some practical tools to help you with your writing journey.
There’s another video coming out on Friday but I don’t want to clutter up this list. If you want to hear more about the tools and products and videos I’m offering, you should sign up for the Creativity Lab mailing list, if you haven’t already.

New Things This Year

Contest

I’m currently chatting with my friendly neighbourhood business lawyer about the ins and outs of contests and whether I can host one at StoryADay without getting myself sued.

I’ve also been talking with an Extremely Awesome Potential Judge, who I’m very excited to say is totally on board as long as I get the legal nod.
So fingers crossed that my lawyer is both cheap and competent, please!
Swag

Also, this year I’ve decided to contact some companies that offer fun and useful writers’ swag and see if they want to kick in some giveaways and prizes. I’ve already had a ‘yes’ from the first company I talked to, so stayed tuned for News Of Swag.

(Also feel free to fire off ideas about how you think I should give away the aforementioned Swag. You can comment on this blog post).

Write on Wednesdays

I’ve launched a new feature at the website: WriteOnWednesdays, which gives us all a chance to warm up our flash-writing muscles in anticipation of the challenge in May.
Come on over to this week’s post and write a quick tale, comment on everyone else’s. Flex those creative muscles! (You don’t have to actually write on Wednesday…)

The STORYADAY Site Progress Report

I’m working on a way to keep the site looking like it did last year: with blogs for all and the activity stream intact. It might mean moving web hosts, though.
If anyone knows someone who is a crack WordPress database wrangler, please, please put them in touch with me. I know enough to set up the site in the first place, but moving it? That’s a whole new kettle of fish, and it’s making my brain hurt!
Right, that’s it for this newsletter. If you have any questions, suggestions, complaints or compliments, you know what to do 🙂
Meanwhile, keep writing,
Julie

[Markets for Writers] Postcard Shorts

Inspired by a postcard-length short story by science fiction master Arthur C. Clarke, Postcard Shorts accepts stories that are, well, postcard length.
PostcardShorts.com screenshot

(That translates to about 250 words)

Pretty much anything goes, as long as it’s not completely devoid of merit (in the Editor’s opinion). The Editor’s decision is final.

The copyright for anything you submit is wholly yours. You own it. This site just displays your work.
– from Postcardshorts.com

This is not a paying market but it is bite-sized and very tempting.