To promote science fiction short stories, Kalkion is announcing the first Kalkion Short Story Contest. The goal of the contest is to encourage science fiction writing.

It's hard to set a theme to the contest owing to the vastness of the SF (speculative fiction) genre. So, we are keeping it an open-themed contest. However, we do want to drop a few seeds in your minds. We are looking for stories with a pinch of humor and satire yet delivering a strong message. It must be entertaining as well – this is no essay contest!

More about the contest
Prize Money: US $ 140
Date: The contest starts today, May 25, 2011, and concludes on August 25, 2011. The winner will be decided on August 30, 2011.
You can send as many entries as you want.
Word Limit: 1500-3000 words. Longer or shorted entries will be rejected.
Only unpublished entries can be submitted, if you post a published entry, your submission will be disqualified. Repeat offenders will be blocked from participating in the contest.
Entries must be send to: 'submission@kalkion.com' with Contest in the Subject Line.
The contest is sponsored by Non Official Rhyme's.

The entries will be judged by a panel of writers and editors with the help of readers. Each qualified entry will be published on Kalkion and will be open for voting by readers. The more reads and votes a story gets, the more chances it will have to get the attention of judges. Judges will decide a winner on the merits of the most popular and entertaining story.

The decision of the judges will be final and can't be contested in any court – if you don't agree to this condition, please don't enter the contest.

Themes
Do you think we are heading towards a dystopian world feared by George Orwell? Do you see Apple emerging as the mega corporation gradually taking control over lives – heralding a Nazi era in America by controlling what American's must read and watch?

Do you see that the revolution in Middle East will change the face of the world? What kind of world do you fantasize with the Middle East emerging as a democratic region?

Do you see American spending on war leading this great country into the dark ages, buried under a mountain of debt, bailed out by China, with unemployment and hostility rife?

Can you create an amalgamation of these themes with a pinch of humor and pack it as science fiction?

There can be so many themes you can write about, so just write something which you love or something you are concerned about. Make sure there is a strong element of story and drama in it. How entertaining a story is, along with its message, will be the deciding factor for our judges.

Judges:
Richard Tornello
Richard Tornello is a business owner/consultant/technical recruiter with 32+ years experience, married and slave to one very neurotic cat Stella. He has a degree from Rutgers University in Asian Studies.

Richard's poetry and fiction has appeared a number of times in Aphelion (with one or more poems almost every month); Has a book GLORIA THE CHIPMUNK available on AMAZON and 4 stories in an anthology, THE FLASH OF APHELION

Michele Dutcher
Michele Dutcher has a BS from Indiana University. She has been widely published in a variety of webzines, and has recently e-published her first novel 'Outrunning the Storm' online. She lives in a carriage-house in the Victorian Section of Louisville KY, USA with her border collie Daisy.

Dominic Kennedy
Assistant Editor, Kalkion

Swapnil Bhartiya
Editor-in-chief, Kalkion

Terms & Conditions
1. The entry must not contain explicit sexual, erotic content, or graphic violence.
2. The entry must not:
(a) Breach any security, or encourage the same.
(b) Disclose sensitive information/data about an individual or organization.
(c) Offend, accuse an individual or organization.
(d) Display bias/discrimination towards -- Gender, Race, Nationality, Religion, Cast, Creed, Community, etc.

You will not be allowed to send the submitted entries anywhere else for submission.

The entries submitted to this contest will become the property of Kalkion. The copyright to the entries will return to respective author only after the completion of the contest and under the condition that Kalkion will retain non-exclusive, unlimited rights over the entries.

Kalkion reserves all the rights to re-produce the submitted work in any form, format and medium (known and unknown today). Kalkion will try to inform the concerned author about the re-produced work, but it it is not mandatory.

So, what are you waiting for, get your magic pen and send us your stories!

How to enter contest?
You can send your entries to submission@kalkion.com . Entries for the contest must have Contest in the Subject line. Every entry must come with the following information:

Name Of the Author
Pen Name (if real name is to be hidden)
Telephone Number
Postal Address
Street
City
State
Zip Code
Country
E-mail ID
PayPal ID

http://www.kalkion.com/
http://www.kalkion.com/news/kalkions-short-story-contest/1182/2011

Click on the link above and go to the contest official site