The Baltimore Science Fiction Society has issued the following news release:

The BSFS Amateur Writing Contest is now open to entries.

To promote the creation of quality genre literature in the state of Maryland, we are holding this contest and encouraging everyone who meets the qualifications to enter. To be eligible to enter, you must be 18 years of age or older, a Maryland resident or currently a student at a Maryland two or four year college, and you cannot either be a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America or have been published in a professional science fiction or fantasy magazine (“professional” as defined by SFWA). BSFS Officers and Board members, and the Chair, Vice Chair and Department Heads for Balticon MAY NOT ENTER.

Word minimum is 1,000 words. Word limit is 5,500 words. All submissions should be formatted using the standard short story submission format (courier font, 12 size, double spaced, etc. See William Shun’s example here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html)

There is no entry fee. Each participant may submit only one entry. Simultaneous submissions and reprints are not allowed. The contest opened on March 1st. We will be accepting entries until June 15th. The winner will be announced at Capclave on October 12th.

The 1st place winner will receive $250, 2nd place will receive $100 and 3rd place gets $50. The 1st place winner will also be published in the BSFSFan (our convention guide at Balticon) and invited to Balticon 2014 to do a reading of either a selection of their winning story or the entire story (depending on length and the availability of time and the wishes of the winner). The top five entries will all receive free memberships to Balticon. For more information on Balticon, see www.Balticon.org.

The winner will be announced October 12^th, 2013 at Capclave. Capclave is a convention organized by the Washington Science Fiction Association that focuses on the short fiction form. Capclave’s Writer Guest of Honor this year will be George R. R. Martin. The top three entrants in the BSFS Amateur Writing Contest will be invited to the convention and the ceremony. For more information on Capclave, see www.Capclave.org.

The Baltimore Science Fiction Society is a 501(c)(3) literary organization focusing on science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. A not-for-profit literary society based in Baltimore, MD, BSFS holds many events such as anime socials, business meetings, gaming days, book discussion groups, writing critique circles, and day-long writing workshops regularly throughout the year, and also produces Balticon, the Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention.  Our official website is at www.bsfs.org. Full contest rules, including how to submit, for the BSFS Amateur Writing Contest are available at http://www.bsfs.org/bsfsssc.htm.