_What is this?

A collection of posts and wisdom from the Black Library forums regarding the 6 monthly Black Library fiction contests.

_What contests?

There have been four to date. The first was known as "The Cold Hand of Betrayal", seeking stories set in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle world.

The next was "Tales From a Dark Millenium" set in the Warhammer 40k universe.

Then there was "Invasion!" set once again in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle world.

The current one - go here for the official link - is "PlanetKill" set in the Warhammer 40k universe. There's a pattern; I just can't put my finger on it...

_What is there to read?

1. A sample synopsis from a successful entry to the now defunct Inferno! magazine.
2. Note that Black Library have now put up some advice on what your synopsis should contain - here. Also note that the size of the synopsis has been halved to only 500 words.
3. Two sample synopses of my own, submitted for the "Tales From a Dark Millenium" competition. Both unsuccessful. The Killing and A Lure Diabolus. Both are also available as finished stories if you're interested - go here.
4. Several sample synopses of my own for the Planetkill competition. I submitted 10 synopses and made it through to the last 20, but did not make the cut for the final 6. Out of 600 entrants, that's not too bad ;-) Here is a link to 9 of my synopses with 1000-word writing samples. There is one story I did not have time to submit and you can read it here - The Last Stand.
5. An FAQ compiled from various posts.
6. A link to a thread containing some basic but excellent advice on what to do and what not to do.
7. The two threads regarding the competition at the BL Forums.
8. A background primer for the Warhammer Fantasy Battle world (available as a download only). This was compiled by Athelassan.
9. A link to a thread with synopses from "The Cold Hand of Betrayal" competition, including commentary and criticism. Note that these were all unsuccessful, so treat accordingly!.
10. The contest details.
11. Short-Story Competitions: Increasing Your Chances of Winning by Alex Keegan
12. A link to a thread with synopses from "Tales From a Dark Millenium" competition, including commentary and criticism. Note that these were all unsuccessful, so treat accordingly!
13. Some relevant entries from the FAQ put up for the "Tales From a Dark Millenium" competition by Christian Dunn. Bear in mind that this competition was for 40k, included specific categories (which "PlanetKill" does not) and had a very particular background and setting - the Dark Millenium card game - (which "PlanetKill" does not).
    
    I will keep these next ones here for now, although they relate only to WFB:-
    
14. A Brief Guide To The Old World at Games Workshop's site.
15. A map of the whole Warhammer world.
16. A colour map of the Old World, where Invasion! entries are to be set.
17. A great collection of maps, mostly in and around Bretonnia.

NOTE: This was posted by Matt Farrer on the Black Library forums on 18th Oct 2004

This is the first part of the submission for the story "Jahama's Lesson", which was published in INFERNO and subsequently in Way of the Dead. This is the synopsis part; the second part was an actual extract from the story, a page or so long, which I haven't included.

A few notes on this. Firstly, a spoiler warning for those of you who want to read the story first, since this gives the ending. (Yes, that's deliberate: put in the complete story, plot twists and all, don't hold anything back.) Secondly, yes, the story here is a little different to the one that appeared in the magazine. There were some alterations to the structure, with more switching back and forth between the two plot strands and less of the backstory I describe in the synopsis. Also, when I made the submission I didn't realise Helldrakes were sea creatures not flying ones, so the story was adjusted for that.

Most importantly for those of you looking for something to base your own synopses on, is that the BL likes a short "high concept" summary of the summary right at the start, maybe a couple of sentences or so to convey the narrative hook of the story. If I were submitting this now the first paragraph would be something like:

Overview: A slave raid led by a Dark Elf noble turns into catastrophe when the Assassin he thought he was sending on a suicide mission turns out not to appreciate being double-crossed.

With that, this was the submission I sent in.

Inferno! story synopsis - "Jahama's Lesson" (Warhammer Fantasy)

