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Sweek Flash Fiction Competition [general information]
Sweek Flash Fiction Competition [general information]
Can you say a lot in a little? Join Sweek Microfiction competition! We are challenging you to write a compelling story, with an exciting plot and with jump-off-the page characters, in less than 200 words!
Writing good flash fiction requires the ability to come up with an original idea, to play with words and to develop a storyline that will hook the reader. In order to challenge your writing skills and creativity, every three weeks we will launch a new round of our MicroFiction contest.
How does it work?
- Every round, we announce a new word that you must incorporate into your story. The story doesn’t necessarily have to be about that word, you only have to incorporate it. There are no genre restrictions.
- The word is announced on Thursday every three weeks on our social media and blog.
- The writers have time until Sunday of the second week to submit their stories. On Thursday we announce the winners as well as the word of the next round. You can compete for the jury and the crowd prize. The jury prize will be based on the writing style, originality and plot development of the story. The most popular story will be determined by the total number of followers.
- Every round, you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round. Please note that the keyword and the tag will be different each round!
- Each winner will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the winning stories
- You can join any round you’d like, the rounds are independent from each other.
First Microfiction Book (buy it via publish.sweek.com)
First round: #MicroCoffee (20th of July – 10th of August) – *finished*. Check out the winning story!
Second round: #MicroBook (10th of August – 27th of August) – *finished*. Check who is the winner!
Third round: #MicroDream (31st of August – 17th of September) – *finished*. Check out the winners!
Fourth round: #MicroLight (21st of September – 13th of October) – *finished*. Check out the shortlist and the winners!
Second Microfiction Book (to be published):
Fifth round: #MicroFreedom (19th of October – 16th of November) – *finished*. Check out the shortlist and the winners!
Sixth round: #MicroLife (22nd of November – 13th of December) – *finished*. Check out the shortlist and the winners!
Seventh round: #MicroTime (20th of December – 10th of January) – *finished*. Check out the shortlist and the winners!
GENERAL COMPETITION GUIDELINES
- You need to be 14 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
- The contest is international and is open to every country. Nonetheless, the micro fiction must be written in English.
- The story cannot exceed 200 words.
- The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek
- The story must have the hashtag that includes the word of that round (micro + word of the round).
- 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.
- The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards.
- You can participate with multiple entries
- You can join any round of the contest at any time.
- The story can be any genre, as long as the word from the round appears in the story. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
- Most popular story is determined by the number of followers. Falsification of followers will lead to a warning, followed by immediate disqualification if the behavior continues. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
- 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.
- If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
- 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
- Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest.
THE JURY
Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.
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.
Louise Blackwick 
Louise Blackwick is a next-generation fiction writer, author of several experimental novels and short stories. Blackwick is particularly known as the writer of the Vivian Amberville book series, a bestselling philosophical fantasy saga about a girl whose thoughts can control and reshape reality.
FAQ
DO I NEED TO DOWNLOAD THE APP?
You can use the app or the web version, it is up to you. There is slightly more functionality present on our app version currently though. For example, receiving notifications when you have a new comment on your story!
Website: https://sweek.com/
Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid
iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS
HOW DO I PUBLISH A STORY?
Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website
Step 2: Create an account or log in
Step 3: Go to ‘My stories’ and then click on ‘New story’. Create a chapter and write or copy in your story.
Step 4: Publish your story and fill in the correct tag in your Story Details (if you are using the website, do not forget to press Enter!). Finalize by ‘Publish’ – your story is now published and part of the writing contest!
Video tutorial on how to publish a story on Sweek!
WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?
200 words max
WHAT IS THE PRIZE?
$50 cash prize + getting published
CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?
Yes
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 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 or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/306066656501682/?ref=br_rs. 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?
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 participants within the 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! 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.
20 Comments
Confused. Rule 4 says The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek
Rule 12 says The author agrees to give Sweek the copyright to their stories for publishing a book. In case the author does not agree, they must state in the story detail that they own full copyright of their story.
Did you mean permission to publish in a book or that you want to take over the full copyright?
Hi, you're right. We changed the wording in the other post, but forgot to change it here. Will fix that. The right wording is:
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a self-published book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
So you keep the copyright ;)
Do Prize change every round for competition.
For the moment we offer Masterclass courses as the prize, but there is a possibility that the prize might be different later on.
When will be the winners of #microcoffee round announced?? How will we come to know when amd where it is announced?
Hi there, the winners have been announced already via email and on our social media.
I published a story but it still says the story is unpublished. Not sure if the story is published. How can I verify?
Try to search for your story in our browser - if you can find it - it means that it's published and available to other users. You can also message us on Facebook and we can verify it for you (include your username with the story title).
Hi! Can winners of a round participate in other rounds?
Hey Javeria!
Yes, they can. :)
Will the book be soft copy or hard copy?
The book has a soft cover.
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