JULY, 2017—BULLETIN #126

NOTE: The New Writer grace period ends 7/10.

Henry J. Burmeister, 1935 (more)

Now open: Two contests, $7,400 in prizes.
Deadline: 8/31

VERY SHORT

1st place | $2,000

2nd place | $500*

3rd place | $300*

300-3,000 words

$16 reading fee

Writing Guidelines

FICTION OPEN

1st place | $3,000

2nd place | $1,000

3rd place | $600*

3,000-20,000 words

$21 reading fee

Writing Guidelines

*Or, if accepted for publication, $700.
(1st place stories are always published.)

Winners and finalists will be announced in the November 1 bulletin, and contacted directly the previous week. First-place winners will be published in Glimmer Train. (All stories are considered for publication.)

Both categories are open to all. (Over the past four years, 48% of all winning stories have been their authors' first print publications.)

Do not be afraid to tell the truth. The reader will understand the risk you've taken, and be appreciative. And you will grow as a writer and a person.—Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, interviewed by Teresa Burns Gunther

Why print publication? Agents keep a sharp eye out for promising emerging writers, and book publishers need to be pretty confident that the books they choose to accept will be well received by readers. When we accept stories for publication, we are committing to paying the writer well, to copy editing, proofreading, and to high quality printing. Agents and publishers know that when we present a story in Glimmer Train, we think the story's a knockout, and deserves all that goes into its publication. Our authors think so, too.

Essays in this bulletin:

Peter Parsons: Most recently, stories come to me as dictation. I wake up sometime after midnight and a story is aloud inside my head. I listen for a while and if it sounds like the story has legs, I begin writing down what I hear. (more)

George Makana Clark: Occasionally students will ask me about my writing process, and like many fiction writers I'm obliged to lie about it. "I wake up early, sit down at my computer," I tell them, "and don't leave my desk until I've written 10,000 words." (more)

Janis Hubschman: When the story stalls, ask: what is the character thinking now? Is she thinking anything? If not, why not? Characters need to learn something about themselves, about their values and assumptions. (more)

Results of the March/April Very Short Fiction Award

Winners have been contacted, as have the Top 25 and Honorable Mentions. (A note about who wins.) All three winning stories will be published in Glimmer Train.

• 1st place goes to George Makana Clark for "Pluto."
• 2nd place goes to Madiha Sattar for "Mulberry Street."
• 3rd place goes to Oguz Dinc for "The Hurricane."

Results of the March/April Fiction Open

Winners have been contacted, as have the Top 25 and Honorable Mentions. All three winning stories will be published in Glimmer Train.

• 1st place goes to Peter Parsons for "No One There, No One to Talk to, Nothing to Say."
• 2nd place goes to Eric Boehling Lewis for "Blue Ridge."
• 3rd place goes to Katherine Easer for "Parade of Cats."

Our thanks to all of you for letting us read your work!

Feel free to forward this bulletin to your writer friends. As you know, the bulletin is free and meant to inform and to promote writers. (We never share your info.) People can sign up for bulletins themselves here. Missed a bulletin? They're archived here.

Best regards,

Discovering, publishing, and paying emerging writers since 1990.

One of the most respected short-story journals in print, Glimmer Train continues to actively champion emerging writers. The magazine is represented in recent editions of the Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, New Stories from the Midwest, the O. Henry Prize Stories, New Stories from the South, Best of the West, New Stories from the Southwest, Best American Short Stories, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading.