The Best New Writing of 2012

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Mercedes M. Yardley

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I was on the short list for theEric Hoffer Award. Woo!

While the very worthy “Peep Show,” by Louise Beech, won the award, I made it into their Best New Writing 2012 anthology.

When I was in college, their Best New Writing collections were part of my class curriculum. I actually had to go out and buy a copy to study from. I was introduced to some delightful stories that way.

And now? Who knows, maybe somebody will read my tale, “Stars,” and find something of worth in it.

Share|
Posted in Alumni News, Staff News | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The One-Hour Flash Fiction Challenge

Posted on January 19, 2012 by K. Allen Wood

This Saturday, January 21, at 8 PM EST, we will once be hosting our bi-weekly flash fiction challenge. The challenge: You have just one hour to write, edit, and post your story.

This is a “prompted” challenge, meaning your story must be based on the prompt, which will be revealed just before 8 PM. The challenge takes place here on our forum, so you’ll need to create an account if you want to participate.

The purpose of the challenge is to force you, the writer, to clear your mind of all distractions and write a complete 1,000-word-or-less story within the allotted time. You’ll have to not only write the story, but also edit it, and then post it by 9 PM EST.

For those interested, here are the rules:

Unlike our bi-monthly flash fiction contest, the bi-weekly one-hour flash challenge is just for fun. The challenge will be held every other Saturday, officially beginning at exactly 8 PM EST. There are no prizes! And the rules are simple.

1. All stories should be complete, written and posted within one hour, and can be anywhere from one sentence to 1,000 words in length.

2. You may choose to write your story in any genre.

3. Your story must be built around the restrictions—words, themes, photo prompts, word limits, etc.—provided by the Flashmaster at the beginning of the challenge.

4. Once the participants’ work is posted, the voting and comment session begins and continues until all votes are in. Time limit for voting will be determined on the spot, depending on how many people finish the challenge.

5. The winner becomes Flashmaster and hosts the next contest.

And that’s it. Simple and fun.

Think you can do it? Join the forum and be present this coming Saturday at 8 PM EST. More information can be found on the forum.

Share|
Posted in Shock Totem News, Writing Challenges | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

January 2012 Flash Fiction Contest

Posted on December 29, 2011 by K. Allen Wood

Every other month we host a flash fiction contest on our forum. The next contest begins on Sunday, January 1.

Participants have one week to write a story based on a prompt that we provide. The prompt must be integral to the story. This requirement, we hope, forces writers to pen a brand-new tale rather than submit some previously written or reworked story.

When the week is up, the stories are anonymously posted in the hidden contest forum. The entrants then have three weeks to read each story and vote on their top three. Additionally, most give feedback on each story, thus ensuring everyone gets something out of the contest.

If interested, sign up here. It’s a good time.

Share|
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

And the Contest of Dune Winner is…

Posted on December 28, 2011 by K. Allen Wood

Desmond Warzel

Desmond figured this one our real quick. About an hour had elapsed between the time we posted the contest and he correctly guessed the answer.

This was a very simple cipher. The letters represented their corresponding numerical place in the alphabet—A being 1, B being 2, Z being 26, etc. Below < and Below _ referred to keys on a keyboard—the comma being below the less-than symbol, and the dash being below the underscore. Dots were just that, dots (i.e. periods).

There were a couple other minor hints, but once the rest was deciphered, you had this:

43.709207,-124.179583

Coordinates for the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The Oregon Dunes, for those who don’t know, was the inspiration—or the inspirational catalyst—for the original Dune novel, published in 1965, by Frank Herbert.

So congratulations to Desmond!

Until next time…

Share|
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Contest of Dune

Posted on December 27, 2011 by K. Allen Wood

Update: Contest was over nearly before it began. See the comments for the answer.

Interested in winning an audiobook copy of Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert’s upcoming book, Sisterhood of Dune?

If so, solve this:


[ it's not as tough as it looks ]

Post your answers in the comments section below. First person to get it right wins the Sisterhood of Dune audiobook. If you have an e-reader, we’ll throw in a copy of our special holiday e-issue, which features Kevin’s short story “Santa Claus Is Coming to Get You.”

Good luck!

