Prizes and eligibility: The contest is open to non-professional writers (those who have not met eligibility requirements for SFWA or equivalent: sale of a novel or sale of 3 stories to a large circulation publication). Previous multiple winners and current contest coordinators are also ineligible. The best story which uses the contest theme as a key element will be published in the Confluence 2011 program book, and the author awarded the first prize of $200. Second and third prize win $100 and $50 respectively. Stories may be considered for possible publication in a PARSEC INK publication. Submission to the contest implies consent for publication, but all rights revert immediately to the authors upon publication. Coordinators screen the entries, and the best submissions go on to our panel of three Judges. Decisions of the judges and coordinators in all these matters are final. There is NO entry fee. Multiple submissions (maximum of 4) are allowed.

Judges: To Be Announced

Format: Stories must be Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror genre. Stories must be original, unpublished, unsold and no more than 3500 words in length. Manuscripts should be double spaced. Judging is blind. PLEASE REMOVE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION (E.G. AUTHOR NAME, ADDRESS, EMAIL) FROM THE MANUSCRIPT PROPER. DON'T FORGET TO REMOVE IT FROM HEADERS/FOOTERS TOO. For electronic submissions via our submission manager, you may include contact information in the cover letter/ bio box. For mailed submissions, include a separate title sheet.

How To Submit: Electronic submissions make our lives easier. Please upload your story via Submishmash. If this is your first time submitting to a publication that utilizes Submishmash, you will have to create an account with them. It's free.

We'll consider stories in the following formats:

• .doc (MS Word)
• .odt (OpenDocument Text -- format used by the OpenOffice.org suite)
• .rtf (Rich Text Format -- generic document format that most word processors can create)
• .pdf

If you cannot submit electronically, please send the manuscript (with either a SASE or a return email address) to:

Stephen Ramey
Parsec Short Story Contest
312 N Beaver St.
New Castle PA 16101

Theme:

This is the way the world ends. World's are in collision. It's the end of the world as we know it. We will not go gentle into that good night. Entropy's last gasp. So long and thanks for all the fish.

Deadline: Entries must be submitted by May 7, 2011. All entrants will be notified by June 15th of their results.

For questions or clarifications only you may email to