This post has been bumped up because the deadline's today.

Seattlewintertime.jpg

Hey, fiction writers! Whatcha been working on? The Stranger is looking for a short story, no longer than 1,200 words, to be published in the winter issue of our arts quarterly A&P. The only requirement is that it be set in Seattle in wintertime. The winning piece will be selected by our judges Sherman Alexie and Rebecca Brown, both Stranger Genius Award-winning fiction writers, and the winning entry will be rewarded with publication and $500. The deadline is fast approaching: November 15 at 5:00 pm, PST. Get on it!

RULES, FORMATTING, AND ADVICE

(1) There is no entry fee, but only one story may be submitted per writer. Only send your best work. The story may not be longer than 1,200 words.
(2) Entries must be submitted electronically. They should be written in Microsoft Word or Google Docs and sent as an attachment to winterfiction@thestranger.com. The subject line of the email should read "winter fiction." Entries sent by mail will be converted into confetti and thrown about the office.
(3) The title of the piece and the author's name and contact information should appear in the body of the email that contains the attachment. The title of the piece should also appear in the attachment, at the top of the story itself, but not the author's name or contact information, because the contest will be judged blindly. That means that judges will not know the author of the winning piece until after they have made their selection. Authors' publishing history will not be taken into consideration: The winner may be someone who has been published extensively, or it may be someone who has never been published before. The only consideration will be the quality of the work. If you would like to know more about the judges, read their books.
(4) Authors may reside anywhere, although, again, the story must take place in Seattle in wintertime.
(5) Entries will be received and processed by Stranger books intern Cate McGehee. She will notify you that your submission has been received, and she can answer any administrative questions you may have, but please don't annoy her. We will not provide feedback to individual writers about their work. Again, the email is winterfiction@thestranger.com. Callers will be shot.
(6) "Fiction" is a loose term. If you send in an essay, or a piece of memoir, that functions as a story, how would the judges ever know?
(7) The winning author will be announced on Slog on November 28. Their story will appear in the winter issue of A&P, which comes out December 5. (Look for the magazine with a glossy cover conveniently tucked into the December 5 issue of The Stranger. A&P is also distributed independently to newsstands, bookstores, museums, galleries, coffee shops, etc.)
(8) We reserve the right not to publish anything if the judges don't find anything they like.

Good luck! Get cracking!