Get your book published by Stone Soup! Stone Soup is thrilled to announce that we are accepting submissions for a book contest. The winning manuscript will be published by Stone Soup as a standalone book (see the other awards below!). For prose submissions, the minimum length is 20,000 words. For poetry submissions, the minimum length is 40 pages. There is no maximum word or page limit. As always, we have no preference in terms of genre, topic, or form: you can submit a manuscript of poems or short stories, a novel or a memoir. We are simply looking for excellent, innovative, unusual, powerful writing. You have the rest of spring and all of summer to work on your book. We can’t wait to read it! Contest Details Genre: We are reading in all genres. You can submit a collection of poems, a memoir, a short story collection, a collection of personal narratives, a novel, a graphic novel… you name it! Length: For prose (fiction or memoir) submissions, the minimum length is 20,000 words. For poetry submissions, the minimum length is 40 pages. There is no maximum word or page limit. Age Limit: For this contest, we will accept manuscripts written by those age 14 or under. Deadline: Monday August 10, 2020 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time). Entry fee: $15.00 Multiple Submissions are accepted but you must submit each as an individual entry and pay the fee each time. Results and Prizes: We will select one winning manuscript to be published in 2021 and distributed by Stone Soup in both print and ebook forms, available for sale on Amazon, in the Stone Soup store, via our distributors, and advertised along with the rest of our books to libraries and other vendors. We will also name a handful of finalists. Publication: We will consider all work submitted as part of the contest for potential publication in the Magazine or as standalone volumes, if our budget allows. Submissions: All entries must be sent to us before the closing date via our Submittable portal, here.
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Congratulations to our Personal Narrative Contest Winners!
First Place “Locked out of Kindergarten” by Kateri Escober Doran, 12 Second Place “Swirling Arabesques” by Zoe Kyriakakis, 10 Third Place “Gratitude” by Alicia Xin, 13 Honorable Mention “Cody’s Last Day” by Elena Baltz, 10 “A Story” by Asher Jenvey, 10 “Life in the Jungle” by Arielle Kouyoumdjian, 13 “Writer” by Vandana Ravi, 13 “Believing” by Lily Shi, 11 “Kingdom in the River” by Lydia Taylor, 13 “Gentle Hands” by Michelle Wang, 12 We are delighted to announce the winners of our Personal Narrative Contest with the Society of Young Inklings (SYI). Naomi Kinsman, Founder and Executive Director of SYI and Emma Wood, Stone Soup’s Editor, were both so honored to read these submissions as well as grateful for the big and small ways these writers let us into their minds and hearts. Writing nonfiction seems easy—you don’t have to make anything up!—but it is not. Personal narratives require honesty, deep thought and reflection, the ability to see patterns and narratives in past events, as well as the capacity to accept that sometimes there are no patterns or narratives—just the events themselves. Like all writing, they also require an eye for detail, an ear for language, and an aptitude for play. In her winning narrative, Kateri Escober Doran vividly recounts a sharp memory from a day in kindergarten, seamlessly blending evocative storytelling with thoughtful reflection. In second place, with “Swirling Arabesques,” Zoe Kyriakakis meditates on a single phrase while on the bus home from school—showing us how even the smallest moments can become meaningful and beautiful in the writer’s hands. Finally, in third place, with her narrative “Gratitude,” Alicia Xin gives a moving account of the summer she spent in a historically poor county in rural China. We are excited to share these pieces with you in future issues of Stone Soup Magazine (and will add links to this page as they are published). We say this every time, but every time it is truer and truer: it was so difficult to select winners and finalists for this contest. A sincere thank you to everyone who trusted us with their work. Remember, we are thrilled to be reading personal narrative submissions year-round, not only during the contest. When you’re ready, submit your personal narrative here.
Fall 2019 Contest: Personal Essays with the Society of Young Inklings
Personal Essay Contest with the Society of Young Inklings For as long as Stone Soup has been around, we have been publishing nonfiction narratives and personal essays/memoir under the “Story” label. This has frustrated me ever since I became editor two years ago because, as a writing teacher, I spend much of my time teaching my students about the importance of understanding the distinctions between genres. The way we approach fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as both readers and writers, is drastically different. For this reason, I am very happy to announce that Stone Soup is partnering with Society of Young Inklings in our very first nonfiction contest and that, in 2020, we will begin to publish all nonfiction under its very own label in the magazine. But what makes this contest extra special is our partnership with Society of Young Inklings (SYI): we are very excited to share that their team of professional writers has designed a mentorship experience for both the youth and the educators who take part in this contest. To start, SYI invites you to stretch your ideas and elevate the impact of your narrative using the games and activities provided in their quick video series: Spill Some Ink with Stone Soup. Finally, take advantage of SYI’s Tips and Tricks for Revision cheat sheet, which guides writers through specific strategies to bring their narratives even more vividly to life. You can stay in the loop as they add material to further help write and revise your piece by RSVP’ing to their email updates here. Finally, after submission, the first 150 submitters will receive a personalized note from SYI. These notes will highlight a strength in your piece and offer guidance about how to build on that strength in future writing. We are so excited to be partnering with such a wonderful organization and thrilled to be able to offer personalized feedback to many of our writers! Contest Details For this contest, we are looking for excellent, innovative, moving, playful personal essays, or mini-memoirs. We want to hear about any of the biggest moments in your life—the scariest, the saddest, the happiest ones—as well as about some of the smallest—your walk to school or a regular Saturday at home with your brother. Make us laugh! Make us cry! Make us feel like we know you! Length: There is no minimum length. The maximum length is 10,000 words. Deadline: December 15, 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time). Entry fee: $4 per personal narrative. You may submit as many narrative essays as you would like to the contest, but each must be submitted as a new entry. Other specifications: Please make sure there is no identifying material on the .doc or .pdf you upload: your name should not appear on any of these materials. We will have your information through Submittable. Age limit: The contest is open to writers aged 13 or younger, or those who are still in U.S. eighth grade or its equivalent. To enter: All entries should be submitted here, via our Submittable site. We will not consider entries sent via email. Results We will select and announce three winners, as well as a handful of honorable mentions, by the end of January 2020. We will publish all three placing entries in a 2020 issue of Stone Soup.
