It's time, once again, for another TSAT writing contest! Those of our readers who're of a historical bent can review the results of our previous contests, first in #21; second in #22; third in #26; and fourth in #31. What's the occasion of this, our fifth contest? Well, TSAT's original staff, including founder Jeffrey M. Mahr, produced 18 issues of the Net's best transformation stories before they stepped down to let the current editorial crew, Bard & Long, assume control over TSAT. This, in turn, means that the current issue, #36, is the eighteenth turned out by the new kids... and #37, which marks the third anniversary of said new kids' tenure, will be the nineteenth issue for which Bard & Long bear responsibility.
In other words: With issue 37, we'll finally have beaten Mahr's streak -- and we wanted to do something a little bit special to commemorate the occasion. And that is why you're out there, wherever you are, reading about TSAT's fifth writing contest! See below for the rules and rewards of this contest.
| What we're looking for | In keeping with the nature of the milestone which is our third anniversary, this time around we're looking for 'coming of age' stories with a transformative twist. Boy-becomes-man, girl-becomes-woman, child-emerges-from-a-parent's-shadow, perpetual-adolescent-grows-up, et cetera -- pretty much anything in that general vicinity, really. Beyond the goal just stated, we're not concerned with the details. As far as we're concerned, you can write it as science fiction, fantasy, romance, a historical tale, or whatever other genre you please; play it straight, go for the funnybone, or somewhere in between; go for Greek tragedy or a happy ending; whatever you like. Honest! We don't even care if it's purely textual or an illustrated comic strip. And yes, it's okay for you to submit more than one story. The more, the merrier! |
| Why you want to do it | The top three stories will appear in TSAT 37. In addition: The First Place winner gets a copy of Emergence, by David Palmer, and Anne McCaffrey's novel Decision at Doona goes to the Second Place winner. |
| When we want it | The deadline for entering this contest is 15 Nov 2004, which happens to also be the deadline for submitting any and all material to TSAT 37. |
| Who can enter | We'll take entries from anyone who is neither a TSAT staff member nor related to someone on the staff. |
| Where to send your entry | Send it to Submissions as an email attachment. The body of this email should be the standard TSAT release form for writers or artists, as appropriate. We prefer written stories to be in .rtf or .txt formats; for graphical entries, we like .jpg or .gif files. |
| How to disqualify yourself | Anything you enter in the contest must be your own original work. Plagiarism is verboten -- stealing another person's work is the shortest known route to a TSAT Death Sentence. As well, we want new material. If you've posted whatever-it-is anywhere else on the Net, or if it's been published in any print venue, fuggeddaboutit! |