July 2023 Fox Tales Contest: Music
Black Fox is now accepting contest submissions for a new series called Fox Tales. The theme for July 2023 is “Music.” We are open to loose interpretations of the theme in any genre, as always.
We’ve been looking for ways to have more fun with our contests, and we’re excited to share a new series of month-long contests that will run in between our two main contests. This will allow us to publish more writers and creative work outside of our usual biannual issues!
Fox Tales will be published as “mini books” on our Instagram account and website starting Fall 2023! Instagram carousels remind us of turning book pages, and we thought: Wouldn’t it be fun to transform carousels into mini books? We will design carousel pages for the winning stories and poetry. Writers should keep in mind word counts. We suggest keeping submissions to 500 words. Poets may submit 3-5 poems but should keep in mind that they must fit on 8 Instagram squares.
If you make playlists for your characters or works in progress, this contest is for you! We’re looking for work inspired by your favorite songs or work that has music represented in some way. What mood, feeling, or characters can your favorite songs inspire in a story or poem? Submit a captivating piece of writing that captures the energy of a song, its impact on your life, or the enchanting stories that lie behind it. Whether you send in a personal reflection, a fictional narrative, or a poetic tribute, we can’t wait to see how your words harmonize with the theme!
Please submit your strongest fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, and we will choose 1-3 winners. The prize is $100 and publication as an Instagram carousel mini book and on our website as part of our Fox Tales series. Winners will also receive a Black Fox Writer Pack which contains writerly items from our sister company Writer’s Atelier and more. In each pack:
- One back issue of Black Fox Literary Magazine
- A one-year digital subscription to Poets & Writers
- A copy of The Write Gym Workbook by Racquel Henry
- Little Book of Writing Affirmations by Racquel Henry
- Writing Stickers
- A “Just F***ing Write” Pencil
- A “Get the Book Done” Tote Bag
- Sticky notes
The contest entry fee is $9 and submissions must be submitted before midnight (EST) on July 31, 2023.
Please make sure your manuscript is double-spaced with 12-point font. Submissions should be no more than 500 words. For poetry, send 3-5 poems in the same document, as long as they can fit on 8 Instagram squares. Author’s name and page number should appear in the top right-hand corner of every page. We also ask that you specify the category/genre of your work in the cover letter. Please see our Submission Guidelines before submitting. Submissions are accepted through our submission manager found here. We only accept online submissions. We DO NOT accept submissions by email. If submissions are sent via email they will automatically be discarded without notice. Send only one submission per submission period. We do not accept previously published work. We accept simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you withdraw your work via Submittable (add a note if withdrawing one poem at a time) if your work is accepted elsewhere. Past contributors, please wait until at least one full submission period has passed before submitting again. Please note: we aim for a 3-4 month response time, but please feel free to inquire if you haven’t heard from us in 6 months.
Please DO NOT submit work that isn’t ready. Take your time and polish your work to the best of your ability before sending it in. No changes can be made to your submission after we receive it.
We will select a winner by mid-September, and each entrant will receive a response to their submission.
***Writers, please note that entry fees are non-refundable, and payment to winners is awarded via PayPal. We reserve the right to extend the contest deadline if necessary.***
The Black Fox team looks forward to reading your wonderful submissions!