The 2016 Al Blanchard Award Contest, sponsored by the New England Crime Bake Committee, is now open. The prize consists of a $100 in cash, publication in Windward, Level Best Books’ fourteenth short crime fiction anthology, free admission to the Crime Bake Conference, and a handsome plaque. The winner is not required to attend the conference.
Story must be a crime story by a New England author or with a New England setting for non-NE authors, previously unpublished (in print or electronically, including author websites), no more than 5,000 words in length, and may include the following genres: mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, and horror (no torture/killing of children or animals).
There is no entry fee for the contest, which has a deadline of midnight, April 30, 2016.
There is a limit of two stories per author, and the judges will consider previous submissions, provided they have not been published in the meantime and they have only been submitted ONCE before. The same story or stories may also be submitted to Level Best Books. However, this is a separate submission process; for their guidelines, visit www.levelbestbooks.com.