256 Stories – the concept

A lot of writers enjoy creating very short ‘Flash’- or ‘Micro-fiction’ stories, but what to do with your finished one-pager? Most flash fiction competitions and anthologies are not cheap; if a paperback is published, only a small percentage of entrants will be included. This means the majority of people pay for the few to be published – and the profits go where?

256 Stories turns that concept on its head. Small entry fee. Everyone gets published. Net proceeds go to charity. Once 256 entries have been received, a fresh start is triggered for the next anthology. Think of it as a rolling fundraiser where the writers get a benefit too.

256 Stories is not a competition – it’s more like a writers’ collective.

What do I do?
1 – First, you write a story that you’re proud of, in 200 (min) to 256 (max) words.
2 – Then, submit your Flash fiction story, paying a fee of £2.56.

What happens next?
Once 256 stories have been submitted and accepted, they will be formatted into a paperback anthology and published via Amazon. It’s as simple as that. And you keep your copyright (when you submit a story, you grant 256 Stories a one-off permission to publish it in the anthology).

What happens to the money?
After costs, all profits will be donated to charity. Money raised from the anthology will be donated to the most nominated charity (there is a drop-down list for you to vote for your preferred charity).

What are the costs?
– Admin, cover design and formatting is being donated, free of charge.
– Cost for the domain name, website and e-mail provider has been gifted for two years.
– There is a small, unavoidable, fee for processing payments.

Charity donation
Each anthology would generate a charitable donation of approx £580 from submission fees alone. Any profits from book sales will be added to this donation.

How will everyone know what’s happening?
On the website’s News page there will be regular updates on the number of stories submitted. Once the collection is in print, a breakdown of costs and donations will be shown for that anthology.

Rules
The rules (as few as possible) can be checked here.

What do those who run 256 Stories gain?
Nothing more than a warm fuzzy feeling that they are helping both authors and charities. And anyone in Admin will also have to pay to enter a story.

Age restrictions
There are none. If you can write, you can contribute to ‘256 Stories’. If you enter your age (be it 7 or 87) on the submission form it will be included next to your name on your story. N.b. if you’re a child, please seek permission from a parent or responsible adult to submit, and their assistance with the online payment.