About the Glimmer Train Stories
This handsome triannual continues to actively champion emerging writers. Forty percent of all the stories presented in the last year were their authors' first stories accepted for print publication. We know how much goes into writing a story you care about, and it is our great pleasure to read your work. Glimmer Train tries to set the bar for treating writers with respect.
It will be my very first published story, and I can't tell you what it means to me to know it will be in Glimmer Train. Yours was the first literary magazine I ever read; I'm incredibly honored to have been chosen.—Aria Beth Sloss, Autobiography of Us
One of the most respected short-story journals in print, Glimmer Train continues to actively champion emerging writers. The magazine is represented in recent editions of the Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, New Stories from the Midwest, the O. Henry Prize Stories, New Stories from the South,Best of the West, New Stories from the Southwest, Best American Short Stories, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading.
2016 SUBMISSION CALENDAR
We have five submission categories from which to choose, including our standard category ($2 processing fee, and payment for accepted pieces is $700), and four contests (1st place prizes from $2,000 to $3,000 are made possible by reading fees). Contest vs. standard.
Click on the names of the categories, in green below, for details.
NOTE: contest deadlines are always followed by a one-week grace period.
Short Story Award for New Writers (1st place - $2,500): Welcome in January/February, May/June, and September/October.
Open only to writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000. (Previous online publication is fine.) Most entries run from 1,000 to 5,000 words, but any lengths up to 12,000 are welcome.
Very Short Fiction (1st place - $2,000): Welcome in March/April and July/August.
We invite any length stories from 300 to 3,000 words.
Fiction Open (1st place - $3,000): Welcome in March/April and July/August.
Open to all subjects and themes. Most entries run from 3,000 to 6,000 words, but we invite stories from 3,000 to 20,000 words.
Family Matters (1st place - $2,500): Welcome in November/December.
Calling for stories about families of all configurations. Most entries run from 1,000 to 5,000 words, but any lengths up to 12,000 are welcome.
Standard Category ($700): Welcome in May and November.
Open to all. $2 processing fee. Maximum word count: 12,000. Any shorter lengths are welcome.
Fiction Open is an excellent category for novellas. Excerpts from unpublished novels are fine in any category as long as they feel like complete stories and meet the guidelines. If the novel has been published, the excerpt must be at least 20% different from the material as published, and have, of course, its own title.
And Glimmer Train Press Publications have been Around Since1990
Every submission in every category is read by us, and we don't stop reading for a competition just because we've found a good story.
Stories are published in a handsome print publication where great fiction enjoys a physical existence that will persist. (Online publication is a great avenue for writers, too, but we think an exceptional story deserves a long life and a place in the Library of Congress.)
Each story we publish is accompanied by two pages that focus on the author as a person. (Most serious writers are curious about the creators of the stories they love.)
We are open to stories on all subjects and themes and, as long as a story is also literary, we gladly welcome genre-esque work as well.
Simultaneous submissions are fine. Just let us know promptly, please, if your story is accepted elsewhere.
We're happy to consider stories that have appeared on a blog, an online magazine, or in Kindle (or other self-published) form as long as fewer than 75 copies have been sold.
Our contracts are simple, sensible, and fair. YOU own your story. When a story is accepted for publication, we are buying first-publication rights. Once we've published your story, you are free to, for instance, include it in your own collection. (Publishers are always happy when subsets of a book they are considering have previously been published by reputable literary publications.)
Writers are paid generously for accepted stories ($700 - $3,000) and we pay upon acceptance.
We maintain two Standard (minimal-fee) reading periods a year. Contact us if the $2 processing fee is a hardship. No one should be prevented from submitting their work for lack of funds.
We still accept snail-mail submissions from those for whom online submission is difficult.
If you read Glimmer Train, you know that we go to some lengths to honor and support our contributors and their writing.
We also publish Writers Ask, an inexpensive, no-frills, topic-centered publication for writers who are committed to creating meaningful literary fiction. This publication is packed with the wisdom and perspectives of accomplished authors, many of whom teach in creative writing programs around the country.
Because many writers yearn for a greater sense of community and for opportunities to learn from fellow writers, our free bulletins give you updates on deadlines and such, but they also present a handful of helpful essays by writers for writers.
We respect your privacy and your right to claim what quiet and reflective time you can get. Glimmer Train never shares your information with anyone, and our publications contain no advertisements.
We welcome the opportunity to read your work!
For more detailed information please click on "Further official Information" below,
GLIMMER TRAIN'S
WINNERS & FINALISTS
FICTION OPEN—MAR/APR 2016
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
VERY SHORT FICTION AWARD—MAR/APR 2016
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
SHORT-STORY AWARD FOR NEW WRITERS—JAN/FEB 2016
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
FICTION OPEN—DECEMBER 2015
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
SHORT-STORY AWARD FOR NEW WRITERS—NOVEMBER 2015
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
VERY SHORT FICTION AWARD—OCTOBER 2015
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
FAMILY MATTERS—SEPTEMBER 2015
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
SHORT-STORY AWARD FOR NEW WRITERS—AUGUST 2015
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
VERY SHORT FICTION AWARD—JULY 2015
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
FICTION OPEN—JUNE 2015
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Top-25
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Honorable Mentions
For more information please click on "Further Official Information" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://www.glimmertrain.com/pages/gts_current_issue.php