Posts filed: contests

While this isn't the contest news some are waiting for: a new mini-contest!

Posted on 2011-03-25 at 16:07 by montsamu

I'm not the only one who has been amused by John Scalzi's blurb for Sam Sykes just released book BLACK HALO. The blurb reads: "I do not wish Sam Sykes Dead." High praise, indeed! Still, it leaves me wanting more. So: a weeklong mini-contest!

HOW TO ENTER AND WHAT: Either comment here, on the relevant post on Bull Spec's Facebook Page, or reply to the relevant tweet from @bullspec on Twitter, with an even better backhanded evil blurb than Scalzi's. OK, I know, that's impossible. Just do the best you can. The

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Posted in contests

Third Bear Carnival contest winners.

Posted on 2011-03-18 at 17:45 by montsamu

I found this sitting in "draft" when trying to tie up some loose ends, and apologize to the winners for the lateness of the post -- though they did get their books long ago. For this contest, I asked readers to submit reviews of non-existent books, tied however loosely, to Jeff VanderMeer's recent collection The Third Bear.


Well, two came through with shining colors. The first comes from Stephen Gordon:

Two Weird by Jeff VanderMeer (2012) 
Jeff VanderMeer produces remarkable collections of short fiction, and T

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Posted in contests

Bull Spec Teen Writing Contest judged by Ann VanderMeer!

Posted on 2011-01-17 at 01:12 by montsamu
"Imagine two vast armies separated by a plain. Gryphons. Dragons. Mech walkers. Knights. Wizards. Rows of muskets. Rows of laser rifles. Rows of cannons. Velociraptors. Robots. Chariots. Hovercraft. Between these armies stand two teens. Siblings. A brother and sister. They hold outstretched hands, stretching out their other hands toward the armies, willing them to stop..."
So. I've wanted to figure out some way to help send a young writer in the area to the incredibly awesome Shared Worlds summer writing Read more...
Posted in contests, shared worlds

The Third Bear Carnival very belatedly continues!

Posted on 2010-12-08 at 16:28 by montsamu

OK. The first of a couple of contests about to kick off before the Ides of December are upon us. Remember back in September, when Stephen Gordon (and Dan Campbell, sadly ineligible) posted some good ideas for how to give away 3 copies of Jeff VanderMeer's The Third Bear as part of an even-then ridiculously late entry to Matthew Cheney's The Third Bear Carnival. Stephen won a copy for his trouble, and has a chance to win another in time for holiday giving. (Sorry Dan, still ineligible.)

   
The Third Bear by

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Posted in contests

Third Bear Carnival: a Bull Spec contest with 3 identical prizes. First, the meta contest.

Posted on 2010-09-14 at 19:05 by montsamu

I'm quite late to the festival which is/was Matthew Cheney's Third Bear Carnival. But to make up for this tardiness, I have 3 copies of Jeff VanderMeer's recent collection The Third Bear which need a good home:

   
The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer

Actually, I have 4 copies. But the first 3 copies are for a contest to be determined by a preliminary (meta?) contest, which itself awards the 4th copy as its prize.

Confused? You have barely scratched the surface of bizarre, in any number of ways.

So, contest the

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Posted in contests, third bear carnival

A truly "diabolical" contest.

Posted on 2010-04-08 at 11:00 by montsamu

The writing blog Diabolical Plots is having a little contest to celebrate its hit counter rolling into five digits, and what better way to celebrate fun base-10-centric milestones than with a giveaway? So I sent David Steffen an extra copy of Bull Spec #1 to give away.

But there's a catch. Both Diabolical Plots and Bull Spec like to do interviews, and are asking you to give an idea of somebody in speculative fiction to interview. For the full details check out the Diabolical Plots post on the contest, and

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Posted in announcements, contests, diabolical plots