2015 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Taking Entries

Baen logoThe 2015 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award contest is open for submissions.

All entries must be received by midnight April 1. Each entry is limited to a short story of no more than 8,000 words, and there is one entry per author. The story may be epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, or contemporary fantasy.

Editor Jim Minz said in the press release:

“We’re looking for the best piece of original short fiction that captures the spirit and tradition of such great storytellers as Larry Correia, Robert E. Howard, Mercedes Lackey, Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, J.R.R. Tolkien, and David Weber. We want fantasy adventures with heroes a reader wants to root for. We’re looking for warriors, either modern or medieval, who solve problems with their wits as well as their weapons.”

Interestingly, this is identical to Minz’ quote in last year’s press release — with the exception that Marion Zimmer Bradley’s name has disappeared from the list of “great storytellers.”

Entries will be judged by Baen editors with finalists also being judged by author Larry Correia.

The Grand Prize winner will be published as the featured story on the Baen Books main website and paid at industry-standard rates for professional story submittals. The author will also receive an engraved award and a prize package containing various Baen Books.

Second and Third Place winners will receive a prize package of Baen Books.

According to information on the award website, publication details will be worked out between winner and Baen Books. “In the unlikely event that none of the stories qualify for professional publication, a cash prize, of an amount equal to the amount it would have earned had it been published, may be substituted in lieu of publication.”

The website cautions —

What we don’t want to see Political drama with no action, angst-ridden teens pining over vampire lovers, religious allegory, novel segments, your gaming adventure transcript, anything set in any universe not your own, “it was all a dream” endings, or screenplays.

The winners will be honored as part of Gen Con’s Writer’s Symposium. Gen Con takes place July 30-August 2.

The full press release follows the jump.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:            CONTACT:  1-800-ITS-BAEN

2015 BAEN FANTASY ADVENTURE AWARD ANNOUNCED

Second Annual Contest for Best Fantasy Adventure Story

To be Presented at Premier Gaming Convention Gen Con

 

January 6, 2015, Riverdale, New York—After last year’s enthusiastic response to the inaugural Baen Fantasy Adventure Award, Baen Books and the Gen Con Writer’s Symposium are happy to announce the Second Annual Baen Fantasy Adventure Award. The contest is centered on adventure fantasy short stories, whether epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, or contemporary fantasy.

The contest is now open for submissions and all entries must be received by midnight on April 1st, 2015.  Each entry is limited to a short story of no more than 8,000 words, and only one entry per author. Entries will be judged by Baen editors with finalists also being judged by author Larry Correia.

“We are very pleased to continue our association with Gen Con and its Writer’s Symposium,” said Baen executive editor Jim Minz. “Gen Con is the best-attended gaming convention in the world, and it is the perfect place to seek out and showcase great fantasy talent.”

“We’re looking for the best piece of original short fiction that captures the spirit and tradition of such great storytellers as Larry Correia, Robert E. Howard, Mercedes Lackey, Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, J.R.R. Tolkien, and David Weber,” said Minz. “We want fantasy adventures with heroes a reader wants to root for. We’re looking for warriors, either modern or medieval, who solve problems with their wits as well as their weapons.”

Baen Books is known for its New York Times bestselling science fiction and fantasy, including David Weber’s Honor Harrington series, Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire alternate histories, Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter International urban fantasies, and Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. Baen’s print books are distributed by Simon & Schuster, while electronic editions of its titles are available at baeneboooks.com, amazon.com, bn.com and many other outlets.

 

For more information or to read last year’s winning entry visit www.baenfantasyaward.com,

email [email protected], or call 1-800-ITS-BAEN.

 

2 thoughts on “2015 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Taking Entries

  1. The deadline for submission (according to the Baen website) is “April 1st, 2015 at 12:01am EDT” — which would be one minute after midnight in the very early morning hours of 1 April. The press release you quote seems to give a different deadline; not quite 24 hours later. If one is interested in submitting for this award, it might be prudent to clarify this point direct with Baen.

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