Writers' Studio Annual Collection

Writers

Writers' Studio Annual Collection Submission

Submit essays, memoirs, nonfiction, novel excerpts, short stories or poetry to be considered for our Annual Collection.

Member

$10.00 (any noted materials fee included)

Non-member, Writers' Studio Student

$10.00 (any noted materials fee included)

Tuition Assistance and Other Policies

Meeting Times
  1. Tue, 12/31/2024 11:58 PM - 11:59 PM

Tue, 12/31/2024

See additional date options »




Type:
Has Prerequisite

Location:
Online Submission

Interests:
Fiction, Memoir, Nonfiction, Poetry, Publishing

About

Have you ever dreamt of being published? The Writers' Studio is offering an exclusive opportunity for members and students to be showcased in our inaugural Annual Collection to be published in 2025. An editorial committee will select works from the following categories:

  • Fiction Novel Excerpt with Synopsis (five winners will be chosen in this category)
  • Memoir Excerpt with Synopsis (five winners)
  • Nonfiction or Essay (five winners)
  • Short Story (six winners)
  • Poetry (15 winners)

Finalists will be selected based on a rubric (similar to that of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association). Noted authors, editors, literary agents, and other industry professionals will then choose the winners in each category. The submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. Dec. 31, 2024. Winners will be informed no later than March 20, 2025.

Details

  • Read the entire registration page for instructions.
  • Prizes: Along with publication in BARN’s first-ever Writer’s Studio Annual Collection, winners will receive a free author’s copy of the collection, have the option to be included in BARN public announcements and promotional materials, and will be invited to read their entries live at the book launch in June 2025.
  • Submissions: This is a two-step process. After you register for the contest, you'll receive a confirmation email containing a link to a form. Ensure your piece follows all guidelines, then upload your story via the form. Do not reply to the confirmation email with your story attached or copy/pasted in the body of the email. Do not submit a cover letter.
  • Specifications: Format is  .pdf, .doc, or .docx files; 12-point Times New Roman font; normal/standard one-inch margins; and double-space the entire document. Written in English.
  • Submission document: Submission should NOT have your name anywhere on the document/written work (to ensure anonymity, use this format for file name: YourSubmissionTitle_YourCategory. Example: TheWay_Poetry); include title, page number, and category in top right corner of each page.

Word Count Requirements

  • Fiction Novel Excerpt: 3,000 - 5,000 words and 250-word synopsis*.
  • Memoir Excerpt: 3,000 - 5,000 words and 250-word synopsis*.
  • Non-fiction or Essay: Up to 3,000 words; include a 100-word blurb if an excerpt.
  • Poetry: One page, avoid graphic poetry forms.
  • Short story: Up to 3,000 words.

*All excerpts must be contiguous.

Additional Rules

  • Only unpublished works will be considered. If your work is published elsewhere after you've submitted, let us know as soon as possible. Only one submission per person. Entries that don’t follow guidelines and instructions may be disqualified.
  • We won't accept homophobic/racist/misogynistic/ableist or any kind of prejudiced writing; exploitative sexual content; over-the-top body horror just for the sake of it; graphic violence or abuse.
  • We won't knowingly consider AI-generated writing
  • Please be patient with the four-person volunteer team running this. It may take a few days to get back to you with answers and confirmations.

Rights

Submitters will retain all rights to the work. BARN will retain the non-exclusive rights to feature the work in BARN's original media (Instagram, newsletters, Circle, Facebook, etc.). Finalists will be asked to sign a standard publishing acknowledgement form prior to publication. This project is fund-raiser for BARN. All profit from books sold will go to BARN Writer's Studio. Submitters will not be paid per copy sold. BARN has no obligation to inform submitters who are not selected for the anthology.

Agreement

By submitting their work, all authors agree to the following:

BARN is not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, online systems, servers and providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email submission to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participants’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading and downloading of any materials related to the contest. There are no geographical restrictions; submissions may be submitted by BARN members and students from anywhere. However,
this competition and any prizes awarded are void in countries, states or other jurisdictions where such contests are prohibited by law. By entering the contest, all entrants agree to release, discharge and hold harmless BARN and its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in the contest or any contest-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded. BARN reserves the right to vary the terms and conditions as may be deemed necessary or cancel the competition at any time for any reason. Due to our production timeline, entrants whose work is chosen will need to respond no later than April 7, 2025. If we do not receive a response from entrants, we will assume the prize is forfeit.

Prerequisites

You must be a BARN member or have paid for/attended a BARN class between September 2023 and Dec. 31, 2024. As a member and/or paid-class attendee, you already have an existing BARN account and will need to use your BARN account to register for the Annual Collection.

BARN Policies

Instructors or Guides

Kathleen OBrien Cunningham

Kathleen is a member of the Writer’s Studio Steering Committee and loves providing orientations to new studio members. She has had a long career of technical writing, including two full-length books and many articles on the subject of sustainable building. She is returning to her first loves, poetry and short fiction, and has published in Kerning, The Gift, and Poetry Breakfast (online). Her poem “Ode to Time” was included in the 2024 Ars Poetica program at BARN and her poem “Northern Latitudes” was featured in the local ‘Poetry Corners’ anthology for 2024.

Kassia Sing

Kassia has been creating stories her whole life. As a child, her family told her she had an “overactive imagination and she actively fosters it today. After trading the corporate ladder for small-town life, Kassia joined BARN's Writers Studio and it changed her life. She’s had three short stories published in a digital publication, Context Journal. In 2023, she won third place in short story in the annual Pacific Northwest Writers Association contest. She is a member of Sound Writers, hosts weekly writing sessions for the Writers Studio, and serves as a volunteer for several nonprofits including BARN. Kassia has one terrible novel that she will bury in her backyard, one novel that needs serious re-writing, and one good novel that she hopes to finish editing soon. She enjoys sharing the love and support offered by BARN’s writing community.

Emily Smiley

Emily is a Seattle-based Carolina native and a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA). She volunteers with BARN's Writer’s Studio and is a founder of Content Hospital, a speculative fiction writers, critique, and marketing collective. Her short story, Everything is Fine, is slated to be published with Crows and Cross Keys in early 2025. Her current work in progress, Treading Water, won in the horror category of the 2024 PNWA Unpublished Novel competition. When she’s not giving her readers nightmares, she’s exploring other fantasy/horror cross-genre ideas, putting the final touches on book one of her dark fantasy trilogy, traveling with her husband, or reading.

Molly Tallon

Molly is a Puget Sound-based, California-born writer. After earning a bachelors of arts degree in creative writing from San Francisco State, she went on to bartend for several years before meeting her beloved partner and becoming a parent. Experiencing the horrific state of perinatal care in America drew her to birth work and reproductive rights advocacy and then eventually back to writing. She is a member of BARN Writer’s Studio, and an editor for its Annual Collection. She is a founding member of Content Hospital, a rowdy critique group of speculative fiction writers. Her stories are populated by characters that aren’t always heroes, often reckoning with systems of power and control, with echoes of, and reverberations into, our own world. When she is not inviting readers to think acutely about the future of humanity, she is parenting her three children, or throwing a stick for her two dogs.

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