TVBR Short Story Contest, themed “Work”
The Vincent Brothers Review editors eagerly seek entries to our “Work” Short Story Contest. First Prize of $1,000, second prize of $500, and two Honorable Mention prizes of $150 each will be awarded to the top four short stories. The submission process is through this electronic Submittable portal only. The entrance fee is $10.00 per story entered. Entry fees will be used to cover the prize money as well as the production and printing costs of our Issue #29.
Eight contest finalists will be chosen by TVBR editors from the pool of entries. Rafael Alvarez will choose the final four place winners, and all four will be published in TVBR's hard-copy issue #29 with a projected publication date of May 2024. All entries will also be considered for both online and hard-copy issue publication in TVBR. The theme for the upcoming contest is “Work.” No maximum word length is set, but please note that the editors usually prefer stories not longer than 8,000 words.
The deadline for our Short Story Contest is December 31, 2023.
TVBR submission process for nonfiction and poetry is also through electronic submission only. We’re currently reading through a backlog of submissions and laying out our upcoming issues #25, #26, and #27, so not all of our submission portals are open at this time.
TVBR editors will also seek submissions of nonfiction, poetry, and short fiction pieces based on the theme of “Work” for our Issue #29. The non-fiction and poetry submissions portal for that issue will open sometime in mid-April 2023. The deadline for “Work”-themed materials will be December 31, 2023.
The Flash Fiction/Time Capsule/Haibun submission portal is open all year, and read on a rolling basis.
The Vincent Brothers Review is a paying market, and we typically pay $35 per Flash Fiction/Time Capsule/Haibun UPON PUBLICATION. Our modest submission fees are used to cover payment to writers and staff, as well as the production and printing costs of both our online and hard-copy issues. All rights revert to authors upon publication.
Stay Tuned: We also plan to sponsor a haibun contest in 2023 centered around the images/ideas of full moon cycles and women’s empowerment. Watch here for details.
PLEASE NOTE: TVBR editors take their time when considering submissions selections. Our response time can take up to a year. Our production time is also long. TVBR is not for you if you’re impatient or fast-tracking a publication career. We have a small staff of editors who all work other jobs and we cannot adjust our reading or production schedules to writer-directed deadlines.
Send us work you would be proud to see in print or online. The best way to discover what kind of manuscripts we seek is to read our current issue and at least one back issue of The Vincent Brothers Review! We publish themed issues. Visit our website for our latest online selections and details about our upcoming themes: www.thevincentbrothersreview.com.
Our most recent print issue (#24: themed “Changes”) is $16.77 each postpaid; perfect-bound back issues are $14 each postpaid; saddle-stitched back issues are $5.00 each.
Take a look at our print copies! We enjoy the process of putting print issues together—attention to details; balance between words, white space, and image; and the synchronicity between writers and artists previously unknown to each other—and we think that joy shows.
Writers seeking publication should support and read their fellow writers’ work and the work of the magazines they are approaching for possible publication.
Great writers are always great readers, too. Set high reading standards in addition to high writing standards. If you plan to market your work, you must be aware of what that market is publishing—research online literary publications, as well as the litmag sections of libraries and bookstores. Once you’ve found a few magazines you enjoy reading, subscribe to them, and study the material they feature. The habit of reading contemporary litmags and eMags will enhance and broaden your appreciation of literature and assist you in placing your work.
We make our manuscript selections based on the author’s word choices, style, and the images, ideas, and characters those words convey. The typeface used by an author is not a factor in our consideration; however, manuscripts presented in a clear, legible manner are easier to read.
Read your manuscript out loud before sending it out.
Letting a manuscript rest for a week or so before approaching it for the second edit is a good idea.
Only unpublished manuscripts are acceptable, though we do accept simultaneous submissions. In fact, we encourage simultaneous submissions as our response times can be long. If you send a simultaneous submission, please notify us as soon as possible when that manuscript is accepted.
AGAIN—please note that our response times can be as long as a year. If you’re in a hurry to see your name in print or fast-tracking your publication career, TVBR is not for you. We have a small staff of readers who all work other jobs and we take our time when considering manuscripts. And then, we take our time putting the issues together.
The Vincent Brothers Review editors eagerly seek submissions of Time Capsules and Haibun for our online and hard-copy issues, as well as our newsletter. The reading fee is $3.00 per submission and you can include up to 3 Time Capsules, 3 haibun, or a mix of both per each submission.
Our modest submission fees are used to cover payment to writers, as well as the production and printing costs of both our online and hard-copy issues. All rights revert to authors upon publication.
The Vincent Brothers Review is a paying market, and we typically pay $35 per Time Capsule/Haibun we select for publication. We pay for accepted manuscripts UPON PUBLICATION. Our modest submission fees are used to cover payment to writers and staff, as well as the production and printing costs of both our online and hard-copy issues, and our newsletter.
All rights revert to authors upon publication.
The Time Capsule/Haibun submission portal is open all year.
Time Capsules are brainstorms that briefly capture and express specific Times/Places that no longer exist, that WILL exist, or that are eternally fleeting. Imagine you’re filling a Time Capsule to show future recipients what it’s like to be alive RIGHT NOW. Or, what it was like to live long, long ago. The only tools you have to make that reveal are between 500 and 1,500 words. Choose your words wisely.
More specifically, these words illuminate what you want to remember about this time we’re living in, this crossroads for humanity, this stand-up-for-the-humans-right-now time.
Or, 500–1,500 words about what you remember of the Before Times—what it was like before internet, cell phones, or binge watching TV. Each word will need to pull its weight enough to transport your reader to the exact place and time you’re describing.
The haibun form is a combination of prose and haiku. See the links below for samples and more information about the haibun form:
https://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/
https://poets.org/text/more-birds-bees-and-trees-closer-look-writing-haibun
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/haibun-poems-poetic-form
The Vincent Brothers Review editors eagerly seek entries to our “Work” Short Story Contest. First Prize of $1,000, second prize of $500, and two honorable-mention prizes of $150 each will be awarded to the top four selections. The submission process is through electronic submission only.
The entrance fee is $10.00 per story entered. You can enter more than once as long as each entry is accompanied by the $10 entry fee.
Entry fees will be used to cover the prize money as well as the production and printing costs of our Issue #29.
Eight contest finalists will be chosen by TVBR editors from the pool of entries. Rafael Alvarez will choose the final four place winners, and all four will be published in TVBR's hard-copy issue #27 with a projected publication date of May 2024. All entries will also be considered for both online and hard-copy issue publication in TVBR.
The theme for the upcoming contest is “Work.”
No maximum word length is set, but please note that the editors usually prefer stories not longer than 8,000 words. The deadline for our Short Story Contest is December 31, 2023.