Geek Partnership Writing Contest

The 2024 Writing Contest is now open!
While we had to skip 2023 to consolidate after COVID-19 related financial difficulties, we are proud to bring the contest back.
And entries are due by April 30, 2024.
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This contest provides a forum for new talent of any age and gives them a chance to learn about the publication process and its requirements. The submission requirements are not negotiable, nor should this contest be used as a required class exercise by teachers. Teachers, please encourage your students to enter our contest but making it a homework assignment goes against the spirit of the contest.

Entries must be science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural, and alternate history in short fiction, poetry, or graphic stories (comic).

All entries remain the intellectual property of the writers, although by entering this contest the writer gives GPS limited rights to share a winning entry.

About

Prizes

The winner of each Youth Division will receive a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate.
The Poetry Division winner will receive a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate.
The Graphic Novel (Comics) Division winner will receive a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate.
The general winner of the Open Division will receive a $75 Amazon.com gift certificate.
The Scott Imes Award winner will receive a $100 gift certificate.

Dates to keep in mind

We will start accepting entries for the 2024 contest on January 1, 2024

The deadline for entries to be submitted is by 11:59 pm CDT on April 30, 2024

Winners will be notified by July 23, 2024, and publicly announced at CONvergence on July 4, 2024.

The winning entries will also be posted on the this webpage on July 8, 2024 and the stories themselves by July 31, 2024.

Divisions

Please select a division to enter. You may only enter one short fiction division. You have the option to also enter a poem in the Poetry Division and/or a short comics in the Graphic Novel (Comics) Division.

Open: Short fiction only. Open to writers of any age. There may be TWO (2) winners chosen from this category. The Open Division winner will be chosen from all entries.
- An additional local writer may be chosen from contestants residing within 200 miles of Geek Partnership Society to receive the Scott Imes Award. This award proudly honors Scott Imes, a major force in the Twin Cities’ science fiction reading and writing community who passed away in December 2001. For over two decades, Scott Imes worked at Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore and promoted the speculative fiction genres. His recommendations served those far beyond its doors.
Poetry: Poems only. Open to writers of any age.
Youth 1: Short fiction only. Open to writers 13 years of age or younger as of April 30, 2024.
Youth 2: Short fiction only. Open to writers 14-16 years of age as of April 30, 2024.
Graphic Novel (Comics): Short comics only. Open to writers of any age.

Judging

Two or more qualified writers or editors will evaluate each submission. All works will be screened to ensure they meet the contest rules and submission requirements stated above. The judges will NOT read any entries that do not meet these guidelines.

Questions

If you have questions, please contact the Writing Contest Coordinator at writingcontest@geekpartnership.org.

Rules

All entries must be original unpublished works by nonprofessional (amateur) authors.
All entries must have science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural, or alternate history elements.
Only one entry per person for the short fiction divisions (Open, Youth 1, and Youth 2), and you may only enter one short fiction division.
Only one entry per person for the poetry and graphic novel (comics) divisions. Because these are different formats than short fiction, writers may enter these divisions in addition to one of the short fiction divisions.
There is NO entry fee for any submission.
Division winners from the previous year are not eligible to win in the same division the following year but are allowed to enter a different division.
Entries must meet the contest rules and submission requirements or they will be refused.
Entries are allowed from all countries. Primary language must be English. A few non-English words allowed for flavour or storytelling purposes.
By entering the contest, the author of a winning entry gives permission to GPS to publish their entries both online and in print as determined by GPS and any future anthologies of winning entries. Copyright for the entry remains with the writer.

Requirements

Submission form required for each entry

An online electronic submission form is required for each entry. It will include the following information.

All divisions:

title of entry
division entered: if a youth division, additional information is required; please see below
word count for short fiction or poems OR the number of pages for short comics
writer’s name
writer’s complete mailing address (street, city, state/province, zip code/postal code or country equivalent)
writer’s email address

Youth divisions (writer is 16 or younger) ALSO require:

writer’s age
writer’s birth date
name of a parent or guardian
email address of a parent or guardian
name of school
address where the school is located

Short fiction and poetry entries

Submissions must be submitted online through the submission form and in a word processing format with extensions such as .doc, .docx, .txt, or .rtf. We cannot accept PDFs, .odt files or shared Google documents.

