Writing Contest, Self-Publishing, Caveat Emptor

"Wordclay Short Story Contests Now Open: Submission Guidelines Posted"
Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Marketing (April 2, 2008)

"It’s my pleasure to announce the official open of both the Wordclay Single Short Story and the Short Story Collection contests. As of 11 a.m. today, April 2, 2008, you can send our readers your stories and cover letters for a chance to win cash, publishing packages as well as copies of the Wordclay Anthology Best Modern Voices, in which the 15 story finalists will appear in Volume 2."

The deadline is "May 31, 2008, by 11:59 p.m.," but the author didn't say in what time zone.

I'm very cautious about self-publishing. The industry didn't get the name "vanity press" without reason. Back in the day, many self-publishing companies offered wannabe authors an excellent to swap thousands of dollars for a garage-full of unsellable books.

That said, freeself-publishing.com has a charming website: and this is the Information Age, not the late Industrial Age that I grew up in.

And, the website has a quite a story on its homepage today:

"...No, you're not crazy. You heard correctly. Despite our attempts to maintain an air of secrecy, word's gotten out. Information has been leaked to the public. Unconfirmed rumors about a robot working for Wordclay have been making headlines.

"I'm here not only to substantiate the story, but to introduce the robot that's stolen all our hearts here at mission control as well. "