‘Ink’ Blog Tour: How Does the Flash Fiction Contest Work? by J. Scott Coatsworth
How Does the Flash Fiction Contest Work?
Q&A With Director J. Scott Coatsworth
Every year, Queer Sci Fi holds a flash fiction contest, and hundreds of writers enter their stories. Once the dust clears, a brand-new anthology magically appears, filled with flash fiction goodness. Of course, there’s no real magic involved. Just hard work and experience. So let’s pull back the curtain a little, shall we?
How do you choose the theme each year?
Each year we rotate the honor among our four admins – Scott, Angel, Ben and Ryane. That judge comes up with 3-4 options – always a single word – and we discuss it in the group and choose one of them to be that year’s theme. Generally speaking, we like themes that are topical, that are open to multiple definitions/interpretations, and that don’t favor one of the four speculative fiction genres—sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal or horror—too much over the others.
(more…)
