A note from Nancy Zafris

I want to talk a little bit about the selection process we use for the contest. To keep up with the increasing number of submissions, we will have five external judges this year, with an additional judge available as needed. We will continue to use a blind review process, meaning that the name of the author is stripped from the manuscript before judging begins. Each judge will read a fifth of the contest entries and will make a selection of 7–10 finalist manuscripts, which will then be forwarded on to me. I will then select two winning manuscripts from this group of finalists. It is my hope that this selection process will allow the external judges more freedom to take chances in selecting interesting finalist manuscripts and that the competition will represent a fuller aesthetic range.

I know from personal experience that the unpublished writer feels the odds are stacked monumentally against him or her. Getting published is a terrifically hard business. I went up through the slush pile myself. I had no MFA in Creative Writing and no contacts. It took me four years to get my first story published. My first big break was winning the Flannery O’Connor Award. At the time I had published only three short stories.

So, how do I read a collection of short stories? I’ve read hundreds of manuscripts as a teacher, a colleague, and an editor. I always begin with an open mind—a mood of receptivity. However, it is the author’s job to meet my expectations, my desire to be delighted or charmed or moved. This means that writers need to work very hard on their opening pages. Tell your story in your own (authentic) quiet or loud or funny voice and I’ll give your story a chance.

How should you put together your collection? Should your collection err on the short side or the long side? Should your best story go first, or last? Should your title story be your first story? Should your first story be a shorter one, or longer one? If you have a novella, should it go last (I’ll just go ahead and answer that one: yes)? There is no right or wrong formula, but these are questions you need to think about.

I won the Flannery O’Connor Award on my second try. After that, I began working with the series editor at the time, the wonderful Charles East. We switched out stories and did a lot of editing. I was worried that the book seemed short, but he assured me that people like shorter rather than longer. Winning the Flannery O’Connor Award resulted in two major career starters for me: I got an agent, and I got a visiting professorship at a university.

So that’s my experience. Consider what this competition has to offer and then do what’s best for you. I look forward to reading your manuscript in the pool of finalists. Good luck!

Nancy Zafris