THE FLANN O'BRIEN AWARD FOR INNOVATIVE FICTION

Aqueous Books announces its Flann O'Brien Award for innovative fiction.
Aqueous Books is closed to regular submissions, as the publication timeline for books forthcoming in our catalog currently extends into early 2016. Because the ongoing demand for our review of manuscripts has been so high, we are opening up the Flann O'Brien Award for innovative fiction. One winning novel or novel-in-stories receives publication in a trade paperback edition and corresponding eBook edition, an award seal on the cover, review and interview coverage, exposure as the Flann O'Brien Award winner through press outlets, and an announcement in Poets & Writers. Winning author also receives 10 complimentary copies of the finished book.
Entry Fee: $30. Submit as many times as you like, but you must send a separate entry fee with each manuscript you submit for it to be considered. Submit payment through PayPal to pubs@aqueousbooks.com. Include a note with your payment that your fee is for the Flann O'Brien Award for innovative fiction.
Manuscript Guidelines: Contest is open to previously unpublished novels or thematically connected short story collections. Manuscripts must be at least 17,500 words. Manuscripts must be double-spaced. Include a cover letter, including your contact information, a one-paragraph synopsis of the manuscript, and acknowledgment that the manuscript has never been published in its entirety. Submit online at https://aqueous.submittable.com/submit. Deadline is Nov. 15, 2013.
Regarding the award's namesake: Flann O'Brien was an Irish writer whose fiction is known for its innovative qualities. His writing takes risks but has a clear sense of direction -- the cumulative result is fiction that is lively, engaging, entertaining, and solidly literary.
GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
*** PLEASE NOTE THAT SUBMISSIONS TO AQUEOUS BOOKS ARE TEMPORARILY CLOSED, AS OUR CURRENT PUBLICATION TIMELINE CURRENTLY EXTENDS INTO 2016. ***
To prepare your manuscript for submission to Aqueous Books, please read the guidelines below.
Submissions of previously unpublished manuscripts are read year-round. If a portion of your manuscript has been published elsewhere (such as individual stories in short story collections), please provide credit to the original publisher in the appropriate place in your cover letter and front matter of your manuscript.
We accept literary fiction (including short story collections, novels, and novellas); magical realism and dystopic works; horror, dark psychology, and paranormal; philosophical and serio-comic philosophy; and works of literary theory. Please do not send poetry, science fiction or fantasy, religious, romance, mystery, mainstream women's or chick lit, how-to, children's or young adult, or anything in a genre other than those specified above. Contracts are royalty with no advance.
Word count should be 17,500 and above. Please indicate the type and genre of work you are sending, followed by last name (i.e., Short Story Collection: Magical Realism: Gaiman). Entries should be included as a single document, along with a brief 3rd person bio. Please do not use Courier or cursive fonts, text smaller than 12 point, or anything containing unnecessary formatting, such as excessive bolding and italics, unless it is inherent to the spirit of the work. Submissions should be double-spaced with only one space between sentences.
Electronic submissions should be directed to our submission manager .
Please direct postal correspondence (including self-addressed, stamped envelope with adequate return postage, or e-mail address for reply on submissions) to the address below. If you would like your snail-mailed manuscript returned clean and without mark-up, please specify this in your cover letter and include adequate return postage; alternatively, if you would like us to include editorial mark-up in your returned copy, please mention this as well.
Aqueous Books
P.O. Box 1180
Covington, LA 70434