Author David K. Slater won Crystal Lake’s most recent flash contest and has agreed to host. Here is the new theme:
“Buried Alive! It’s time to break out your most suffocating and claustrophobia inducing ideas for this month’s flash fiction competition! I do love it when someone takes a simple concept and approaches it from a wild perspective, but that’s not to say you can’t come at this one head on like a sledgehammer to the face! Can’t wait to see what you maniacs have in store for me.”
This submission window will remain open until end of January (and is free to enter), with the finalists being posted on Patreon throughout February. Be sure to check out our new AI policy under the submission guidelines.
Before we get to the submission guidelines, please know that only the top 15 to 20 stories will be posted on our Patreon page for our patrons to vote on. The winner will receive $0.03 per word, publication in an upcoming Hotel Macabre anthology, and an Author Spotlight on our newsletter and Patreon page. The second-place winner will receive $0.02 a word, and the third place winner $0.01 per word. The winner will also have the option of hosting the following month’s contest for an additional $50.
Submission guidelines:
-Max 1,500 words
-Submit your entry in the body of an email to crystallakesubmissions@gmail.com (no attachments, please)
-The email subject line should be the story’s title and your author name / pseudonym
-The deadline is midnight at the end of January, wherever in the world you may reside.
-No multiple submissions (only your best story)
-Reprints are allowed if they naturally fit the theme.
-Put your bio below your story (max 500 words).
-Don’t use any AI to create your words. You can use programs with AI support (to edit mostly), but all finalists will be scanned for AI before being announced. If a story scores a high likelihood of being AI content, it won’t be accepted as a finalist.
Please take note… You do not need to be a Crystal Lake Patreon patron to enter. This is a contest and only the top three placing stories receive payment. If you’re chosen as a finalist, our $5-a-month and higher tier patrons will read all the entries, posted one per day, and vote for a winner at the end of the month. Some editors/publishers may consider having your story posted on a subscription-based platform, like Patreon, as a first publication. If your story does not win, we will remove it upon request. Patreon now offers a 7-day free trial, so you can join us on Patreon as a reader or author and give us a chance to impress you. The trials are available on the $5 tiers (there’s one for authors and one for readers). These tiers (and the ones above them) will give you full access to all the stories as well as all our other content.
Sign up Today https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-months-is-119439606