The Great American Fiction Contest - Saturday Evening Post

The Saturday Evening Post is an ongoing monthly publication full of American history, from the Norman Rockwell covers to the coverage of heart-stopping moments in US and world events to the recognition of new writers in a yearly contest. Founded over 300 years ago by Benjamin Franklin, the magazine continues to record and to make history.

Ben Franklin may have had no idea how successful and long lived his 4-page Pennsylvania Gazette would become on the day of its first publication in 1728. On the other hand, as a signer of the Declaration of Independence, he may had had great hopes. Regardless, the little newspaper with no pictures was still only four pages long when it became The Saturday Evening Post by 1821. It was known for its handling of controversial political topics.

The 2013 edition of the Best Short Stories from the Great American Fiction Contest starts with an Introduction by author Michael Knight (The Typist) and includes the works of the following winning authors that were chosen winners from a field of just 250 total entries from coast to coast in America:

1. Lucy Jane Bledsoe - Wolf was chosen the number one short story.
2. P.J. Devlin- The Decline and Fall
3. Stephen Eoannou - The Wolf Boy of Forest Lawn
4. Andrew Hamilton - Surface Tension
5. Cynthia J. McGean - The Battle of the Pewhasset Pie Palace
6. Marvin Pletzke - A Corner Room at the Y
7. Caroline Sposto - The Conch Shell

Honorable Mentions

1. James D. McCallister - Trailer Trash
2. Bonnie F. McCune - Mr. Kane's Halo
3. Robert T. Dodd - Goin' Hum
4. Barbara E. Moss - Renaissance Garden
5. Matt Panfil - Sounds of Silence
6. Johnathon Blackwood - Kin

In the early 1900s, boy sometimes skipped school to sell newspapers and the popular magazine instead. The Library of Congress online has many photographs of these young people, as young as 6 years old.

Authors became famous while writing for The Saturday Evening Post and some of their works have become popular films. In 2013, a grand film remake of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby opened to large crowds, starring Leonardo DiCaprio,Tobey Macguire, and Carey Mulligan. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some 70 short stories for the magazine and many ducators and literary critics feel that he captured the essence of the Roaring Twenties in his work.

Many other authors gained writing experience and fame at the magazine, including some of my favorites:

• Ray Bradbury,
• Agatha Christie,
• Sinclair Lewis,
• Edgar Allan Poe, and
• John Steinbeck.

The Saturday Evening Post Society also publishes a number of youthe and children's magazines that include Turtle, Humpty Dumpty, and Jack and Jill.

In these ways, the Post was very much like England's The Strand Magazine, which was published from 1891 through 1950. The English magazine offered all the short stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (such as the Sherlock Holmes stories) and of other authors. However, it did not last the 300+ years that the Post has been publishing.

Still, both magazines have helped to spread the work of gifted authors - some very good work is seen as a result of the Great American Fiction Contest. By the way, a new American version of The Strand is published in Birmingham, Michigan and dedicated to crime stories and novel writers.

Prizes and Writing Exposure

• The winning story in the contest mentioned above will appear in the January/February issue of The Saturday Evening Post. it will also appear on the magazine’s website for the world to see.
• The top winner in the contest will receive a $500 prize. A total of five runners-up will receive $100 each as well as publication of their stories online. That makes a total of six stories published online.

How to Enter the Contest

• Each short story submitted to the contest must be on on which the story is character-driven or or plot-driven. A key concept the magazine mentions is "shared experiences" to which readers can relate.
• Each story can be in any fiction genre within the Post’s broad range of interests.I would say that pornography and erotic literature and a few other things are a no-go. Pick up a copy of the Post and look it over before submitting a story, or contact their offices with questions.
• Story submitters must be previously unpublished authors, except for personal websites and blogs.
• Submitted stories must be between 1,500-5,000 words long.
• All submissions must be made electronically in Microsoft Word and include the author’s name, address, telephone number, and email address on the first page.
• The Post editorial staff and its fiction advisory board will judge the stories.
• Submissions will be charged a $10 entry fee and be postmarked (for the 2014 contest) by July 1, 2013.

For additional information, please see: saturdayeveningpost.com/fiction-contest. Also look for the current winner's short story on the website.