Guidelines

THE RALPH WILLIAMS PRIZE FOR SPECULATIVE FICTION

SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED: Complete short stories, written in English, fitting into the broad category of speculative fiction. See Guidelines on Speculative Fiction. See also guidelines for manuscripts submissions below.

DEADLINE: See separate entry concerhning deadline.

CATEGORIES AND PRIZES: All speculative fiction which will fit into one of the following categories. The author indicates the category in which he or she wishes the submission to be judged. Judges reserve the right to re-categorize any entry if appropriate and to combine categories if less than twenty entries are received in any category. There will be one prize per judged category, as indicated, with a grand prize winner chosen from one of the category winners.

a) Science Fiction: $1,000.00 prize
Must have some integral element of a scientific nature
b) Fantasy $1,000.00 prize
Any departure from generally accepted limits of present or past reality
c) Humor or Horror $1,000.00 prize
Any speculative fiction grounded in humor or horror.
d) Alaskana $1,000.00 prize
Any speculative fiction with an Alaskan theme or integrated setting. Merely placing the story in Anchorage, if the setting is not integral to the story, will not qualify the entry as Alaskana. Some unique aspect of life in Alaska must be an integral element of story.
e) Young adult $1,000.00 prize
Speculative fiction, which might otherwise fall into any of the above categories, written for and appealing particularly to an audience from upper elementary through high-school level.

GRAND PRIZE: $5,000 ($4,000 in addition to $1,000 first place prize = $5,000)

Five to six finalists will be chosen in each category, with the final judging to be from this short list. Prizes will be awarded in October, 2008.
The Ralph Williams Contest acquires North American publication rights to all winning stories and may publish winning stories in an anthology available to the public. Finalists or other entries of merit will be given the opportunity to have their stories included in any anthology, but no payment will be made for publication of non-prize winning stories.

No poetry or anime or illustrated work is accepted.




CRITIQUE:
No accepted entries will be returned. However, all non-winning entries will be critiqued by at least two judges and written critiques provided to entrants who submit a SASE with their entry.

FEES: $50.00 ea. entry, non-refundable, check or money order.

Individuals may submit as many entries as desired in the same or different categories, but each submission must be accompanied by a $50.00 entry fee and a separate entry form.

MANUSCRIPT CRITERIA: Entries in English only. 25-page limit, double spaced, Courier 12-point type, one-inch margins, title in caps at top of first page, single or double-sided, stapled in upper left corner. The title and page number must appear on the lower right corner, but the author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Each manuscript must be accompanied by a completed entry form, which may be downloaded or printed from the web site, or obtained by writing and sending an SASE to the address below. Two copies of each manuscript must be submitted, postmarked on or before September 10, 2008, and properly addressed to:

Ralph Williams Speculative Prize Contest
7800 Snow View Drive
Anchorage, AK 99507

Failure to comply with these specifications will result in the manuscript being disqualified from the contest.

ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS: All writers of speculative fiction, whether or not having previously published works, except as rendered ineligible under criteria below.

INELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS: All individuals on the committee for the Ralph Williams Prize for Speculative Fiction or involved in judging, and their immediate families, are ineligible for this contest.