I’ve just come across an excellent short story competition. The prize is a nice trophy and publication in Britian’s leading short story mag, Interzone. But the best thing about the contest is that it’s only open to non-professional writers. Talk about cutting down the competition!
I’ve licked my short story Calling All Time Travellers into shape and submitted it. Unfortunately it was 400 words over the maximum allowed length, so I had to give it bit of a “hair-cut.” It was an interesting experience hunting for bits to snip, not something I’ve deliberately done before, but I have a feeling the story is all the better for it. I’ve also changed the title of the story to Time Travel for Dummies, a deliberate reference to the Dummies book series.
Check out the full competition details below.
Darryl Sloan 
I don’t know much about this award, but it is usually best to avoid competitions where an entry fee is involved no matter how small it may be.
I think it might be my best shot at being published in Interzone. With a regular story submission to the mag, you’re up against the pro sci-fi writers like Stephen Baxter, and probably hundreds of submissions per issue. With this compo, the pros are eliminated, and there tends to be around only 100 entires per year. I figure it’s no loss to give it a try, anyway.