Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Call for Nonfiction and Art: New Stories from the Midwest

New Stories from the Midwest editors are currently seeking nonfiction pieces for publication on its website as well as photos and art for the Cover Art Contest for the next print volume.

We’re interested in previously unpublished work that celebrates the Midwestern United States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Submissions for nonfiction and cover art are accepted online.

For Nonfiction
We’re open to style and length, though shorter pieces usually work better. The work has to be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, as long as you withdraw your piece.

Cover Art Contest: (extended) deadline for entries is June 1, 2013.
Because of publication delays in the last volume, New Stories from the Midwest has been allowed to extend the deadline for its second annual Midwest Cover Art Contest. For those who have already submitted, your  work is still under consideration.

We are looking for high-quality artwork in any genre (painting, photo, sculpture, digital, etc.) that represents the “essence” of the Midwest for the cover of New Stories from the Midwest 2013. The winning image  will be published on the cover of the upcoming anthology, and a brief description of the winning artwork and artist bio will be included. Last year’s winner was Jade Webber with her piece “The Bear Who Eats Hunters.” Jade received a cash payment and her art appeared on the cover of New Stories from the Midwest 2012.

How to submit
The contest is open to any professional or amateur artist who can best capture the essence of the entire Midwest in one digital image. Work must consist of previously unpublished original images taken by the entrant. Submit one image per $3 entry fee. You may submit as many images as you like. Please include a cover letter that states the title, date, size, materials used in the image, and a short bio. Feel free to provide any other information about your artwork as well. Simultaneous submissions are welcomed, but please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Low-res images are required for submissions, but the contest winner must provide high-res images before accepting the award:

• If providing images from a digital camera: the winner must obtain the most original form of the image from the camera (raw format if available, .tif if not)
• The winner must provide accurate color lasers if digital color images are submitted, and prints of any slides or other transparencies
• Digital color images must be twice the width, and at least as tall, as the book trim, at 300 dpi (1200 if line art)

Winning artwork will be used in its original form to the extent possible,although some modifications may be necessary to accommodate the physical requirements of the book. These may include cropping, resizing, adjustments to color or contrast for optimal print reproduction, overprinting type, and other customizations as needed. The art will not be significantly altered, appear unnatural, or have elements added or removed. Artist must have permission from all models featured in the artwork. Most importantly, the image must reproduce well as printed cover art.

New Stories from the Midwest presents each year twenty of the best published short stories set in the Midwestern United States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The goal of New Stories from the Midwest is to celebrate an American region that is often ignored in discussions about distinctive regional literature and demonstrate how the quality of fiction from and about the Midwest rivals that of any other region. We want the cover art to demonstrate that same quality.

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