Entries must be 5,000 words or fewer.

Entries must formatted as follows:

- 8.5″ x 11″ size
- 1 inch margins
- Double-spaced
- Minimum 11 pt font
- Black font in Arial, Verdana, or Times New Roman
- Numbered pages
- Entry title should appear on each page of the manuscript
- Author’s name should NOT appear

Graphic novels (comics) entries

Entries may be submitted digitally. You may collaborate with one other person. Since the prize is one $50 Amazon gift card, this award may be shared or we can divide it into two $25 Amazon gift cards.

Digital entries must be black and white , A4 size and 10 pages or less.

Submitting your entries

Only digital entries will be accepted this year.

Digital entries should be typed (fiction) or scanned (graphic novel) and submitted through the submissions portal. If you have any issues with the portal, please send an email to writingcontest@geekpartnership.org.

2022 Writing Contest Winners

Graphic Novel: “Eyeshine”, by Kate Myers of North Apollo, Pennsylvania and Maddie Smoyer of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
Poetry: “Changwwi”, by Eunji Ryu, of Portland, Oregon
Short Story – Open: “Esha and the Echos” by Sarah Connell of Charlotte, NC
Short Story – Youth 1: “Unjustified Deaths” by Jennifer Kang of Mountain View, NC
Short Story – Youth 2: “Blink and You’ll Miss it” by Emma Briceno of Wake Forest, NC
Scott Imes Award: “Untouchable” by Katherine Duda, of Edina, MN

Open: What Happens After You’re Vaccinated – Ashley Huang, Herndon VA
Youth 1: Pigs to the Slaughter – Abigail Durnin, Austin TX
Youth 2: Mr. Smiley – Luke Eaves, Laurinburg, NC
Poetry: The Forest Spirit – Yu Xin (Kylie) Wang, Orinda CA
Graphic Novel: The World to Come – Katie Firtch, Palo Alto Ca

2021 Writing Contest Winners

2020 Writing Contest Winners

Youth 1 Submission:  Familiar Feeling, by Alexia Zamora
Youth 2 Submission:  The Clockmaker, by Mira Jiang
Poetry Submission: “Hush” by Ceclia Richardson
Open Submission:  Thoughts of the Future, by Mer T McCauley; and
The Aniball, by Basin Hussain
Graphic Novel submission:  The Store at the Edge of Space, by Paras Jain
Scott Imes Award:  Sylvian, by Rain Patterson Owens

2019 Writing Contest Winners

Youth I: Elise Beishline for “Monsters in the Mind”
Youth II: Loryn Smith for “Immortalized in Metal”
Poetry: Ethan Beutel for “The Top”
Open: Patrick MacDonald for “I See Death”
Scott Imes Award: None

2018 writing contest winners

Graphic Novel: Edison Siow for Morning Call
Open Division: Greta Timmins for You Will Remain
Poetry: Olivia Campbell for Tranquility
Scott Imes Award: Cassidy Brzycki for The End of the World (Read: “par·ent·hood”)
Youth I: Poem Schway for Hero
Youth II: Lucia Paul for Dancing On Their Graves

2017 writing contest winners

Graphic Novel: Yap Yingtong and Shin Jiyeon for “500 Light Years to You”
Open Division: Ben Clement for “What’s Needed”
Poetry: Pat Harrigan for “Things Your Child Was Not Meant To Know”
Scott Imes Award: K. M. Clantoren for “Diogenes the Goat”
Youth I: Lucy Cross for “Gray”
Youth II: Hannah Staton for “Out of the Gates of Heaven, Locked in the Gates of Hell”

2016 writing contest winners

Graphic Novel: Mengshi Huang from Illinois for “Avenger of Dissemblance”
Open Division: Pat Harrigan from Minnesota for “Earthlings on Fire”
Poetry: David Lohrey from Florida for “Mindful”
Scott Imes Award: Jordan West from Minnesota for “Three Minute Mark”
Youth I: Breanna O’Bryan from Kentucky for “The Magic Pen”
Youth II: Jared Murphy from China for “The Tragedy of Senibor”