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Editor Interview: Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award

Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.

A: Short stories on a theme.

Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?

A: Because the Bethlehem Writers Group is an eclectic group of writers, our members have many favorites from diverse genres. Since initial judging of our annual Short Story Award is performed by BWG members, the competition welcomes broad interpretations of our themes. The first-place winner will likely end up in one of our bi-annual anthologies. Looking at past anthologies, readers will see that we cover a broad spectrum of voices and subjects related to our themes. For example, in our dual award-winning anthology, FUR, FEATHERS, AND SCALES: SWEET, FUNNY, AND STRANGE ANIMAL TALES, we have stories that vary from, inter alia, a traditional man-and-his-dog story to those involving trout fishing, a psychic connection between people and animals, a cranky cephalopod, a robotic pet, and mythic beasts. Genres include children's, steampunk, dystopian, literary, humor, women's fiction, science fiction/fantasy, and more. We welcome fresh approaches to our themes.

Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?

A: --Although we are based in the United States, our contests are open internationally--and we have had winners from outside the US. All submissions, however, must be in the English language.
--The top three winners receive cash and publication. The first-place winning story is considered for inclusion in our bi-annual anthology of short stories, while second and third-place winners are offered publication in our quarterly literary journal, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. Our --Honorable Mentions are also frequently offered publication in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
--Our themes change every two years, so we run the competition on the same theme twice. This gives those whose work didn't win the first year a chance to revise their story and submit it again. (N.B. no story may be submitted more than twice.)
--Our anthologies have nearly always won or been finalists in international book award competitions.

Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?

A: --Read our submission guidelines--not only for our contest but for submission to Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. Our regular submissions page tells you what we are looking for in a story.
--Don't write the first thing that comes to mind when you learn about our theme. Chances are it's the first thing to come to other authors' minds as well.
--Use an original title. If we get several stories with titles that simply restate our theme, we will have a hard time separating them in our judging.
--We look for the elements of good story-telling: engaging characters, conflict, resolution. We prefer showing to telling, and love it if you can tell a complete story in an original way.
--Be mindful of grammar and punctuation. Pet peeves: don't say laying when you mean lying. Don't use "I" when you should say "me" (except, perhaps, in dialogue). We have mixed-up words in every issue of Roundtable--and those from past issues in our archives. --Remember what Mark Twain said about using the right word: “the difference between the right word and the almost right word is really a large matter – it is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug .”
--Don't send it in until you've taken the time to edit it carefully. Our contest is open for the first three months of each year, so you have some time to get it right.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: --One that adheres to our theme. If it doesn't, it's an automatic rejection. We can tell when you simply take an unrelated story you wrote for a different market and wedge in a sentence or two that relates to our theme. We require that our theme be an important element of the story.
--One that grabs the reader and keeps them reading right to the end. This means a great opening, good pacing, relatable characters, something we care about at stake, a strong climax, and a satisfying resolution. You only have 2000 words. Don't waste any of them.

Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?

A: --For some reason, each year we get a few submissions that give us only the author's street address but omit the city/state/province/country. Please give us your full mailing address.
--We require a working email address with each submission. On occasion, an author has given us an email address with a typo or one that they do not check regularly. Please be sure to give us a working email address so that we can get in touch with you regarding contest questions.

Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?

A: We do not ask for a cover letter. We only request that you fill out our submission form completely and correctly.
All of our submissions are judged blind, so we do not know the author's name, gender, nationality, etc. We don't know whether they're already a famous author or if this is their first submission. Everyone is given an equal chance to send us their best work and perhaps to win.

Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?

A: Every story is read through completely by no fewer than three judges. Those that move to the semi-finals are read by all the judges. The finalists are rank ordered by our guest judge. Previous guest judges have included NYTimes Bestselling authors including Charlaine Harris, John Grogan, Jonathan Maberry, Peter Abrahams (also writing as Spencer Quinn) and many others.

Q: What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?

A: The decision of whether a story moves to the semi-final or final rounds of judging is made on the work as submitted. The decision of the judges is final.
Authors of winning stories might receive some editorial suggestions prior to publication.

Q: What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?

A: Most of the year, we spend time preparing for the contest, deciding on a theme, preparing a book cover for the anthology in which the winning story might be published, lining up a guest judge with some expertise in that type of work, preparing to publicize the contest, etc.
During the contest months (Jan-Mar) of each year, I accept the submitted stories, assign a number to each submission (since no author information is included with the stories sent to judges), make certain we have received the payment for the submission, and record the information on a spreadsheet.
When the contest closes, I send each story to three randomly selected judges. They evaluate each submission they receive on a numerical scale in several categories and return their scores to me. I record each judge's scores and, based on the highest two scores for each story, we divide the stories into two groups: those that move on the semi-finals and those that do not. I then send all the semi-finalist stories out to all of the judges who then score them afresh. We meet and discuss each story, giving judges an opportunity to adjust their scores as they see fit. Then, we take a final tally and determine which stories become finalists and are sent to our guest judge for ranking. I then notify authors of the status of their stories and notify the winners when we have the guest judge's decision.

Q: How important do you feel it is for publishers to embrace modern technologies?

A: All of our submissions are through our online form and contest fees are paid through PayPal. We have tried to make it as intuitive as possible and hope all who wish to enter the competition will find it easy to use.
While we publish our anthologies as both print and e-books, and our quarterly literary journal, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, is online only, we believe that there is a place for both traditional and new technologies. But newer technology allows reaching more people in less time with little to no expense. Online social networking (such as an author email listserv) is one method we employ to get the word out on our annual Short Story Award. Social media is a great way to get the word out on your publications and successes.
Still, we always enjoy holding a copy of our newest book in our hands.

Q: How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?

A: Once a story has reach our semi-finals or finals, chances are it doesn't need a lot of editing. If there are small bumps in the storytelling or typos/grammar issues, we will let the author know and suggest the changes we would like to see before publication. The first-place author sees the final layout before anthology publication and has a chance to proofread and make any changes necessary with the approval of the anthology editor(s).

Q: Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?

A: We always put our anthologies forward for consideration for awards. Our books have won or been finalists for several international awards over the years. You can see our website for more information.