Well Versed 2018 Rules and Submission Guidelines
The Columbia Writers’ Guild invites writers to submit fiction, nonfiction and poetry pieces for publication in our annual publication, Well Versed.
We accept submissions from any genre, but submissions should not contain pornography, graphic violence, explicit or gratuitous sex, or scatological content.
Any commentary on politics or religion should be civil.
Submissions that demean people or groups of people based on appearance, gender, sexual orientation, beliefs, practices or politics will be disqualified. We believe the pen is mightier than the sword, and we do not wish to enable the application of hurtful or destructive words.
We do want stories, essays and poems that bring subjects to life with well-developed characters, compelling voices, and carefully chosen details.
We strongly encourage writers to have their work edited by a professional that has not had prior knowledge of the writing. We believe that editing done right is both a learning opportunity for the writer and results in a polished piece that has better chances of publication.
We strongly encourage new and unpublished writers to submit. As a guild we are dedicated to the development of new and seasoned writers.
Contest timeline:
All entries must be received via email (hard copy is not necessary) no later than January 31, 201.
Selected manuscripts and category winners will be announced on APRIL 9th, 2018 via email and website
If selected, ALL entry changes must be received by April 16th, 2018 (including name changes or biography changes). **Changes will not be accepted after that date.
Well Versed 2018 will be released on JUNE 3rd, 2018
Entry fees for members are included with paid membership.
Nonmember entries:
Prose $15.00 each – 3 maximum,
1 bundle of up to 3 Poems $15.00
Use the links below to pay for your submissions or enclose your name, mailing address, phone, email and entry title(s) and categories as shown below, attach check, and mail to
CCMWG, P.O. Box 7628, Columbia, MO 65205-7628
Judging
Submissions are judged in an anonymous, two-tier process. A panel of Guild members reviews the submissions and selects which submissions will be included in the book and identifies the finalists that will be sent to our second round ‘independent’ judges.
Members only review submissions for categories that they haven’t entered themselves. Our independent judges are professional editors, publishers and writers.
The editors may be on the review committees and also make final decisions on the application of the contest rules and the content included in the book.
Awards
All contributors receive a copy of the book and a payment of $1.00.
For a list of winners, check CCMWG website CCMWG.org after April 9th, 2018. Winners will also be announced in the CCMWG newsletter and at the CCMWG meeting.
Poetry, Fiction and Nonfiction Category Winners:
-
- 1st Place $50
- 2nd Place $30
- 3rd Place $20
Flash Fiction (closed):
The winning entries, and honorable mentions from our summer contest will be included in Well Versed 2018. Overall, first second and third places will be selected from this group.
- 1st Place
- 2nd Place
- “Judge’s Pick”
Submission requirements:
- Entries must be unpublished at the time of submission
- Entries must be the original work of the entrant
- The language in entries should be suitable for a general audience and not offensive.
- No entries containing pornography, graphic violence, explicit or gratuitous sex, and scatological content will be accepted. (Please keep all submissions PG)
- This contest is open to all writers. Entrants are not required to be CCMWG members.
- Fees: There are no fees for CCMWG members to submit entries. Members may enter up to two prose entries and three poetry entries.
- Nonmembers is $15 per prose entry and $15 for up to three poems. Checks should be payable to CCMWG, P.O. Box 7628, Columbia, MO 65205-7628
- All individuals are limited to two prose and three poetry entries. Entrants may join CCMWG for dues of $25 for one year. Checks should be payable to CCMWG.
- CCMWG assumes no responsibility for misdirected entries.
Individual Category Guidelines:
Poetry
- Poems need to be submitted in both a .PDF file (to show desired formatting) and a .DOC file.
- Poetry may be any style.
- Poetry may address any subject (except explicit content as noted above).
- Poems are limited to 50 lines.
- Entrants are limited to three poems.
- Each poem must be submitted as a separate file.
- Lines should be single-spaced, with a double-space between verses.
- Please note: A line width in the book is approximately 4.3 inches. If a line of your poem is wider than 4.3 inches in a 12 point font, it will be wrapped to the next line and may not appear as you expect.
Prose (Fiction and Nonfiction)
- Entrants are limited to a total of three pieces whether fiction, flash fiction or nonfiction.
- Prose will be limited to 2000 words; manuscripts over 2000 words will be not be considered.
- Stories may be on any subject (except explicit content as noted above).
By submitting to Well Versed 2018, you give permission for your story to be published unless you submit a withdrawal, in writing, by March 31, 2018. CCMWG purchases first rights. If your submission is chosen, payment upon publication is one copy of the issue in which the work appears, plus $1.00 per piece accepted.
Submission formatting (incorrect entries will be returned):
Each submission should be prepared and submitted as two separate documents/files.
The first document is a cover page that includes the title of the submission, word count, author’s name, mailing address, email address, phone number, and a short author bio to be included in the book. The author bio should be written in third person.
The other document should contain the body of the manuscript with the title of work and page numbers included in the header or footer of each page. DO NOT INCLUDE THE AUTHOR’S NAME ANYWHERE IN THIS DOCUMENT. This document should be double spaced, 12 point font in Times or Times New Roman
Email your entries as follows:
Send email to wellversed2018@gmail.com
Email subject line: Your Last Name, Categories you are entering, for example: Schulte, Fiction and Flash Fiction.
Email body: Well Versed 2018 submissions attached. List the title of your submissions and the intended category. (Do not copy and paste submissions into the body of the email or they will be returned.)
Attach each manuscript and its separate cover page to the email as a separate document.
The only file formats accepted are .DOC, .DOCX and .RTF.
Document titles should read TITLE(dot)CATEGORY.
For example: If my manuscript is titled Clean Slate and I want to submit it into the Fiction category it would look like this when I save the file
CLEANSLATE.FICTION.doc
