A lot of writers enjoy creating flash or micro fiction, but what to do with your finished story? Most competitions 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. All profits 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 of a collective
First step
1 – first you write a story in 256 words or fewer (min 200)
2 – then submit your story, paying a fee of £2.56
What happens next
Once 256 stories have been submitted and read, they will be formatted in a paperback anthology and published on Amazon. It’s as simple as that. And you keep your copyright (256 stories requires a one-off permission to publish 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 whichever charity comes out most popular on the entry forms (on submitting, there is a drop-down menu for you to select your preferred charity).
What are the costs?
– Admin, cover design and formatting is being donated, free of charge.
– There is a small, unavoidable, fee to process payments.
– Annual cost for the domain name and hosting the website.
– A minimal cost for a proof copy from Amazon.
Charity donation
One anthology each year, would generate a donation of around £535
– income from submissions £655
– costs outlined above £120 (est)
– plus, any profits from book sales will be added to the charity 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 to join 256 stories
There are none, if you can write, you can join. On the submission form there is an option to state your age. If you want to let people know how old you are, fill in this option and your age will be included next to your name on your story, whether you’re 7 or 87 (of course, if you’re 7, you may have to get a responsible adult to help you with the payment).