3-Day Novella Contest News
2021-01-18
Hello, 3-Day-writing enthusiasts!
Welcome to 2021! Hopefully, in the next few days we’ll all see a peaceful transition into a new era. (Particularly for you American folks. Fingers crossed all goes smoothly at the White House on Wednesday!)
A few things to look forward to this year:
- The winning entries from 2020 are being prepped for publication. They should be out sometime in March or April. Ideally. And just a reminder: anyone who submitted a manuscript last year is entitled to an e-copy of the winning books. So if we miss you for some reason, just give us a shout!
- There will be another contest this year! Same 4 judges, same contest guidelines, different date. We’ll hold the contest over the Memorial Day Weekend (May 29-31, 2021). The same submission rules will apply, which means if that week-end doesn’t suit your schedule, you’ll still have 2 weeks afterward to find your best 3-day writing period, with enough time to submit your manuscript. Expect another announcement once early registration opens.
- There will also be a new prize category this year. The Pantser Prize. This prize is awarded to the best story based on a premise we provide. (We will give you 3 or 4 options, at midnight, just before the contest.) This is for those of you who want to come in totally blind and hit the ground running. (I did this myself in 2020, and the experience was awesome!) If you take this option, you’ll still be eligible for the Top 3; you’ll just also be eligible for this prize instead. (There will be a one prize limit per entrant, so no single entry dominates the contest.)
That’s all for now.
Stay safe & sane, everyone!
Gavin
2020-11-05
It’s time to announce the winners of the 2020 3-Day Novella Contest!
Who’s excited? I know I am!
This year, we have one clear winner, selected practically unanimously by all 4 judges.
There’s also a three-way tie for second place. In each case, one of the judges chose that story as their #1, and fought hard to keep it in the top 3. In the end, we decided they all deserved a place in the top 4.
This means ALL FOUR TITLES have won a publishing contract with Feybreak Books. Expect to see them for sale in the spring of 2021.
And the winners are:
1. Nemesis by Noel Alcoba
2. The Devil’s Copper by Jamie Crothall
2. Return to the Tribe and Fire by Sandy Lender
2. Love After Life: A Romance for the Unromantic (and/or by the Unalive) by Ashley Shaw
Congratulations, all four of you! Your stories blew our minds! Expect an e-mail in the next few days with your cash prize, as well as a publishing contract!
There is also a consolation prize for the rest of you who did not win. For those who made it to the SHORTLIST, as well as ANYONE WHO SUBMITTED A STORY, you’ll get free e-copies of the winning titles, once they’re available next year.
Thank you, everyone, for competing this year. You should all be proud of what you’ve accomplished!
Until next time,
Gavin
2020-10-17
Without further ado, the shortlist: (alphabetically, by author surname)
- Nemesis by Noel Alcoba
- Of Kindness and Corn Sprites by Marcel Barker
- The Devil’s Copper by Jamie Crothall
- My Life by Elizabeth Durusau
- Period, End Of. by Meg Kimball
- Return to the Tribe and Fire by Sandy Lender
- The Karlov Heist by Grant McKee
- The Adventures of the Actor Who Plays Johnny Polaris: Space Detective by Conor Moloney
- Her Town Too by Vanessa Robinson
- Love After Life: A Romance for the Unromantic (and/or the Unalive) by Ashley Shaw
Congrats to the ten of you! Over the next few weeks, we (your 4 friendly neighbourhood judges) will discuss each shortlisted entry to determine which ones best deserve to be the TOP 3. We’ll announce the winners in November.
2020-09-16
We’ve received our final tally of manuscripts, and it looks like you managed to PEN 15! I’m proud so many of you were able to RISE to the occasion!
We 4 judges (Dorothyanne, Siri, Tim, and myself) will endeavour to announce a shortlist, (the TOP 10), LONG before December. (Likely mid-October.)
For now, listed alphabetically, these are the fifteen entries we have received:
- The Adventures of the Actor Who Plays Johnny Polaris: Space Detective
- All Around Us, Darkness
- Artifice of the Assassin
- The Devil’s Copper
- Her Town Too
- The Karlov Heist
- Love After Life: A Romance for the Unromantic (and/or the Unalive)
- My Life
- Nemesis
- Of Kindness and Corn Sprites
- Period, End Of.
- Return to the Tribe and Fire
- Sudokus and Crosswords
- The Twisting Road
- Why I Left
In the odd chance you DON’T see your story title listed above, but you BELIEVE you sent in, we don’t have it! Get in touch right away, or forever hold your peace!
With that said, to all those of you who managed to hammer out a story in 3 days, regardless of whether you submitted it or not, GOOD WORK! You should all be proud of yourselves. Not a lot of people can do what you did. But YOU can, because you’re a ZENMASTER OF COMPOSITIONAL BADASSERY!
Yours,
Gavin
2020-09-01
It’s time to announce the rankings for the 3DN2019-Legacy event!
Let me just say it was very close. We only got 4 entries, but they were all great! All compelling stories, and all extremely well-written.
Rankings:
1. The Foreigner State by Jamie Crothall
2. The Governess Seeks a Position by Tim Covell
3. A Taste of Creamy Dill by Conor Moloney
3. The Coming of the Three-eared Jackelope by Meg Kimball
And no, that second ‘3.’ isn’t a typo. It was a tie for third. Like I said, very close competition. All four stories were excellent, and you should all be proud of what you accomplished back in 2019.
With that out of the way, to all those of you planning on competing this coming week-end, we four judges (yes, there are actually four of us now!) are looking forward to what you come up with.
2020-08-30
As the contest is fast approaching, (just one week left!), I wanted to give you all something.
I’ve just published Bordertown!, the original 3-Day Novella I wrote for the old contest back in 2015, where it won 2nd place, and earned me a cool $500 prize.
I figured I’d share it here with all of you, for those who wish to:
A) See an example of what’s expected of you as a writer, or
B) See an example of what to expect of Feybreak Books as publisher of the winning entries.
Best of all, it’s free until September 3rd. So go ahead and grab yourself a copy here.
Also, the big reveal as to who won the 2019 Legacy event is coming this Tuesday! So stay tuned!
2020-08-28
The 3-Day Novella contest now has a proper publishing outlet! All contest winners will be published by Feybreak Books. The first winner is about to be announced!
2020-08-21
Just a quick update with some numbers for you.
16: The number of people registered for 3DN2020 so far. A good number for our first year, given the old contest’s sudden comeback. I’ll let you all know if this number changes dramatically before the September 4 deadline.
4: The number of 3DN2019-Legacy entries we got by the August 15 deadline. I’ll be discussing the entries with the other judges next week. But for now, having read them all, I must say ALL FOUR entries are EXTREMELY GOOD! It was a real pleasure to read them all, and it’s going to be tough to pick a definitive winner.
3: The number of judges we have now. And we’re all excited to see what you guys come up with 2 weeks from now!
2: The number of weeks remaining before the contest. Are you guys ready? Do you have an outline prepared? Or are you planning to wing it? Feel free to leave a comment.
Also, for those looking for a support community of 3-Dayers, there’s a good one with lots of friendly people in it here: https://SmartURL.it/3DN_ChatZone
2020-06-30
Hello 3-day-writing enthusiasts! Two pieces of exciting news for you:
- 3DN2020 registration is now open to the public! The early bird price is $35, and lasts until August 1, 2020.
- 3DN2019 still needs a winner. So I’m hosting a legacy contest, FOR FREE, for all those of you who wrote an entry last year. We can still have a 2019 winner after all! The rules are posted here!
