FAMILY MATTERS guidelines

We are looking for stories about families of all configurations.

It’s fine to draw heavily on real life experiences, but the work must read like fiction and all stories accepted for publication will be presented as fiction.*

Maximum word count: 12,000. Any shorter lengths are welcome.

Held just twice a year: Open to submissions in MARCH and SEPTEMBER.

  Next deadline: March 31.

Winners and finalists will be officially announced in the June 1 and December 1 bulletins, respectively, and will be contacted directly one week earlier.

Reading fee: $15 per story. Please, no more than three submissions per contest.

Prizes:

• 1st place wins $1,500, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of that issue.
• 2nd place wins $500 (or, if accepted for publication, $700 and 10 copies).
• 3rd place wins $300 (or, if accepted for publication, $700 and 10 copies).

Please make your submissions at Glimmer Train’s online submission site. We look forward to reading your work!

* Remember that sticking too tightly to “fact” can limit the larger truth that fiction is able to reveal. Give your story the leeway it needs in order to find its own life. And, if your story is closely related to your actual experience, it is wise to change details that would allow the real-life people to say, Hey, that’s me!

>via: http://www.glimmertrain.com/familymatters.html