MathiasCavanaugh.com

With the Long List for the Fantasy-Faction Anthology released, you will notice that Second Chances did not make the cut.  Since the six stories to be published will be selected from the long list, Second Chances is now free as the proverbial bird.
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The Fantasy-Faction Anthology has begun releasing it’s long list of 30 stories from which the six for publication will be selected.  The anthology received about 1,700 submissions.

The first five titles for consideration were released yesterday, and over this week the remaining 25 will also be announced.  And no, my submission Second Chances did not make the cut as of yet.  With so many submissions, the odds were never really in my favor, but I thought I would try anyway.

So far, the fist five titles on the long list are:

You Have Only One Chance by Vasso Christou

Winter Unicorn by Rose Taylor

Alderwood Bodies by Steve Erdal

Ninety-nine Macaws by Leslianne Wilder

The Dealer by Miah Saunders

Writing contests are crap shoots. Just because you don’t win doesn’t mean your work sucks. First of all, the more entries there are, the stiffer your competition is. Your story can still be great but lose because others stories were simply greater.

There is also the problem of the specific tastes of the judges themselves. I don’t care how unbiased they try to be, they still have their preferences to what they do and do not like.  And if you’re not what they like?  Well, the odds are stacked against you even further. (more…)