Guidelines:

• Blind Judging by the Final Judges (Aaron Poochigian for poetry, Dennis Must for flash fiction).
• Initial screening will be done by readers from our contest selection committee—consisting of accomplished and award-winning poets and writers, with members renewed yearly—who will also be reading the entries blind. Thus, judging of the contest will be completely anonymous from start to finish!
• Entries may not be previously published.
• Simultaneous submissions accepted as long as we're immediately notified if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• Unlimited entries per person for one or both categories
• For poetry entries, all styles are welcome (metrical or free verse).
• For poetry entries, each entry may contain 1 to 5 poems maximum, but all the poems combined should not exceed 16 pages per entry.
• For fiction entries, each entry may contain 1 to two stories maximum (each story should be flash fiction/short-short-short under 1,500 words each, typed double-spaced).
• We prefer online entries, however, paper/snail mail entry is available for those who insist on the traditional submission method.
• If you wish to enter in both cateogries or if you enter more than once in one or both categories, then a separate entry fee and submission form must be completed for each entry.
• If you're entering by paper/snail mail, the manuscripts cannot be returned so, do not send us your only copies.
• For paper/snail mail entries, include an SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) to receive the announcement of the winners.
• The contests will be judged blind by the final judge, so:
  • Author's name should only appear on cover page and nowhere else.
  • Initial screening will be done by our contest selection committee—consisting of accomplished and award-winning poets and writers, with members renewed yearly—which may include Able Muse editors.
  1. The final judges will receive anonymized manuscripts (five to ten each depending and the number of total entries and their quality).
  2. The final judge will be instructed to disqualify any work that he/she recognizes. The entry fee for the work thus disqualified will be refunded.
  • Include on your cover page ONLY:
    1. (first, note that the cover page, as listed below, is optional since you may choose instead to provide the listed information right below in the corresponding online submission form fields provided for them)
    2. the category of your submission—i.e. "poetry contest" or "fiction contest"
    3. the poems/stories titles
    4. optionally for poetry: the total number of lines for all poems combined. (For deriving the line count, do not include, blank lines, the poem title, or epigraphs in the line count.)
    5. required for fiction: the total word count for all stories combined. (For deriving the word count, do not include the story title.)
    6. the poet's/writer's name
    7. address
    8. phone number, and
    9. email address
    10. optionally: your bio.
  • Include on your manuscript proper ONLY:
    1. for each poem/story being entered, the title followed by the body of the corresponding poem/story. Each next poem/story should start on a new page (i.e., not follow on the same page where the previous poem/story ended).
    2. note, especially, that the author’s name should NOT appear anywhere within the manuscript proper and must be redacted if it appears in any of the poems/stories.
  • For paper/snail mail entries, send a single manuscript only (i.e., NO duplicate). The manuscript must include a single detachable cover page with your personal information as specified above for the cover page for the online entry method. Other than this cover page, your name or personal information must NOT appear anywhere else in the rest of the manuscript.
• Final Judge (Poetry): Aaron Poochigian
• Final Judge (Flash Fiction): Dennis Must

Entry Methods:

1. Preferred method is our online entry form—
   1. DO NOT type or copy and paste your entry in the poem/fiction text box. Rather, upload your submission file from the upload field (accepted formats are: Text, RTF, Word, Wordperfect, PDF, HTML).
   2. Only upload one file for the manuscript proper (1 to 5 poems or 1 to 2 stories) and optionally include a second file with the cover page.
   3. There should be no identification in the manuscript proper file itself as described earlier—these should go in the second cover-page file.
   4. Only send one file attachment with 1 to 5 poems or 1 to 2 stories in a single file, with the optional cover page file prepared as described in the blind judging section above (do NOT attach a separate file for each poem or story!)
   5. There should be no identification information in the section of the manuscript proper pages that contain the poems or stories as described in the blind judging section above—these should go in the second cover-page file (and/or they may be entered in the corresponding fields of the online submission form).
   6. Enter at http://www.ablemuse.com/enter-contest online.
2. Second favorite entry method is via e-mail—
   1. Follow the instructions for the online submission method in (1) above, in addition to the following:
   2. Only attach one file for the manuscript proper (1 to 5 poems or 1 to 2 stories) and optionally attach a second file with the cover page information.
   3. There should be no identification in the manuscript proper file itself as described earlier—these should go in the second cover-page file.
   4. Again, do not type your submission in the body of the email. Rather, attach your submission file to the email (accepted formats are: Text, RTF, Word, Wordperfect, PDF, HTML).
   5. The subject of the email should be: "<Your Name>: Poetry Contest" for poetry entries, or "<Your Name>: Fiction Contest" for fiction entries.
   6. Email your entry to submission@ablemuse.com , again, without any identification in the manuscript proper file itself as described in the blind judging section above.
3. Least favorite entry method is paper by snail mail—
   1. The manuscript proper should be without any identification as explained in the blind judging section above.
   2. The cover page should be prepared as explained in the blind judging section above (on a separate sheet of paper, included with the poems or stories submitted).
   3. The document should be printed single-sided on all the pages (no double-sided page submissions, please).
   4. The manuscript should be in single copy only as explained in the blind judging section above (i.e., do NOT include a duplicate copy).
   5. Send your entry to:
      
      

      Able Muse Review
      (Poetry or Flash Fiction) Contest
      467 Saratoga Avenue #602
      San Jose, CA 95129
      USA

Entry Fees:

• $15 for each entry which should contain a minimum of 1 poem, a maximum of 5 poems, but all the poems combined should not exceed 16 pages per entry).
• $15 for each entry minimum which should contain a minmum of 1 story, a maximum of 2 stories (stories should be flash fiction/short-short-short under 1,500 words each, typed double-spaced).
• No matter how you choose to enter (online or email or snail mail) you may choose to pay:
  1. Online ( right below!), OR,
  2. By check: Able Muse Review, and sent to the contest address indicated above.
  3. To enable us to match your payment to your entry, be sure to indicate the name you entered with (i.e. your pen name, etc.), if it's different from the one under which payment was made, and this applies for online as well as check payment by snail mail.
     

Pay Entry Fee & Enter Contest Now:

ENTER NOW

 [NOTE: the above 'Enter Now' button goes through Square Connect

(to pay by Paypal, click on the following button: 

(After payment, submit your manuscript at https://www.ablemuse.com/enter-contest)]