Literary Journal
ISSN 1551-4064
Writing Contest Guidelines
Looking for TC's regular Submission Guidelines?
Questions about contest rules can be emailed to the editors or posted at Chasms & Crags.
General Contest Rules
Read these first. These rules apply to all Toasted Cheese contests. Specific rules for the Three Cheers and A Tiger, A Midsummer Tale & Dead of Winter contests are below.
- There are no entry fees for any Toasted Cheese contest. Limit of one entry per person per contest.
- Don't forget to give your story a title and include a word count.
- Grammar, punctuation or spelling errors will count against your entry, so proofread thoroughly.
- Contest entries must be emailed to the address designated for the contest you are entering (see individual contest rules below). Replace [at] with @.
- Paste your entry into the body of the email. Attachments will not be read.
- Place your contact information (name, address, phone number, email address) and a brief biography (100 words maximum) after your story. (All identifying information will be removed before judging.)
- Late entries, entries that do not conform to contest guidelines, and entries sent to any address other than the designated contest address will be disqualified. Toasted Cheese and its staff are not responsible for any electronic transmission problems.
- First, second,* and third* place stories are published in Toasted Cheese Literary Journal. Honorable mentions may also be awarded. (*Toasted Cheese reserves the right to not award second and third place if the quality of the entries does not meet the journal's standards.)
- Feedback on submissions will be limited to a few lines and may include some judges' comments. After the contest is closed, we invite all entrants to post their stories on our critique forums.
- By entering a contest, you grant TC exclusive electronic rights for a period of 90 days, should your work be chosen as a winner, as well as a non-exclusive right to maintain a copy of published work in the literary journal archives indefinitely. Effective January 2008, you also grant Toasted Cheese the right to post an audio version (podcast) of your work on the site (authors of work published 2001–2007 will be contacted to obtain permission for this use). You retain all other rights, including the right to re-publish the work in non-electronic form at any time. Any subsequent publication should include the credit "originally published in Toasted Cheese."
"Exclusive electronic rights" means that you agree not to re-publish your work elsewhere online while the issue featuring your work is current. "Publish" means any public display of your work, and includes your personal website and posting to message boards. You are welcome to link to the page featuring your work instead. Once the issue has been archived, you are free to re-publish your work online.
Be sure to read the General Contest Rules above.
Three Cheers and a Tiger is a 48-hour short story contest. All entries must be composed within the contest time frame.
Specific topic & word range will be posted at start time at Just the Place for a Snark (the general discussion forum).
Stories must adhere to the topic and fall within the word range announced at the contest start.
The spring edition of Three Cheers and a Tiger is a MYSTERY contest.
The contest is held the weekend closest to March 21.
Entries are blind-judged by Bellman and Bonnets. The judges' decision is final. Winners are announced April 30.
Winning stories are published in the June issue of Toasted Cheese. Winners receive Amazon gift certificates: $20 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third.
The 2010 contest is CLOSED. The guidelines for the 2011 contest will be posted in early February 2011.
The March 2010 contest opens at 5 PM Eastern Time, Friday, March 19, 2010, with details posted at Just the Place for a Snark.
Send entries to: threecheers10[at]toasted-cheese.com
Your subject line must read: Three Cheers and a Tiger Contest Entry
Deadline: 5 PM Eastern Time, Sunday, March 21, 2010
The autumn edition of Three Cheers and a Tiger is a SCIENCE FICTION / FANTASY contest.
The contest is held the weekend closest to September 21.
Entries are blind-judged by Boots & Ana. The judges' decision is final. Winners are announced October 31.
Winning stories are published in the December issue of Toasted Cheese. Winners receive Amazon gift certificates: $20 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third.
The 2009 contest is CLOSED. The guidelines for the 2010 contest will be posted in early August 2010.
The September 2009 contest opens at 5 PM Eastern Time, Friday, September 18, 2009 with details posted at Just the Place for a Snark.
Send entries to: threecheers09[at]toasted-cheese.com
Your subject line must read: Three Cheers and a Tiger Contest Entry
Deadline: 5 PM Eastern Time, Sunday, September 20, 2009
Be sure to read the General Contest Rules above.
A Midsummer Tale is a CREATIVE NON-FICTION contest. We are looking for non-fiction stories told using fiction techniques. This means characters, dialogue, setting, and some semblance of a plot are musts. Please, no essays or articles.
Details, including specific theme and length, are announced May 1.
The deadline for submissions is June 21.
Entries are blind-judged by Beaver. The judge's decision is final. Winners are announced July 31.
Winning stories are published in the September issue of Toasted Cheese. Winners receive Amazon gift certificates: $20 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third.
Stories should be essentially true, but do not need to have journalistic accuracy. This is your version of what happened, not a "Joe Friday" accounting of The Facts. Creative license can be taken in order to recreate dialogue that took place 20 years ago, for example.
You may use pseudonyms to identify the people in your story; however, please indicate that you have done so on your entry.
For a better idea of what we are looking for, please visit our archives and read some of the creative nonfiction we have published in the past.
The 2010 contest is OPEN.
The theme of the 2010 A Midsummer Tale creative non-fiction contest is: make believe. In the spirit of childhood games of "let's pretend," this year's entries must contain a fictional element. This could be, for example, a game of make believe, a bedtime story, a dream, a nightmare, a daydream, a play, a mock disaster, a "what if?" scenario, an alternate ending, or a family myth. To use the analogy of a sandwich, the bread part of your entry must be factual, but some portion of the filling must be fictional. Please remember the following:
- This is a creative non-fiction contest.
- Stories must be about something that took place during the warm months of the year.
- The word range is 3,000—5,000 words.
- If you have any questions, please ask at the forums (there will be thread at Just the Place for a Snark).
The contest opens May 1, 2010. The deadline for submissions is June 21, 2010.
Send entries to amtcontest10[at]toasted-cheese.com with the subject line: A Midsummer Tale Contest Entry
Be sure to read the General Contest Rules above.
Dead of Winter is a fiction contest (any genre) for stories with SUPERNATURAL elements or themes. Ideally, stories should be set in autumn or winter. The most original, most haunting stories will be chosen for publication.
Details, including specific theme and length, are announced November 1.
The deadline for submissions is December 21.
Entries are blind-judged by Baker & Billiard. Decisions are final. Winners are announced January 31.
Winning stories are published in the March issue of Toasted Cheese. Winners receive Amazon gift certificates: $20 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third.
The 2009 contest is CLOSED. The guidelines for the 2010 contest will be posted November 1, 2010.
Stories submitted to the 9th Annual Dead of Winter contest (December 2009) should use the theme "hidden grave."
The word limit is 4,000 words.
Be sure to write a horror* story set in winter. See previous placed DoW entries to get an idea of what the judges enjoy reading.
The contest opens on November 1, 2009 and the deadline for submission is December 21, 2009.
Email entries to dow2009[at]toasted-cheese.com with the subject line: Dead of Winter Contest Entry
Post any questions you have about the contest in our DoW thread at the forums. Please do not post any part of your entry in the thread.
You may post your work for feedback at one of the critique forums but please title your post "DoW entry for feedback" or similar so that the judges don't read it.
*Horror "uses literary techniques to frighten, unsettle or horrify the audience; employs macabre and/or supernatural themes."