"A voice, not an echo."
At the Echo Awards, we want the emotional, the raw, the moving. We want everything you're afraid to share. We want the truest things you know how to say.
Hey guys! So we've been getting a lot of questions regarding submissions lately, so to help everyone out, we thought we would publish this comprehensive guide with answers to all of the questions we frequently receive. Note that this page answers questions regarding both the poetry and short story contest with a focus on the poetry contest, this book is still our poetry contest--we have another book for short stories. If there's anything that's not covered in this chapter you want to show about, feel free to fire us a PM.
What is the theme of the Echo Awards?
The Echo Awards looks for creative, thoughtful work often coming from a personal place for you. We look for work that tells a story--an honest, vulnerable, emotional, and impactful story.
Do I have to follow the prompt for the poetry contest?
Technically, no. In order to win, yes. In other words, we won't decline your submission just because it doesn't seem to have any logical correlation to the prompt. But we won't give it a prize either. However, feel free to interpret the prompts as creatively as you want to--honestly, the more creative, the better. We love seeing all the different ways people have interpreted the prompts.
How do I enter the Echo Awards?
I made a nice flowchart to explain that for you!! Look at how pretty it is! (Note this applies for both the poetry and the short story contests)
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Note that you should please only submit to the contest for whatever month it is. At any given time, there should always be a contest open. For example, if it's November, you should submit to the chapter titled "November Contest." And if it's July, submit to the chapter titled "July Contest." (For our sake, please only submit in those chapters, not anywhere else in our contest books--use the comments field.)
Do you accept fanfiction?
Yes, but only under certain conditions.
-Your story complies with all other rules of the short story contest.
-Your story is 2000 words or under.
-Your story can be understood without having read the source material. We, the admins, may or may not have any experience with the fandom you're writing for and do not have the time in our judging process to learn about it. We will be judging your story as a story unto itself and therefore needs to be understandable without having any knowledge of the fandom.
What does it mean for the story to be "understandable unto itself"?
Essentially, that it tells a story separate of that fandom. It may be using characters/real-life people as a base, but beyond that, it is a fully fleshed story that can be understood without being a part of the fandom it's written for.
What makes a submission a winner in the poetry contest?