• Khreos Maledict, Duke of Clar Karond, Master of the Black Ark Exultation of Blighted Hope, is riding though the night over the coast of Bretonnia as his Black Ark waits out to sea under an enchanted fog. Riding with him, in a howdah mounted on a Helldrake, are his nephew, Khrait, a senior Witch Elf named Miharan and her protegé, an Assassin named Jahama.
• They are riding to a range of low hills halfway to the castle of the Duc D’Argent, a nobleman for whom the Dark Elves have a deep hatred. He’s been a thorn in Naggaroth’s side, winning a number of stinging victories against the Dark Elves and having the gall to launch an annual tournament in celebration of his success against them. There has been one such festival, and Khreos is here to make sure there is never another: to destroy the Duc on what would have been the eve of the second tourney will be fitting retribution for his insolence in standing up to the Dark Elves.
• There’s another agenda, too. A number of the major Dark Elf noble Houses have had their noses bloodied trying to bring the Duc to heel. The more nobles humiliate themselves by being defeated by him, the greater the prestige for the one who finally succeeds in capturing or killing him. Now Khreos has hatched a plan in co-operation with the Witch Elves that he is sure will bring him victory, prestige, and position at the Witch-King’s court.
• Jahama is one of the finest Assassins in the the Witch Elves’ stable. Instead of simply marching on the Duc’s castle, Khreos will send Jahama ahead of his force, to slip into the castle with magical aid and move through it in the dead of night butchering the sleeping warriors within. By the time Khreos and Miharan lead their forces to the castle at dawn, the resistance will have been gutted, the Duc drugged and captured and the would-be tourney-goers ready to be rounded up as sacrifices and slaves.
• What Duke Khreos hasn’t mentioned is that this is a suicide mission. He has no intention at all of allowing the Assassin and his Witch Elf controllers to share any of the glory that will come with finally bringing the Duc down. The castle is much more heavily-defended than Khreos has let on, and although he expects Jahama to do a great deal of damage he also expects him to die. Jahama and Miharan are unaware that they are Khreos’ expendable pawns.
• The sentry on the castle walls hasn’t a chance, falling without even seeing what killed him. Jahama slips into the castle like a shadow… but as he moves through the halls, his choice of targets is nothing short of bizarre. A couple of servants, a squire, an elderly Knight long past his fighting days, with easy kills on good targets passed up. Finally, Jahama makes one bungle too many and the hue and cry begins. At the gates there’s a tense, fierce fight with the garrison, and as Jahama cuts his last opponent down and slips away into the night a folded paper is dislodged from his belt. It’s a map, showing his way to his rendezvous point! Is he trying to lure the Duc into a trap?
• No, the trap isn’t for the Duc. The story ends at the rendezvous, about two hours after dawn. The enraged Bretonnians rode out in force as soon as they realised what the map was, and caught Khreos utterly unprepared: dead Dark Elves pile the road, and Jahama finds the dying Khreos crawling away from his dead Cold One. Jahama explains with relish his lesson for Khreos: an Assassin, of all people, knows a suicide mission when he sees one. He and Miharan had seen through Khreos’ clumsy double-cross from the beginning, and decided to play along until they could retaliate in the most devastating way. And with that Jahama sets off, alone but satisfied, to the bay where a boat to the Black Ark will be waiting.

Q: Do Black Libary want to know the ending?

A: (by Matt Farrer) "They most certainly do. One thing that really ****es them off is submissions that leave out the ending.

Think of the synopsis as a full engineering blueprint of your story. The BL want to look at all aspects of it to see how each component fits together, how the parts move, what happens when you fire it up. They need to see everything in the story to be able to do that, especially the ending.

I usually include a page to a page and a half from the story as a sample along with the synopsis. There are no hard and fast rules as to which bit of the story this has to be from - my choice tends to be either the bit that I feel is the strongest and most interesting part of the text; the part that contains a crucial development, character insight or plot moment; a bit of the story that I'm not sure the synopsis does justice to and that I want them to see written out; or, of course, the bit that I actually happen to have written at the time I send in the sub "

A: (by kaushik) "The first time I sent a story, it was automatically rejected because it wasn't in the proper format. So what is the proper format? Read on ...

Your synopsis should be between 1000-1500 words. It should comprise: a) one para on the story; b) one paragraph on the author's motivation, comments, inspirations (see below) etc; c) sketches of the characters appearing in the story, and d) a point-by-action-point summary of the story.

In d), you break down the story into bullet-points, arranged in chronological order. Example:

• Arthur Dent confronts the bureaucrats who have come to demolish his house.
• Dent lies in front of the bull-dozer.
• Argument ensues.
• Ford Prefect turns up and convinces Dent to go to a pub because he has something very important to tell him.
• The Vogons arrive ... and so on [The first chapter of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.]

It's extremely important that you give the complete resolution of the plot in your synopsis. remember, BL is the publisher, not the reader. There's no easier way to get rejected than telling the publisher that you'll give him the cool twist in the end only if they give you the advance first. So, if you want to make your readers gasp with horror because the charming planetary governor is revealed as a chaos demon on the final page of your short story, you're welcome; just don't try surprising the editor/publisher – they will probably snort in disgust and press shift+delete.

Finally, include your writing samples: the first few paras from the story, and/or any other writing. These are to reassure the editors that you can write what they want, i.e. all-action mayhem.

Please include your name, contact details and title of the story.

These tips on formatting the synopsis are courtesy Rik Cooper, administratum-adept at the BL"

Q: "b) one paragraph on the author's motivation, comments, inspirations etc" Do the BL actually want this? I can see no possible use for it.

A: (by Narrativium) I think that depends on what you mean by motivation, inspiration and comments. If it means "I want to be a writer/be famous/have my name on something/get money", yeah, it's pointless. If it's "I want to write a story in which commissars match their background, treating their troops like the cannon-fodder they are", or something along those lines, then maybe they have a point.

Q: Can I submit more than one entry?

A: (by Rik Cooper) Yes.

