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CATHERINE DOCTOROW INNOVATIVE FICTION PRIZE
Sponsored by FC2
2009 Winner Announced
Fiction Collective Two is pleased to announce Tricia Bauer has won the first annual FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize for her novel Father Flashes. The prize includes publication by FC2 and $15,000. Special mention goes to Melanie Rae Thon for her manuscript The Voice of the River. The judge was Carole Maso.
The 2010 Contest will be open from August 15 - November 1.
Eligibility
The FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize is open to any U.S. writer in English with at least three books of fiction published. Submissions may include a collection of short stories, one or more novellas, or a novel of any length. There is no length requirement. Works that have previously appeared in magazines or in anthologies may be included. Translations and previously published or self-published novels and collections are not eligible. To avoid conflict of interest, former or current students or close friends of the final judge for 2010, Ben Marcus, are ineligible to enter the contest. Employees of FC2 and FC2 authors are not eligible to enter.
Judges
Finalists for the Prize will be chosen by the following members of the FC2 Board of Directors: Kate Bernheimer, R. M. Berry, Jeffrey DeShell, Noy Holland, Brenda Mills, Lance Olsen (Chair), Matt Roberson, and Susan Steinberg.
The winning manuscript in 2010 will be chosen from the finalists by Ben Marcus, who will write the foreword to the winning manuscript.
Selection criteria will be consistent with FC2’s stated mission to publish "fiction considered by America’s largest publishers too challenging, innovative, or heterodox for the commercial milieu," including works of "high quality and exceptional ambition whose styles, subject matter, or forms push the limits of American publishing and reshape our literary culture.”
For contest updates and full information on FC2’s mission, history, aesthetic commitments, authors, events, and books, please visit the website at: http://fc2.org.
Deadlines
Contest entries will be accepted beginning 15 August. All entries must be postmarked no later than 1 November. The winner will be announced in May 2011.
Prize
The Prize includes $15,000 and publication by FC2, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press. In the unlikely event that no suitable manuscript is found among entries in a given year, FC2 reserves the right not to award a prize.
Manuscript Format
Please submit either TWO hardcopies of the manuscript, or ONE hardcopy and one Word file of the manuscript on a labeled CD.
The manuscript must be:
—anonymous. The author's name or address must not appear anywhere on the manuscript (the title page should contain the title only). Include a separate cover page with your name, contact information, and a list of three previously published works of fiction with ISBNs and publishers. You may download and use a copy of this cover letter.
—typed on standard white paper, one side of the page only; paginated consecutively; bound with a spring clip or rubber bands. No paper clips or staples, please.
Please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard for notification that manuscript has been received, and a self-addressed, stamped, regular business-sized envelope for contest results.
FC2 strongly advises that you send your manuscript first class.
FC2 cannot return manuscripts, so please retain a copy of your manuscript.
Submission of more than one manuscript is permissible if each manuscript is accompanied by a $25 reading fee. Once submitted, manuscripts cannot be altered; the winner will be given the opportunity to make changes before publication. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but FC2 must be notified immediately if manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
FC2 will consider all finalists for publication.
Submission Address
Full manuscripts, accompanied by a check made out to American Book Review for the mandatory reading fee of $25, should be sent to:
FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize
University of Houston-Victoria
School of Arts and Sciences
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, TX 77901-5731
CLMP Contest Ethics Code
CLMP's community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to:
1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors.
2) provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved.
3) make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.
This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically.
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