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Call for submissions: the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction 2015 competition

Announcing the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction 2015 competition! For a list of previous winners, please visit here.

Dates for submission: Manuscripts may be submitted between 9:00 a.m. on April 1 and 5:00 p.m. on May 31. Winners will be announced by late summer.

We only accept electronic submissions.

Our online submissions manager is available here: georgiapress.submishmash.com/submit

Tech support for using the submissions manager is available at 1-406-480-6274. The $30 entry fee can be paid online via credit card or PayPal.

This year's judges are Hugh Sheehy, Karin Lin-Greenberg, Anjanette Delgado, Kristen Nichols, and Sandra Muñoz.

Selection process: Each of the four contest judges reads approximately one-fourth of the manuscripts submitted to the competition, with a fifth judge available if needed based on the total number of submissions. Judges select seven to ten finalists each; the pool of finalist manuscripts is read by series editor Nancy Zafris, who makes the final selection of two winning manuscripts and a runner-up. Authors of winning manuscripts receive a cash award of $1,000, and their collections are subsequently published by the University of Georgia Press under a standard book contract. Winners have ten days to accept the award and ten days to sign the contract once it is received.

Eligibility: The competition is open to writers in English, whether published or unpublished. Previous winners of this award are not eligible to win again. Writers must be residents of North America.

Manuscript Guidelines

• Manuscripts should be 40,000-75,000 words in length. 
• The award recognizes outstanding collections of short fiction. Collections may include long stories or novellas (est. length of a novella is 50-150 pages). However, novels or single novellas will not be considered. 
• Please be sure manuscript pages are numbered. 
• Please include a table of contents. 
• Please use a standard, easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman in twelve-point size. 
• Stories included in the submission may have appeared previously in magazines or anthologies but may not have been previously published in a book-length collection of the author’s own work. 
• Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition for consideration as long as no material is duplicated between submissions. Each submission will require a separate entry fee. 
• Manuscripts under consideration for this competition may be submitted elsewhere at the same time. Please withdraw your manuscript if it is accepted by another publisher and should no longer be considered for the Flannery O’Connor Short Fiction Award competition. Withdrawal can be completed via the submissions manager website. Entry fees are not refundable.

Blind review: The intent of this contest is that manuscripts will be considered on the merits of the fiction and that judges will not be aware of the names or publication records of the authors.

• Please do not include your name on the pages of the manuscript—only in the form boxes of the electronic submission manager. The first page of the manuscript should include the title of the collection only. 
• Please do not include a list of acknowledgments crediting where stories have been published. 
• Judges who recognize work will recuse themselves, and the submission will be reassigned to a different judge.

Confirmation of receipt and notification: You should receive an e-mail confirmation immediately after submission. An announcement of winners will be sent to all entrants via e-mail by late summer. If you have any questions or concerns other than technical issues with the submissions manager, please contact us via e-mail at press@ugapress.uga.edu. The press will not accept phone calls regarding the Flannery O’Connor Award. 

Statement of Integrity: The University of Georgia is thoroughly committed to academic integrity in all of its endeavors, and the University of Georgia Press adheres to all University of Georgia policies and procedures. To help ensure the integrity of the competition, manuscripts are judged through a blind review process. Judges in the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction competition are instructed to avoid conflicts of interest of all kinds. 

University of Georgia Press announces new literary nonfiction series

The University of Georgia Press is pleased to announce Crux: The Georgia Series in Literary Nonfiction. Edited by John Griswold, the series aims to publish two to four new titles annually.

Named for intersections, and for the heart of the matter, this series will publish literary nonfiction by diverse writers working in a variety of modes, including personal and lyric essay, memoir, cultural meditation, and literary journalism. Books are intended for general readers, including writers, teachers of writing, and students, and will be both intelligent and accessible. Engagement with the world, dedication to craft, precision, and playfulness with form and language are valued. As the series develops, it will include non-American writers and experiences.

Griswold is an assistant professor in the MFA program at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Louisiana. He is the author of A Democracy of Ghosts; Herrin: The Brief History of an Infamous American City; and Pirates You Don’t Know, and Other Adventures in the Examined Life: Collected Essays (Georgia, 2014). He has written extensively (as Oronte Churm) at Inside Higher Ed and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency.

“I’m gratified to be part of this new publishing opportunity,” Griswold says. “The series will build on UGA Press’s success and reputation publishing the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Creative Nonfiction contest winners since 1986, as well as nonfiction anthologies and craft books. Georgia combines the intellectual reputation of a major university press with savvy promotion in the digital age, and we intend to reach smart readers who like to be entertained, in the widest sense.”

The inaugural book in the series will be published in October 2015. My Unsentimental Education, a memoir by Debra Monroe (On the Outskirts of Normal), offers a smart and lyrical take on the isolation that occurs when crossing class barriers in pursuit of the life of the mind.

Press director Lisa Bayer adds, “Creative nonfiction as a genre is experiencing an unprecedented period of growth and interest—a bit of a golden age. Georgia’s strong literary legacy, combined with the richness of the field, positions us perfectly to make a visible mark.”

The series advisory board includes Dan Gunn, Pam Houston, Phillip Lopate, Dinty W. Moore, Lia Purpura, Patricia Smith, and Ned Stuckey-French.

For more information:
- contact John Griswold at crux.series@gmail.com
- visit the Crux series page at the University of Georgia Press 
- download a jpeg of the logo
- online submissions manager and submission guidelines available here

Now Hiring: Marketing Assistantship for 2015-2016

The Georgia Power-Grady College Assistantship at UGA Press

Goal: To introduce interested graduate students at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication to the world of book publishing through the Press's marketing department.

Timeframe: We are looking for a commitment of at least two semesters.

Qualifications: We are seeking an individual with excellent organizational skills who is detail oriented and has the ability to work independently. Applicants must have good communication skills. A good working knowledge of graphic design and social media is a plus.

Application materials should be submitted to Debbie Marable Sickles in the Grady Collge Graduate Studies Office by no later than April 22 for consideration for an assistantship starting Fall 2015. Application materials should include a resume and letter of interest. Selected candidates will be interviewed by the publicity and sales manager at the Press. For more information about the Press or the assistantship, contact Amanda E. Sharp or visit our website at www.ugapress.org.

The Georgia Power-Grady College assistantship recipient will work directly with Amanda E. Sharp, publicity and sales manager. The student will work on one or multiple books’ promotions, from the beginning stages of publicity to the end, allowing them to see the results of their work and to understand the challenges of winning media coverage. They will help plan the publicity campaign, research niche media, set up and support events, and handle other marketing duties as necessary.  They will also be responsible for soliciting and publicizing pre-publication endorsements for all trade and select scholarly titles.

Other jobs as needed:
Help with publicity mailings
Help with events-related social media
Help with Press newsletter
Help maintain information in Press website and data feed

Student receives tuition waiver but still has to pay student fees. UGA Press will pay student by the hour.

13-20 hrs per week.