I am not sure if there are potential authors that visit this forum exclusively, so I thought I would post a notice here, too. The Contest Thread can be found here. Most discussion as well as the stories will be posted in that forum.

Guidelines...

In the past, I have asked it to be third edition, but I do not think that really matters.

I have asked that the story conform to SR rules, but that has been kind of ignored and/or sidestepped by at least one prize winner.

I asked them to be long enough to make their point and short enough not to lose our attention, but I think I'd like them long enough to tell a story. To be eligible for a prize, I have asked that the story be original and not posted elsewhere on the 'net, and have only noticed one that I had read before. (There are a lot of Dumpshockers surfing the net, hungry to read fiction, and you had better believe they would love to rat you out. )

Multiple submissions are ok, but I have heard that if you enter 2 strong pieces and there is another contender, you tend to hurt yourself by splitting your vote.

I have asked that submissions be Titled. And that the PM you send me have the title in the Message Title box. It makes it so much easier to keep track of them, to find them when you send me an edited version, and to represent in the poll so you can get a vote.

Yes, edits will be accepted until contest is concluded. (Meaning even after I have posted them and established the poll. The earlier you get them, the better chance people will understand you.)

I have asked that you Personal Message submissions to me here at Dumpshock. Include the Story title in the submission (or as the message header.) The Personal Message Function can be quickly reached by clicking on the new messages button at the top of the page. One of the features is automatically saving a copy for yourself when you send the PM (I suggest doing this.) I should be able to use the quote function to easily cut and paste without having to go through and format things like paragraph breaks and italics.

It looks like there is interest. GenCon starts August 16th, so I think a deadline for entries will be the 12th. This gives more than a month to create a story, a few days for everyone to savor them, and time for me to deliver the prize in person should the winner be attending the convention. (I may even make a production out of awarding it so you can meet fellow Dumpshockers, and they can see what a freak you really are. Ok you may not think your freaky looking, but I have been a bit surprised to put faces to names, and to find Critias actually does not have horns and cloven hooves. ) In the pleasant event there are many submissions, I will either stop the contest when I get 10 entries (meaning if you quickly submit 10 stories, you are guaranteed winning, I will list them in separate polls and we will have more than one winner. The whole reason of having the 10 limit is that is the most poll entries the site accepts. If this optimistic situation occurs, I will divide multiple entries between polls.

I post the submissions without the author's name, hopefully to avoid bias and/or cronyism, and create a poll for the DS community to help choose.

And I am open to suggestions for improvement.

Sweet, another fiction contest.

*settles back with a beer and waits for teh storeyz*

Update

The deadline has been extended until I receive 5 submissions. I have 3 at this time.

Again the main thread is here.

And, I felt a need to bump this thread as I was catching some unwarranted guff about not posting the contest here. Please note I am not an admin nor able to hack date and time stamps.

No problem here with having a thread in each forum .Or with the bumping. It's for a great cause after all.

Yes it should be bumped in every location. Especially forums where a lot of traffic comes in. Remember that here are a lot of people who only ever play or particularly read about the fourth edition timeline. I suspect that they may only write 4th edition fan fiction as well.

-Frank

Hey all.

It has been 2 weeks since the deadline was extended for all those interested in submitting. I still have only 3 entries and one of those authors is wanting to know what is up with you slackers.

New to the forums, but I wrote some old drek a ways back - I'd like to see if I can dig it out and submit it.

I'm actually working on something - slowly but surely.

Just curious, couldn't some unscrupulous person simply spam the last two submission slots with entries and give themselves a big advantage? I think people should hurry up.

-Frank

I am new to these forums. I used to play 3rd ed. way back in the day and our group just started a 4th ed. campaign. Our GM has asked that we submit a back story regarding our characters motivations to become a shadowrunner.

I have opted to write a few short stories about some of the situations he encountered while being part of the The Ancients. I came here looking for somewhere to get some feedback on my writing and my immersion into the SR world. If your contest is still open I would be happy to submit it if you are looking for additional entries.

It is still awaiting a final entry.

The Third Periodic tizos tisoz Shadowrun Fiction Contest is underway. The 5th submission was followed minutes later by a 6th, so we get an extra story.

Let's everyone try to get these read, and their votes in/comments made in order to make an October 1 decision.