THE BLACK LIBRARY WARHAMMER SHORT STORY COMPETITION

The Black Library is looking for submissions for our new Warhammer 40, 000 anthology, ‘Planetkill’. All of the stories in this anthology must be written around the theme of wholesale planetary destruction! The more imaginative the better – your story doesn’t have to be straightforward: it could be set before, during or even after a planet has been destroyed, feature the Imperial Navy, Imperial Guard, Adeptus Astartes or be about anyone or anything that fits into this theme. We’re only looking for stories set in the current Warhammer 40,000 timeline, so please don’t set your story during the Horus Heresy or the Age of Apostasy for example. Any entries that do not fit into this category will be disqualified.

Would-be authors are invited to submit a synopsis of no more than 500 words along with a writing sample of between 500 and 1,000 words for consideration by a panel of Black Library editors. Any synopses we deem of a publishable standard will then move forward to the second stage of the competition where the author will be expected to write a short story of no more than 7,000 words. Any stories we deem worthy of publication after this stage of the competition will appear in ‘Planetkill’ and the author will be paid for his or her work at the standard Black Library short story page rate.

Entries for the competition will only be accepted through this online form and the deadline for synopses is midnight Monday 21st May 2007. No feedback will be given on unsuccessful entries. Successful authors will be notified within four weeks of this date and given a further four weeks to turn their synopsis into a full 7,000 word manuscript. The winning entries will then be chosen from these completed stories.

Rules and regulations

1. Unfortunately, entries cannot be returned.
2. Successful entrants will be notified via e-mail no later than four weeks after the closing date. Unsuccessful entrants will not be notified and any e-mails received by us enquiring about the status of entries or asking for feedback on a specific submission will not receive a reply from BL Publishing or its representatives.
3. The deadline for entries is midnight Monday 21st May 2007.
4. Authors who successfully get through the first stage of the competition will be given a period of no more than four weeks to produce a full 7,000 word manuscript of their short story.
5. Manuscripts accepted for publication will be paid for at the standard Black Library short story rate – 3 pence per published word. We will also supply you with three free copies of the anthology. All published stories become the property of Games Workshop Ltd. to use in any way they see fit.
6. Only entries received through the proper submissions process (detailed above) will be considered. Any entries deemed incomplete, inappropriate and/or offensive will be disqualified.
7. We will not make any judgements based upon age, sex or level of writing experience. We are looking for great writing that is true to the Warhammer world.
8. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
9. All entries must be in English.

NOTE: This FAQ was for a previous competition, not for "Invasion!"

Q: To what extent does the ‘never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue’ apply, can you use other words if sparingly, or not say anything to carry the dialogue and leave it as it is (as long as it is clear who is speaking obviously)?
A: A skilled writer will make it apparent from the narration exactly how a line of dialogue is delivered. If an argument between two characters is described as ‘heated’ then it’s a safe bet that any dialogue between those characters will be ‘shouted’, ‘said angrily’ or ‘said in a raised tone’ without the author having to spell it out to the reader. If information is redundant or duplicated then don’t convey it to the reader. If it’s one of those situations where no matter how skilled a writer you are you still cannot convey the exact inflection of a character’s voice then feel free to add a verb. No more than one though.

Q: How much invention can writers show in their stories? Can we fill in the details with all manner of weird and wonderful things?
A: You can invent anything you like as long as it remains true to the spirit and style of Warhammer 40,000 but why would you need to? If you have an idea for an Imperial Guard vs Orks story that involves talking trees then that’s just a weird SF story with some 40K elements thrown in. The Warhammer 40,000 universe is so vast and rich that the only things you should be inventing are things that, by necessity, aren’t covered by the background of the tabletop game. For instance, the Hyrusian Imperial Guard regiment might refer to the spade that comes as part of their kit as a digging tool because their language has no word that literally means spade. This is acceptable invention within the context of a short story. Having elite units of Hyrusians riding around on orange war hippos armed with custard launchers isn’t acceptable invention.

Q: ‘Easy on the Hooptedoodle’ says to avoid detailed description of characters. Is this a writing tip or an indication that we shouldn't attempt to describe the characters we know of in the conflict?
A: Both.

Q: Can you do a story not revolving around a battle between various forces, for example a more horror/mystery type story?
A: Dark Millennium is a card game that uses a WAR in the Pyrus Reach as its backdrop. It is in turn the based upon the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop WARgame. Draw your own conclusions about the kind of stories we’re looking for.

Q: Oh, and perhaps the most important question for me (schaferlord). Is it ok to have a narrative voice poking fun and making witty asides about what's happening in the story?
A: I’m not sure how you’ll be able to do this and still retain a suitably 40K tone to the story but feel free to try.

Q: How much will it cost to bribe the judges?
A: A lot more than a mere box of chocolates, my friend.

Q: When will this torment end?
A: You really should have read the small print when you agreed to the terms and conditions for entering this competition. Your torment will end when one or more of the following conditions are met: man sets foot on Saturn, Elvis is elected president of the USA or a Briton wins Wimbledon. Until then you are our meat puppet to torment as we see fit.