The Plenary Review

Call For Entries: Plenary Publishing Short Fiction Competition

Plenary Publishing is now accepting short fiction entries for publication in an anthology that will survey the lives of modern African-American/black women. There are no limitations on what that may encompass. We simply want authentic works that reflect our joys, our struggles, our highs and lows, and the challenges of living in a society that stereotypes your existence while preaching to you about how to live it. Whether funny or dramatic, painful or inspirational, we want to hear from you, on your terms and in your voices.

The Competition

The Plenary Publishing Short Story Competition is open to writers from all countries, but submissions must be written in English. We have not put any restrictions on the writer’s gender, race or geographic location because we are interested in diverse stories that center on the lives of black women. We are specifically interested in writers that have not been published, but we are open to works by any author.

There is no fee to enter this competition.

Deadlines and Publication

The deadline to enter the competition is May 28, 2010. Publication is scheduled for Spring/Summer 2011.

The Benefits

Anthologies are an excellent way to gain recognition and exposure, and to stretch yourself as a writer. Alyice Edrich penned a great overview of anthologies, including the benefits and risks of entering some competitions.

Each writer featured in Plenary Publishing’s anthology will receive $500 and ten free copies of the book. Plenary Publishing will host selected reading events in major cities around the country as part of our marketing efforts. Featured writers will be invited to participate in select readings at our expense.       

Submission Guidelines

1. Stories must be original unpublished fiction. No previously published works (in any medium) will be considered. Works that have been previously published or contracted to run in other publications will not be considered. Please note that your work cannot appear in any other publication, whether online, in print, or any other distribution method, until after the publication of our anthology.

2. There are no theme restrictions. You may decide the subject matter.  

3. Your submission must not violate the rights of any third party.

4. Entries may be up to 5,000 words. Although this is our count preference, entries that slightly exceed this count will still be considered. 

5. Writers may submit multiple entries, but no more than three entries will be accepted from each writer. Each entry must be submitted separately – no multiple entries should be attached to one email.

6. All entries must be typed and double-spaced, in 12 point Times New Roman or Garamond font, with 1″ margins on all sides. Please do not add illustrations, pictures or overuse italics, boldface, etc. Please take time to check spelling and grammar.  

7. Submissions must be in Adobe PDF (our preference) or Microsoft Word. Please run a virus scan before you submit your entry.

8. We are accepting submissions via email only (our humble efforts to be a green company). In the subject line of your email, please type “2010 Anthology Submission.”  In the body of your email, please provide:

*Your complete contact information (name, address, email address, telephone number)

*Brief Bio and why you wrote this story

*Brief synopsis of your story, not to exceed 500 words

*Word Count

Do not paste your submission into the body of your email. All submissions must be attached to the email. Please email your submission to anthology@plenarypublishing.com.

FAQs

We tried to cover all bases, but please submit any additional questions to compfaqs@plenarypublishing.com.

Who owns the rights to my submission?

Copyright remains with the author.  

Will you provide critical evaluation or feedback?

No.

May I use a pen name?

Yes.

Can I also submit my novel?

Not through this competition. Please review our submission guidelines for novels and other works at www.plenarypublishing.com

Why can’t I submit my submission via snail mail?

Online submissions make it easier for us to distribute your submission to our reading panel in a timely manner. It also saves a few trees, as we’re able to do our initial screening online.  

What happens after I submit my short story? How soon will I find out?

We anticipate a large number of submissions. Submissions will be grouped and screened according to the month of submission. Submissions will be forwarded to a reading panel that will suggest their top works. Those submissions will then be reviewed by the Plenary editorial team for final publishing decisions.

We plan to announce the selected writers in October 2010. That may seem like many moons from now, but we need time to review submissions (and to continue our other work as a small publisher). We reserve the right to adjust the announcement date depending on the volume of submissions. We encourage you to submit early, as our eyes will likely be tired the deeper we get into this.

We want to emphasize that the road from entry to publication will be at least a year, as we plan to release the anthology in Spring or Summer 2011. After we announce our writers, we have to edit, go through design and other production, etc.

No poetry?

Not at this time. We are considering the inclusion of poetry and introductory essays and will provide information at a later time.

How many writers will you select?

At least ten, with a maximum of twenty writers. If we love the work, however, we plan to feature it without regard to arbitrary cut-offs.

Can I submit my story to other publications after the anthology’s release?

Absolutely! In fact, we hope that inclusion in our anthology will lead to reprints in other publications, and we will discuss this specific issue with selected writers. If your story is accepted for publication prior to our selection and/or publication, you must notify us asap.