The PaperJourney Press©
Distant Karma:Buy Now, Pay Later
$200 first prize + $100 second prize
+ $25 third prize
Deadline for Entry: October 1, 2007
+ Entry Fee $10 per story
Winners will be contacted December 31, 2007
Okay, here's the theme.
What is Karma? The Golden Rule? The ripple effect? We are looking for short-short story submissions that inform the soul but don't preach--they could be dark, funny, both or neither--surprise us.
The choice is; after all, yours. We will look for off-beat, somewhat quirky stories with no more than 750 words--give or take a few knarled verbs and curling adjectives.
The Paper Journey Press wants original, fresh stories. That means no previously published works will be considered except those electronically published via the internet.
Submission Guidelines
How to Submit: Read Carefully. If you are already registered, hopefully we figured out a way that you don't have to do it twice so just go to the register button above and have at it. We prefer that you register at our site and use the PayPal system; however you may send your stories on a CD or submit them on paper along with your check or money order.
Originality: Stories will be chosen based on their readability, originality, how closely they adhere to the theme (which is pretty loose) and the word count. We like quirky, offbeat stories--something only you can write. Fiction should be previously unpublished works. Not sure what we like? Then we suggest you read Women Behaving Badly, Original Sin, Blink or perhaps a little bit of Ray Bradbury, Hemingway or maybe even Joan Didion's Play It As it Lays. You could help us keep this business of publishing fiction going by suggesting to your friends Win Neagle's new novel Full Count or Smoke and Gravity, his first novella that we published back in 2000. We might also suggest Peggy Rambach's All That Mattersand Seeds of Lotus; as well as Robert Wallace's A Hold on Time.
Length/Format: Stories must be no more than 750 words. We can't stress this enough!! Stories must be an original work of fiction written by the submitting author.
Publication: While we will recognize the three best stories among those submitted with a cash prize, all submissions will be considered for publication. However, only the very best of these stories will be included in the anthology.
Submission Fees: You may submit multiple unpublished flash fiction stories. The fee for each story submission is $10. You may submit as many stories as you wish; however the fee remains $10 per story. Example: You submit 3 (three) stories. Your submission fee will be $30.
Payment/Rights: Should you story be chosen for publication, writers will receive 1(one) book for each story chosen for publication as payment. Rights revert back to the author upon publication. (A word about submission fees. We don't like them, but we must charge them in order to pay for extra clerical help to process manuscripts.)
Deadline: Stories are due no later than Midnight Eastern Standard Time on October 1, 2007. Stories and submission fees may be submitted via our secure website below or entries may be mailed to Distant Karma, c/o Sojourner Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1575, Wake Forest, NC 27588. No phone calls please. If you choose not to submit your story using the website, print out the form on the registration page, fill out the name and contact information, and attach it to your mailed entries along with your payment. Make checks and money orders payable to Sojourner Publishing, Inc. Having problems submitting your story? Write to editor@thepaperjourney.com
Winner Announcement: Winners will be contacted via email on December 31, 2007. Winners names will be posted on the website by February 15, 2008. Writers whose stories were not chosen for publication will not be contacted. Writers should check the website on February 15, 2008 to see if their names are among those chosen. Please remember most of the time we do not contact non-winners. Sometimes if their stories are exceptionally good and it was a close call, the editor-in- chief does contact them. No phone calls please.
Permission: If your story is accepted for publication, authors must sign a release form stating that the story is their original work and that they own the rights to the story. The writer shall accept all responsibility--financial and legal--if multiple submissions to different publishers result in overlapping publication. Authors retain ALL rights after publication.
Cancellation Policy: The Paper Journey Press, an imprint of Sojourner Publishing, Inc. reserves the right to cancel this call for submissions at any time; extend the competition deadline without notice; and/or extend the publication deadline should circumstances warrant without notice. In the event that we do not receive enough quality stories to publish the book we will give you a credit to enter next year's competition, we are unable to refund entrance fees due to the large expense involved in running such a competition.
