Announcing the TL;DR PRESS 1,000 Word Herd Flash Fiction 2023 Competition Winners
After weeks of reading, discussing, and scoring, we are ready to announce the top 25 placing stories in the TL;DR Press 1,000 Word Herd Flash Fiction 2023 Competition! You can find a link to the winning 1st place story below, along with the names of all top 25 winners who will be featured in our August eBook Curios: The Best of the 1,000 Word Herd Flash Fiction Competition 2023.
It’s always an incredible challenge picking which stories go into our collections because the quality of the work that we receive is so high. We always enjoy the lively discussions where curators pick their favourites and defend them, fighting their corners until we reach a consensus. The 1,000 Word Herd Flash Fiction 2023 Competition entries were no different, and our judges had such a tough time deciding the winners because there were so many great stories.
After much deliberation we have decided our winners! So, without further ado, here they are:
1st place is Nine Lives of Madness by MM Schreier
2nd place is When by Lyle Enright
3rd place is Lucky Numbers by Justin Creps
4th: And One Hard One by Ezra Fox
5th: Perfect Balance by Gideon Henner
6th: Hermit Hallie Finds Her Wings by Regan Puckett
7th: Sugar and Spice by Maria Brekke
8th: Dendrochronology by Alexandra Otto
9th: The Blue Kitchen by Alyssa Beatty
10th: Cinnamon and Turmeric by K. Z. Richards
11th: Salt-Crust Heart by Mason Yeater
12th: The Truth is in the Letters by Alex Grehy
13th: Not Mark and Me by Kay Sandry
14th: When Comes the Tide by Joanna McLaughlin
15th: Ghostly Business by E.M. Wright
16th: Unplanned Schedule Adjustment by Margaret Hanson
17th: Swimming Down His Arm by Nathan James
18th: Language Barrier by Steven Patchett
19th: The Calling of the Wolves by Laila Miller
20th: A Hook Called Starlight by Bryan Arneson
21st: Wait for the Ending by Chrissie Rohrman
22nd: The Cat Who Drank Too Much Coffee by Ryan Walraven
23rd: The Crescent City Trail 10k by Darcie Johnson
24th: Love Talker by Mary Lawton
25th: Itsy, Bitsy, and Beezle by Nikki Blakely
Congratulations to everyone who placed, and commiserations to all who didn’t win this time round. Everyone who submitted should receive an email with feedback from the judges in the coming days regardless of placement. We hope you all had fun taking part, and we hope to see many returning writers to our next project. (Check out our next call for submissions which will be announced shortly!)
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Publication
We aim to release the eBook including all of the winning stories in August. All proceeds from the sale of the eBook will go to Trans Lifeline, a grassroots hotline and microgrants 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community. Keep an eye out for the buy links next month!
Thank you again to everyone who took part, you did an amazing thing by helping us to keep doing what we do, and to help raise funds for Trans Lifeline
Stay safe and keep writing,
The TL;DR Press Team