• Entry fee: $12 per entry (make checks and money orders payable to CJM Books, or use the PayPal button below for all major plastic cards)
• Each story must be:
  • Fiction or  Non-fiction
  • Typed on 8.5" x 11" paper (hard or electronic) using Microsoft Word (or compatible), with 1.25" margins, double-spaced, 12 point font size, and Times New Roman font
  • No more than 10,000 words, and previously unpublished. (Authors keep all rights to their work, and winners are offered no more than one-time, non-exclusive publication in Colonnade, in addition to their prize money.)
• At the end of each quarter we'll pick a winner and two runners-up from each of the two categories for publication and yearly award eligibility. So if you miss a deadline, take your time and send us your best the following quarter!
• Each entry will be judged objectively with regard to each of the following:
  • Fiction
    • Character development
    • Story structure/Plot
    • Grammar/Punctuation/Spelling
    • Style/Voice/Form
    • Reader impact (the only subjective category, to offset cross-genre nature of competition)
  • Non-fiction
    • Conceptual Arrangement
    • Conflict/Resolution
    • Grammar/Punctuation/Spelling
    • Voice/Tone
    • Reader Impact
• You may submit more than one literary work, however each author is only allowed one work as a winner per year. So go ahead and submit your work until your pen runs out of ink, but once one of them wins the others become ineligible. (Hard copies will not be returned unless a SASE is included with submission.)
• Contestants must be 18 years or older and stories must be written primarily in English. Employees of CJM Books, editors of Colonnade, contest judges, and their immediate family members are not eligible for contest entry.
• On a separate cover page, to prevent bias during judging, please include the following information:
  • Name
  • Mailing address
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Brief 1-3 sentence author bio
  • Word count
  • Title
  • Genre (fiction or non-fiction)
  • Brief 1-3 sentence overview of literary work
• Once we receive your electronic submission you will be notified via email. Snail mail submissions will be notified either by processing of payment (check, or PayPal) or by email or phone in the case of money orders.
• Quarterly winners and runners-up will be announced on this page, via email, or by phone (if necessary), 15 days after the quarter's deadline. The year's two "Best" will be announced via email or phone upon the release of that year's Colonnade.
• Please follow these submission guidelines carefully. Failure to do so may risk disqualification. Entering the contest does not ensure publication in our anthology Colonnade, but by winning one quarter, or by placing second or third runner-up you will become eligible for publication. You may decline publication at any time during the contest, even after your story has won. We will not ask you to give up more than one-time non-exclusive anthology rights to your work, unless agreed upon under different terms than those listed in these contest guidelines and rules. We also reserve the right to roll over entries into the next round of judging if too few entries are received.

Mail your submission and entry fee to:

CJM Books
PO Box 565
East Rochester, NY 14445
Attn: Writing Contest

For electronic submissions please click the PayPal button below to begin the process. Have your file(s) ready to go! (Note: From PayPal, you will be directed back to CJMBooks.com to complete the contest entry. If you experience problems during any of this please email us.)