Member-Sponsored Leap Years Contest

Details

Leap ahead in time to a near-future earth, 25 to 50 leap years from now, that is suffering the consequences of how we treated their environment when it was ours. In that setting, tell a complete, original story in 2,500 words or less that will motivate readers of today to lessen their impact on the environment. Your story should aim to persuade your readers that they need to start taking the actions that are inconvenient, not just the easy stuff.

How you do that is up to you. You can break their hearts, scare their pants off, dazzle them with scientific brilliance, or re-align their synapses with a compelling experimental writing style. Anything goes to get the job done. You decide what the future looks like. You decide what actions you want to convince us to start taking with your story.

All sub-genres are welcome, but no poems, please. If your story has sex and/or violence, please remember to use the adult tag.

As an incentive to reach a wider audience with these messages, winners will receive a bonus prize if they get their stories published within a year of contest close. The top 5 winners will receive $25 when they notify me their winning story has been published with a token, semi-pro, or pro paying publisher. (Bonus valid for one year from contest close)

Paypal is the preferred method for prize payment. Winners may request a gift certificate of equal value from major online retailers as an alternate prize.

Winning entries

Winners have been announced! Log in to see them.

Prizes

Rules

• To enter the contest, post your work on Scribophile and check the box that says "Enter this work into the Member-Sponsored Leap Years Contest."

• The checkbox will be visible until the contest deadline.

• Entry is free, but you'll need karma points to post your work. You can earn karma points by writing critiques of work by other members.

• If you have already placed your work in a previous contest, you may not resubmit it to this one.

• Only one entry per person is allowed; multiple entries will be disqualified.

Submission guidelines

• Entries must be no more than 2,500 words per Scribophile's count. There is no minimum.

• Novel chapters are not allowed. Really. Please don’t post them.

• Your work must have public visibility on Scribophile until the winners are announced.

• Only new, previously unpublished work will be accepted.

• The contest will run from now until Midnight, February 29th, 2016, UTC. The winner will be announced by the end of March 2016.