Month 9 Books Charity Anthology Writing Contest Rules and Information

The Month 9 Books short story contest offers writers a chance to win a  slot on the 2012 YALITCHAT.ORG charity anthology. The anthology is a short story collection of dark retellings of Mother Goose rhymes made suitable for a young adult audience. All entrants MUST be Tier 2 members of YALITCHAT.ORG.

To learn about more Tier 2 benefits, visit the Tier 2 Membership Benefits page.

Click to purchase a Tier 2 membership.

CONTEST BEGINS: December 10, 2011

ENDS: February 29, 2012

Judges: Georgia McBride, Ruth Frances Long

About Georgia McBride

Georgia is the publisher at Month 9 Books and founder of YALITCHAT.org. She is a speculative fiction writer represented by Tamar Rydzinski at The Laura Dail Agency.

About Ruth Frances Long

Ruth was a finalist in Georgia’s 2009 St. Martin’s Press New Adult Writing Contest  for her novel, THE MAY QUEEN. Though never formally named a winner, Ruth went on to find representation as a result. Her novel, retitled THE TREACHERY of BEAUTIFUL THINGS, will be released by Dial in August 2012.

Click for a list of our media partners!

More about the anthology!

The anthology will be released in eBook on October 2, 2012. It will be available on many formats including Kindle, iBook, Nook, etc. The full proceeds for the first 5,000 copies sold will go to YALITCHAT.ORG. After, 10% of proceeds will be donated to miscellaneous charities (including YALITCHAT.ORG) as defined by our contributing authors.

Editors for the anthology are Cyn Balog, Georgia McBride and Michelle Zink.

Special guest foreword contributor: Francisco X. Stork!

Contributors include:

1. Cyn Balog
2. Nina Berry
3. Sarwat Chadda
4. Leah Cypess
5. Shannon Delany
6. Debra Driza
7. Leigh Fallon
8. Angie Frazier
9. Heidi R. Kling
10. Nancy Holder
11. Suzanne Lazear
12. Karen Mahoney
13. Lisa Mantchev
14. C. Lee McKenzie
15. Georgia McBride
16. Gretchen McNeil
17. Pamela van Hylckama Vlieg
18. KM Walton
19. Suzanne Young
20. Michelle Zink
21. Jessie Harrell
22. UNPUBLISHED winner of contest to be announced May 2012!

Click for a photo display of contributing author book covers!

Contest Rules

1. Entrants MUST be Tier 2 members of YALITCHAT.ORG.
2. Entry MUST be a retelling YA of the Mother Goose rhyme: Little Boy Blue. Click here to read the rhyme.
3. Submission must be at five hundred words of your partial short story. Your completed story will have a final word count of two thousand (2,000) words if chosen. You must copy and paste your partial five hundred (500) words of the entry in the body of the comment section. You must also include your legal first  and last name and email, which will not be shown. In addition, please fill out the title of your story AND the name of the rhyme you are retelling EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE GIVEN YOU THE NAME OF THE RHYME TO RETELL.

Disqualification

You may be disqualified for any of the following reasons:

1. You are NOT a Tier 2 member at the time of your submission. YOU MAY NOT ENTER PRIOR TO HAVING A TIER 2 MEMBERHSIP.
2. All non-Tier 2 member entries will be deleted and unread.
3. Your submission is MORE than five (500) words in length. If your submission must be a few words over in order for it to be adequately conveyed, no worries. It will not result in an automatic disqualification. HOWEVER, tacking on an extra 100 or more words indicates an intention to grossly ignore the rules and therefore will likely result in disqualification.
4. Your submission is significantly less than five hundred (500) words in length.
5. Your submission is NOT YA or NOT considered dark. If there is no way to really tell this from the sample, you may also be disqualified.
6. Your submission is NOT a dark retelling of the Mother Goose rhyme required (Little Boy Blue) or there is no way to tell this from the sample supplied.
7. Your submission contains content not normally considered suitable for the YA audience
8. You have not electronically signed the entry waiver agreeing to have your work edited and printed in the anthology if chosen.
9. You are under contract with a publisher of any kind for the publication of a novel-length work within twenty-four months from the date of the release of the anthology (October 2, 2012).

Conditions Upon Winning

1. Winner will be announced in May 2012
2. Winner will be notified prior to May 2012 and asked to signed a contract and waiver stating (s)he will not announce or otherwise speak of being associated with the anthology until we are ready to make the official announcement.
3. Winner will, once notified and contractually oblicated, begin the editorial process.
4. Winner will submit biographical information, photo and website links for use in promotional materials as needed.
5. Winner may be asked to participate in in-person and online promotion for the anthology.

FAQs

Q: I mistakenly entered the WRONG story, may I re-enter?

A: You may enter ONLY once. HOWEVER, if you have a technical issue with the site while entering, you may email the site admin with your issue. The site admin will alert us and we will determine whether a re-entry should be placed. DO NOT PLACE A DUPLICATE ENTRY WITHOUT PERMISSION OR BOTH WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

Q: I reread my entry after making it and found a few typos. Can I delete it and send a revised one? I really want to make a good impression.

A: No.

Q: I noticed I forgot to enter the correct title, OR I decided to change the name of the title of my work. May I change it or email you the title?

A: No. We may even change the title to suit the project. Just let us read your entry and go from there. If we need information from you, we will let you know. DO NOT DO ANYTHING THAT MAY RESULT IN YOUR DISQUALIFICATION.

Q: I am a student member of YALITCHAT.ORG, can I enter this contest?

A: YES, but only students through high school qualify under the “student” definition for YALITCHAT.ORG. If you attend college or grad school, you need a Tier 2 membership to enter this contest. ALL MEMBERSHIPS WILL BE VERIFIED.

Q: When will the winner be notified?

A: Please see above.

Q: If I win, will I be paid an advance or royalties?

A: There is no compensation associated with this opportunity, only potential fame and glory.

Q: If I win, can I choose my editor? I see there are three.

A: No.

Q: Will Month 9 Books consider publishing other short stories they find through this contest?

A: Not at this time, but possibly.

Q: Can I put my entry in my query letter?

A: Sure but most agents won’t care that you entered a contest. If you win a slot on the anthology and end up being published, that is something you may want to include.

Q: Month 9 Books sounds cool and all, but I want to know where I can get more info about the publisher. Where is the website?

A: The official website launches in a few weeks!