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Million Writers Award

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Million Writers Award is a short story literary award presented annually by storySouth since 2003.[1][2] It honors the best online short stories. The award is structured to be egalitarian allowing for anyone to nominate a story including readers, authors, editors and publishers; prize money is donated by readers and writers; and the winners are selected by public vote from a short-list of entries selected by judges.[3]

Overview

The Million Writers Award was founded by author Jason Sanford in 2003 at a time when the literary establishment "didn't believe online magazines were legitimate places to publish fiction," seeing it as a fad.[4] Sanford set out to honor and highlite online only publications and stories with the award.

Stories eligible for the award include those first published in online literary journals, magazines, and e-zines that have an editorial process.[4] The award has a variable cash prize, in 2011 for example it was $600 for the winner, $200 for the runner-up and $100 for third place.[3] Prize money is raised through donations from writers, editors and readers and thus fluctuates each year.[3] Anyone can nominate up to one story, while editors and publishers can nominate three stories. Stories must be at least 1000 words.[3]

The award has become one of the premier online literary awards and was named a Hot Site by USA Today.[5] The award was profiled in a six-page feature interview with editor Jason Sanford in the 2005 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market[6] and mentioned in The 100 Best Trends, 2006: Emerging Developments You Can't Afford to Ignore as an example of the emerging online literary movement.[7]

In 2012 Spotlight Publishing released two anthologies of stories from the Million Writers Award, with one focused on literary stories and the other on science fiction and fantasy stories.[8][9][10]

Winners

Previous winners.[11]

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

References

  1. ^ "Million Writers Awards". storySouth. Million Writers. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  2. ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (April 23, 2009). "Million Writers Award: more than 100 top short stories". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d "2012 Million Writers Award Rules". Jason Sanford.com. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Introduction to the 2012 Million Writers Award". Jason Sanford.com. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  5. ^ "WebGuide: Hot Sites". USA Today. March 9, 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  6. ^ "Personal Views: Jason Sanford On the Million Writers Award" by Mary Cox, 2005 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market Writer's Digest Books, 2004, p. 23.
  7. ^ The 100 Best Trends, 2006: Emerging Developments You Can't Afford to Ignore by George Ochoa and Melinda Corey, Adams Media Corporation, 2005, p. 55.
  8. ^ "Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy". Spotlight Publishing. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  9. ^ "Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices". Spotlight Publishing. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  10. ^ "Starred review of Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  11. ^ "The storySouth Million Writers Award". The storySouth Million Writers Award. storysouth.com. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  12. ^ "The Top Ten Online Stories of 2003". storySouth. Retrieved May 5, 2013.