Share|
Posted in Alumni News, Contests | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

It’s a Long Way Down

Posted on December 13, 2011 by K. Allen Wood

Doing a free promo was a great high, watching the numbers go up and up and up. But the higher you go…

Expected, but the visual is depressing.

Share|

Posted in Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Only Time Will Tell…

Posted on December 12, 2011 by K. Allen Wood

As noted in my previous update, we opted to make our digital issues exclusive to the Kindle and lowered the price on a few of them so that they’re all priced at 99 cents. A lot of people dislike the 99-cent price point, suggesting it cheapens the product and conditions buyers to expect that price for all e-books. A valid argument, but it’s something that doesn’t work for us. Not now, at least.

So all digital issues are priced at $0.99. Future issues will likely be priced higher, but not much. For now, though, sales are good. Of course, selling a hundred copies nets $35, so “good” isn’t necessarily monetarily good. But this is about readers, and more readers is what we desperately need.

The digital issues have helped with that. And in an attempt to boost our readership, on Sunday, December 10, we made available for free through Amazon the digital version of our fourth issue. On the surface, it was a great success.

In the span of 24 hours, issue #4 was downloaded 408 times. Sounds fantastic, right? Well, only time will tell. I learned long ago that people love free stuff, but not necessarily for any other reason than it’s free. At conventions, you’ll sell more, in my opinion, if you don’t have a table loaded with free bookmarks, stickers, pins, candy, etc. Just have your product visible and you’ll make more sales.

So the question is, how many of those 408 people will read Shock Totem #4? I am not crazy enough to think they all will, but I’m hopeful enough to think a lot of them will. (Hopefully we see some positive reviews in the future.) If even a dozen read it, enjoy it, and eventually check out more work from our authors or pick up our other issues, then it will have been worth it. But again, time will tell…

We peaked at 587, I believe, on the Free in Kindle Store list. It would have been great to hit the top 100, but we stayed in the top 1,000 nearly the entire 24 hours. Can’t complain about that. But the funniest thing of all, was this:

A once in a lifetime achievement, I’d say. And a fitting one at that.

Thanks to everyone who downloaded issue #4. If you read it, please let us know what you think. I’ll post again on this subject in the future…

Share|
Posted in Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

WE ARE 99 CENTS!!

Posted on December 10, 2011 by K. Allen Wood

As many of you know, all issues of Shock Totem recently were made available in digital format. As of today, all issues are now just $0.99.

However, I’ve made the decision to make them exclusive to the Kindle. For the time being, at least.

Here’s why…

Amazon recently introduced a program called KDP Select, and it piqued my interest. It made other writers scoff. Essentially, it allows Amazon Prime members one free e-book download per month through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. And those authors/publishers who make their work available exclusively through the Kindle—which we have done—can participate.

So if you have an Amazon Prime account, you now have the option to read any Shock Totem issue for free.

My reasons for doing this are very simple. No, I do not expect us to make a lot of money. Though Amazon entices people with big numbers, that’s simply Marketing 101. What this new program can do for us, is get our issues in front of new readers. And at this point, for Shock Totem, exposure is very important. More important than money, because without new readers we will never be a self-sustaining business.

My budget includes the costs of running Shock Totem Publications. I’d love to use less out-of-pocket money and more money from profits for the cost of our issues, but if that is ever going to change, we need new readers. We need to be seen by people outside of the small press, and this KDP Select will, hopefully, help with that.

We’ll see…

Share|
Posted in Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Shock Totem Holiday Issue Gets Some Love

Posted on December 9, 2011 by K. Allen Wood

The Shock Totem holiday e-book has been reviewed by Hellnotes and The Crow’s Caw They dig it!

In general, this issue seems to have gone over well with readers. If you purchased a copy, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Especially in a review on Amazon. The reviews really do help.
And this will help us decide whether or not to do this again next year.

Share|
Posted in Alumni News, Magazine Reviews, Reviews, Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Holiday Break

Posted on November 25, 2011 by K. Allen Wood

On December 1, we will close for our holiday break. We’ll still be around, posting content, but we will not be open for submissions.


[ shameless promotion—click! ]

So if you’ve been meaning to send something in, do so now. Otherwise wait until we reopen on February 1.

Share|
Posted in Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News | Tagged , , | 1 Comment