Now Open for Business

The time is nigh, and you've been awaiting it pretty eagerly, judging by the number of e-mails I've received wondering when we're going to open submissions to our 17th annual Short Story Contest.

The rules and regs: Postmark deadline is Dec. 15; work must be unpublished, typewritten, and no longer than 2,500 words; work must be accompanied by a cover letter that contains name, address, e-mail, and phone number of the author, as well as the story's word count and title (author's name must not appear on the manuscript); one entry per person; staff of the Chronicle, freelancers who have contributed more than one article since September 2007, and first- through fifth-place winners from the 2007 contest are ineligible.

And to answer one dear reader's question: No, we will not be raising the dollar amount of the prize money awarded. Art doesn't pay. You might as well learn that now.