Book of Mormon Short Story Contest

The 2009 Christmas story contest and resulting book, Stolen Christmas and Other Stories of the Season, was a big success. We’ll definitely be going for a volume 2, with a call for stories in July.

But in the meantime, we’re doing a contest for a non-Christmas book. Remember how I’ve mentioned that I don’t think there are enough books aimed at teens, especially teen boys, in the LDS market? Well, I’m putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak.

LDSP’s 2010 YA Book of Mormon
Short Story Contest

Prize: Publication in an anthology that will be published and ready for sale in June-ish,2010.

Submission Rules:

  • FOLLOW rules carefully! In the past, I’ve let some of you slide a little. But since this is for a publication, I’m going to be as sticky-picky as I am when receiving real submissions. Why? Because this is a REAL submission!
  • Write a short story targeted to the young adult reader (male or female). Any genre is acceptable but the setting must be somewhere in the Book of Mormon time period. You may use characters from the Book of Mormon or make up fictional characters.
  • Stories should reinforce LDS values without being preachy or didactic. Avoid clichéd plot lines and predictable outcomes. I want something with an original and unique story line or twist to it.
  • Stories should be positive and family friendly. I reserve the right to refuse any story I deem inappropriate for this blog/book.
  • Word count: 2,000 to 5,000.
  • Story must be previously unpublished. Stories published anywhere other than your personal website or blog are ineligible. (That includes books, magazines, e-zines or other contests.)
  • Stories submitted for previous years’ contests are also ineligible for this contest.
  • Paste entire story into an e-mail. NO ATTACHMENTS, please.

    —Put “Contest: Title of Your Story” in the subject line of your e-mail.
    (Example: Contest: The Broken Bow)

    —At the top of the body of your e-mail, type your name, mailing address, phone number, e-mail address, word count and whether you are a published or unpublished author (defined below). (Example:

    LDS Publisher
    123 My Street
    My Town, ST 00000
    (123)456-7890

    ldspublisher@hotmail.com
    word count: 1990
    published author

    —Skip a line, then put the title of your story

    —Skip a line, then paste in your story.

  • “Published”—as in published author—is defined as someone paid you money or comp copies (in the case of magazines) for any story or book written by you. (So either a publisher paid you, or you self-published and people bought your book.)
  • If you are a published and/or agented author, check with your publisher and/or agent before submitting. They will want to know the information listed under “Book Details.”
  • You may submit more than one story. Send each submission in a separate e-mail. Include all your info, as outlined above, with each e-mail/story.
  • SUBMIT your story any time between NOW and Friday, February 19, 2010.
  • I will post the stories beginning on February 17th, in the order that they arrive.
  • We will have Reader Voting for the best stories, as we have done in previous contests. The winners are guaranteed a spot in the book. Voting will take place February 22 – 27. I will post voting rules and polls on the 22nd. (We’ll be using a VIZU poll.)
  • You may tell your friends that you’ve submitted a story and to please go vote, but DO NOT TELL THEM WHICH STORY IS YOURS. We want the stories to win on merit, not personal popularity.

PRIZE: Publication in the as yet untitled Book of Mormon anthology

  • There will be four winners:
    Readers’ Choice/Published Author
    Readers’ Choice/Unpublished Author
    Publisher’s Choice/Published Author
    Publisher’s Choice/Unpublished Author

    These four winners are guaranteed a spot in the book.

  • As usual, I reserve the right to withhold Publisher’s Choice awards if I feel none of the stories deserve it.
  • I, and a small anonymous committee, will determine the other stories to be included in the book.
  • All authors to be included in the book will be notified via e-mail by the end of March, 2010.

Book Details (Read Carefully):

  • By submitting a story to this contest, you are agreeing to all the conditions below.
  • Authors shall give LDS Publisher One-Time Publishing Rights for inclusion of story in the as yet untitled Book of Mormon story compilation. This is the non-exclusive right to publish your story in this compilation, in various formats, and to retain your story in the compilation until LDS Publisher takes the compilation out of print.
  • Authors shall retain all other rights and copyrights to their stories and may sell this story to any other party with a publication date after September 30, 2010.
  • Compensation for use of story in this compilation shall be: one free e-book copy of the published book sent to author upon publication; author’s name listed in the Table of Contents and on the first page of the story; and rights to use this compilation as a publishing credit. No royalties, advances or other monetary compensation will be given to any author. Author may not print or sell the e-book files.
  • Compensation exception: If sales of the book exceed costs to produce it, LDS Publisher shall notify authors and arrange an equal royalty split between all contributors. Conditions and terms of royalty and payment shall be determined at that time.
  • LDS Publisher shall assume no rights to any future works by author.
  • LDS Publisher shall have full editorial rights to the stories included in the compilation, including, but not limited to, title changes, editing for space and content, design and layout of book, title of book, and book cover.
  • The compilation will be available for purchase online in both print and e-book formats in summer of 2010 (most likely, June).
  • The compilation may or may not be made available to bookstores at discounted pricing, but in any case, no marketing will be done by LDS Publisher to guarantee placement in any bookstore.
  • Authors agree to help spread the word about the contest and the book by any or all of the following methods:

    —Word of mouth to friends and family

    —Website/blog buttons, links, posts, etc

    —Facebook, My Space, Twitter, or other networking sites or forums

Help spread the word! Post about the contest on your blog, in your forums, and e-mail all your friends.

Buttons for your blogs:

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Image of Teancum used with permission of Kris A. Cooper

Author: LDS Publisher

I am an anonymous blogger who works in the LDS publishing industry. I blog about topics that help authors seeking publication and about published fiction by LDS authors.

7 thoughts on “Book of Mormon Short Story Contest”

  1. 2,000-5,000 words this time? Going for more depth since last time it was 2,000 word limit, right?

  2. That's right. Although if the story is spectacular, I might be willing to go a little less—but not much more.

  3. Does placing in a contest count as published? The story was published on a website for a while and I received a commemorative coin.

  4. Vernon, Normally, yes. Send me details and links when you submit your story and I'll determine which category you go in.

  5. A newbie question: When you say the author retains the copyright, does that imply I should copyright it before I submit?

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