2010 Robert Olen Butler Short Fiction Prize

The 2010 Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize

Del Sol Press announces the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize for the best short story, either published (in a periodical) or unpublished, 2000-8000 words. We invite contest submissions from both emerging and established writers. In keeping with the philosophy of Web del Sol, we are only interested in the very best fiction, regardless of source or type.

Our judge for the 2010 year of the competition will be Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler.

The winning story and ten finalists will be published in book form in Summer 2010.

Winner Receives

A $1,200 honorarium, paid in June 2010, publication in a Fall 2010 Del Sol Press anthology, and 20 copies of the anthology that features their story.

Eligibility

• Writers who are at least 18 years of age and who live inside or outside the United States.
• Translations are not eligible; stories must be in English.
• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable (as long as you let us know immediately if the manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere, in which case it must be withdrawn unless it will be published before April 2009).
• Multiple submissions are accepted; include a separate reading fee with each.
• Employees, volunteers and board members of Web del Sol, or their partners or spouses, or their immediate families, or immediate family of the judge are not eligible.

Competition Guidelines

• Deadline (postmark): March 1, 2010
• Stories must be between 2000 and 8000 words.
• $16.00 contest fee for the first story and $5.00 for each additional story. Please make checks out to Web Del Sol.
• Include two cover pages: one with your contact information (phone, email, address, where the story has been published if it has been previously published), and one with the title of your submission (minus your name). Your name should not appear on the manuscript itself. Manuscripts are read anonymously.
• Type or word-process on standard white paper, on one side of the page only.
• Paginate consecutively.
• Staple or paper clip/binder clip, or put it in a separate folder with your name on the outside of the folder.
• We will consider unpublished stories as well as stories that have appeared in periodicals (not if they have appeared as part of a story collection, however), provided that the author can obtain reprint rights.
• Include a stamped, self-addressed postcard for notification of receipt of manuscript if you want notification.
• Please keep a copy of your entry. Manuscripts not selected for publication will be recycled.

  Postmark dates between October 1, 2009 and March 1, 2009. Manuscripts received outside of these dates will be returned unread. Mail entries to:

  Katie Jean Shinkle, Contest Coordinator
  Robert Olen Butler Short Fiction Prize 2009
  PO Box 1550
  Tuscaloosa, AL 35403

• Queries to Katie Jean Shinkle, Contest Coordinator. Email: ROBContestDSP "at" gmail.com (replace "at" with @).