Contest FAQ

No, there is no special theme for the Baby Boomer Plus contest. All genres and subjects will be considered.

The word count for the contests is 900 – 5000 words.

No, you have to fall within the age group to qualify for the Baby Boomer Plus contest. You can write about whatever you want.

Since we do not provide a prompt for the contest, we cannot use a standard set of elements to judge them. The plot, characters and theme are as diverse as the authors who write the stories. Our main criteria for judging is did the story engage me; did I enjoy reading it. Every story is read by at least three judges. They choose their top 20. Additional judges then read the top 20 from each judge. The judges are expected to be able to answer why they chose a story as one of the main contenders or why they did not choose it. After all of the stories are read and evaluated we compose a list of the stories which were in each judges top 20. We start a discussion with this list as to which stories will be featured in the book. After we narrow it down to the stories to be featured in the book we determine which are the three money winners. If it is clear from previous discussions we use those stories. If not, we determine the top five and bring in additional judges to help pick the three money winners.

Yes, you can use a pen name. We do need a legal name for signing documents.

Yes, plays and short stories are both valid submissions.

We could not judge a poem fairly against a short story. If there is enough interest we will consider a book of poems for another contest. Let us know if you are interested in a contest for poems.

Yes, we do accept simultaneous submissions. If your short story is chosen as one of the top stories in our contest and another publication both want to use the piece, you might have to choose and withdraw it from one. There is a link to the contract you would be asked to sign below.

Yes, here.

You will have the option of paying using a credit card, Paypal, or mailing a check.

Press here for the Baby Boomer payment page. Or email support@livingspringspublishers.com and we can send an invoice.

Check your Spam folder. Rather than using the contact form, you can email us directly at Support@LivingSpringsPublishers.com.

Yes, we accept submissions from outside the United States. For authors whose story appears in the book, but live outside the United States, we will send their complimentary copy of the book through Amazon, if available. For authors who live in an area where Amazon is not available, in lieu of a complimentary book, we will refund the entry fee,

We accept both Fiction (short stories) and Non-Fiction (personal essays).

Baby Boomer are defined as being born 1946 - 1966. We will accept submissions from people who are not technically Baby Boomers, but still have the experience we are looking for in the contest.

We prefer Word documents but will accept other formats. We do not specify any layout requirements, We want to make it easy for authors who may not be proficient with Word. There is no need to include any information about the author in the document. The required information is retrieved from the entry form. Any information in the story is stripped out before going to the judges.