Upcoming Events at Chapters Bookshop

The Galax Book Festival shall sponsor a fiction-writing contest called "Three-Minute Fiction". The purpose of this contest is to inspire writers in our region to create an interesting, well-written story from the springboard of a provided first line, then support these efforts with a careful reading of all entries, selection by appropriate judges of winners in several categories, and awarding cash prizes to those winners. Additionally, all entrants are encouraged to attend the presentation ceremony that will take place on Saturday, June 12, at the Book Festival in downtown Galax, to hear the top-placing stories read aloud and to give and receive the encouragement of readers and writers for their efforts.

Rules are as follows:

There shall be three categories for entries:

Elementary grades 5 - 8

High school grades 9 - 12

Adult

There shall be an entry fee of $5 for adults and $3 for high school students. There shall be no entry fee for elementary students. Individuals may enter only one story per year.

The stories that are judged to be the top ten in each category shall be asked to attend the Festival ceremony and hear their stories read aloud. At the conclusion of the reading, the winners shall be announced and prizes awarded.

Stories must be read aloud in no more than three minutes, and must be no longer than 600 words; submissions that exceed the limit will not be judged and the entry fee will not be refunded. All stories must begin with the sentence, "What in the world is that?" and must not contain immoral or inappropriate language or content.

The story must be original, entirely the work of the entrant, and must not have been previously published or broadcast or in the public domain; neither may it violate someone else's copyright

The Galax Book Festival reserves the non-exclusive right to reproduce, publish, distribute, exhibit, exploit, and license by all means, any stories submitted to its contest. Entries will not be returned.

Stories must be submitted with a cover sheet that includes the story title; and the author's name, mailing and e-mail address (if available), and telephone number. No contact information may appear on the body of the story, but the title or keyword(s) of the title and page number must head each page. The story must be typed and double-spaced.

Entries must be received no later than May 28, 2010. Entries may be mailed to Chapters Bookshop, 101 E. Grayson Street, Galas, VA 24333, or electronically to info@chaptersbookshop.com