Bartleby Snopes Dialogue Only Writing Contest

Our 5th Annual Dialogue Only Contest will open for submissions on June 21st. Please follow our Contest blog for further updates. Be sure to read all of the rules below before submitting.

Prizes: A minimum of $300 will be awarded, with at least $250 going to first place and at least $10 to our four honorable mentions. Our five finalists will also appear in Issue 11 of the magazine due out in January 2014. Last year we awarded $585 in prize money. For every entry over 25, an additional $5 will be awarded to the first place story.

The Rules: Compose a short story entirely of dialogue. You may use as many characters as you want. Your entry must be under 2000 words. Your entry does not have to follow standard rules for writing dialogue. Your entry cannot use any narration (this includes tag lines such as he said, she said, etc.). These are the only rules. Manipulate them however you see fit.

The Winner: The winning entry will be the story that most effectively uses dialogue to deliver a powerful and engaging story.

Judges: All finalists will be chosen by the Staff of Bartleby Snopes. Guest judges for the final round will be announced soon.

Entry Fee: $10 for unlimited entries (only one entry allowed at a time; see Response/Notification section for more details). Entry fee is due at time of submission and will be collected through Submishmash (you may pay using a credit card or with Paypal). Note: We must have at least 30 entries or the contest will be cancelled and all entry fees will be returned.

Deadline: All initial submissions must be received by September 15th. Winners will be announced by October 19th.

Response/Notification: Our contest runs with a rolling rejection process. We will always keep our five favorite stories. You will be notified immediately if your story falls out of the top 5, and you will have the opportunity to resubmit. There is no extra cost for subsequent submissions, but you may only submit one story at a time. September 30th is the final day for resubmissions.

Rights: All rights revert back to the author after publication.

Submission Guidelines: All entries should be submitted using our Submishmash page: http://bartlebysnopes.submishmash.com/submit. Your name, contact information, and word count should appear in a brief cover letter. The title of your document should be the same as the title of your story. All submissions are read blind. Please do not send a bio or include any contact information in your document.

No simultaneous submissions or previously published stories are allowed. If your story is discovered to be simultaneously submitted or previously published, you will become ineligible from competition in the contest and your entry fee will be forfeited.

By submitting, you are stating that you are the sole author of the work and that your submission has not been published before. Work posted on blogs, message boards, personal websites, etc. all is considered previously published material. By submitting you are also agreeing to all contest rules.

For regular submissions, please see our Submission Guidelines page.

PAST RESULTS:

4th Annual Dialogue Contest: The Results (2012)

Note: The five finalists were published in our 9th issue available free here: Issue 9

1st Place - Open Me by Lee Stoops
2nd Place - On the Mountain by Ted Haynes
3rd Place - Props for Life by Gregory Marlow
4th Place - The Gig by Peter DeMarco
5th Place - ...I'm Sorry? by Joshua Browning

Thank you to all who participated.

A big thank you to our guest judges Justis Mills (First Stop Fiction) and Matthew Guerruckey (Drunk Monkeys).

3rd Annual Dialogue Contest: The Results (2011)

Note: The six finalists were published in our 7th issue available free here: Issue 7

1st Place - Poem About Writing a Poem by Mark Jordan Manner ($670)
2nd Place - Working it All Out by David Meuel ($65)
3rd Place - This Transfer's Only Good Until 6:28 by Don Hucks ($45)
4th Place - The Little Gymnast by Eirik Gumeny ($40)
5th Place - Clown Adoption by Chad Redden ($35)
6th Place - Therapy by Steve Karas ($10)

Thank you to all who participated.

A big thank you to our guest judges Ben Loory (Author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day) and Matt Rowan (Untoward Magazine).

2nd Annual Dialogue Contest: The Results (2010)

Note: The five finalists were published in our 5th issue available free here: Issue 5

1st Place - Why Won't You by Annam Manthiram ($875)
2nd Place - Cowboyism by Don Hucks ($50)
3rd Place - Happy Trolls Incorporated by Donna Marinelli ($25)
4th Place - Death in Lou's Coffee Shop by John Domenichini ($15)
5th Place - The Pussy Death by Jason Helmandollar ($15)

Thank you to all who participated. We had over 250 submissions this year, and the quality was quite overwhelming. We had to pass on many excellent stories.

A big thank you to our guest judges Kevin Dickinson (Writers' Bloc Magazine) and Rae Bryant (Moon Milk Rview).

1st Annual Dialogue Contest: The Results (2009)

Note: The five finalists were published in our 3rd issue available free here: http://bartlebysnopes.com/Bartleby%20Snopes%20Issue%203%20January%202010.pdf

1st Place ($410)- David Williams, "Cooking Chinese"

Guest judge j.a. tyler said "this one was able to get the most complex story out of a mimnum of language, making the conversation resonate from within rather than filling itself with exposition / explanation. It also managed to feel natural and easy, the flow of a conversation as we are known to have them, us when we are not writing."

2nd Place ($10) - Mel Bosworth, "Cash and Coupons"

3rd Place ($10) - CS DeWildt, "A Wager Between Scientists"

4th Place ($10) - R.F. Marazas, "Post-Coital Conversation"

5th Place ($10) - Allen Kopp, "The Clown Who Stole Lady Chatterly's Lover"

Thank you to all who participated. All entrants have been notifited of their current standing. If you think you have not received word from us, please let us know.

Thank you to j.a. tyler from mud luscious press for serving as a guest judge (www.aboutjatyler.com).