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    Sweek Flash Fiction Competition: #MicroDay

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition: #MicroDay

After #MicroGame we are not playing with you anymore! The word of this round is DAY! Could it get easier than that? 😁

What you have to do is: write a flash fiction (short story) of 250 words max., in which you include the word “day” anywhere within the story. You can even modify it to “today”, “Monday”, “Sunday” – wherever your imagination goes. Since the topic itself stays open we are counting on a creativity show-off, especially that now we’re introducing a new prize for The Most Original Story! 🏆🎉

Good luck! 😃

 

CONTEST SUMMARY

 

Write 250 words (max.) of prose including the word “day” anywhere within the story,

Add #MicroDay tag either in the main title of the story / its description / tags section to take part in the challenge,

– You can participate no matter where you are from although entries marked as #MicroDay must be written in English,

– You can take part in this challenge even if you already participated/won previously,

– It is your chance to get discovered and published via Sweek self-publishing!

 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

 

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #microday either in the title, description or tags section (which is a part of Story Details) and description

That’s it! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more readers!

 

DURATION

 

Submissions open: 1st of June –  22nd of June (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 30th of June

 

  PRIZES

 

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Most Original Story: getting published in the Sweek book  + a special badge on the story + getting featured on Sweek + a free copy of the bundle!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and will be featured on Sweek.

 

#MICRODAYFEEDBACK

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microday on Sweek and read a story.
Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.
Step 3. Add #microdayfeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.
Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until 22nd of June 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

 

  HOW DOES IT WORK

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Every round gives you a new word (here: “day”) that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about.
  2. Only prose is accepted.
  3. You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcomed to participate in the following editions.
  4. Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microday).
  5. At the same time the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.
  6. You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
  7. The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 30/06/2018.
  8. The Best Story prize will be based on the writing style, plot development of the story, originality, overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as interpretation of the given prompt. 
  9. The author of The Best Story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
  10. The Most Original Story must have an unexpected plot twist/ending, present unique insights or be written on a noteworthy topic. The author will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book via Sweek self-publishing.
  11. The Most Popular Story will be determined by the total number of likes and will receive a special badge on the story.
  12. Shortlist (excluding the most popular story) will be featured on Sweek and published in a bundle.
  13. There will be one winner in The Best Story and Most Original category, one person will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be awarded as The Most Popular Story.
  14. To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microdayfeedback.
  15. The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get to the bundle.
  16. The new round will be announced on 01/07.

 

  RULES

Read these guidelines carefully before joining this writing competition!

  1. You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
  2. The contest is international and is open to every country (if you participate in other language then English, make sure that you write a correct, language-specific tag). Entries marked as #MicroDay must be written in English.
  3. The story cannot exceed 250 words.
  4. The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek.
  5. The story must have the #microday (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
  6. The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
  7. The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
  8. You can participate with multiple entries.
  9. You can join any round of the contest at any time.
  10. The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
  11. Most popular story is determined by the number of likes. Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
  12. Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
  13. If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
  14. By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
  15. The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal  (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
  16. Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest. 

 

 JURY MEMBERS

Together with the Sweek editorial team, our jury members choose the shortlist and the winners.

 

 

K. Banning Kellum
K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

 

 

Melanie Faith
Melanie loves flash so much that she wrote a craft book about the genre to inspire fellow writers, In a Flash!: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose (Vine Leaves Press), and her next craft book, Poetry Power, will be published (Vine Leaves Press) in late October 2018. In her free time, she loves crossword puzzles and shoe shopping, photographyblogging, and visiting her darling nieces.

 

 

Melissa Goodrich
Melissa Goodrich is the author of the story collection Daughters of Monsters, the poetry chapbook IF YOU WHAT, and a collaborative fiction collection forthcoming from Goldwake Press.  She earned her MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona.  Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review Online, Passages North, PANK, and others.

 

 

  FAQ 

Answers to all the Frequently Asked Questions

 

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, at the same time there will be flash fiction contest running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish. 

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. To edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

Best way is to promote your story via your own Social Media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. You can find the link to share your story when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are surely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure you are participating, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

 

🥇 WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT 🥇

The Best Story – “The Daylight” byb JoStewart

The Most Original Story  –  “The Bloody Revenge” by LijaDaniel

The Most Popular Story –  John Alwinson – “The Beginning of the End”

The Best Feedback  – @Royal888

 

8 Comments
  • Vishalan Kumaran, Reply

    can we write more than 250 words

    • Marta, Reply

      No. You cannot exceed 250 words, otherwise your entry will be disqualified from the contest.

  • Chanel, Reply

    In the chapter title area, do you have to add a different title than the main title? or can you just put the same title as you did for the story title area?

    • Marta, Reply

      Hi, yes, you can put another title for all the chapters. There is no need to put the #MicroDay tag there, you need to include it only in the main title.

    • Jayden, Reply

      What a plareuse to meet someone who thinks so clearly

  • Chanel, Reply

    and if I want to say that it is fine if it is posted in the bundle or openly on Sweek, do I say creative commons, all rights reserved or public domain?

  • Jennica, Reply

    I actually found this more enenttainirg than James Joyce.


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