Submissions are invited for the Science Fiction Writing Contest by Dyson Sphere. Submit your entries by August 31, 2023, and win exciting prizes!

About the Organiser

SciFidea is a sci-fi brand launched in Singapore. The Chief Editor Tang Feng and Senior Managing Editor Lynn Sun aim to encourage and develop science-fiction literature and help authors monetize their works. 

At present, SciFidea is committed to multiplying the medium of sci-fi works. 

In the future, SciFidea will have more exciting projects, developing new types of science-fiction media that showcase humanity’s technological potential.

Awards Criteria

  • The submitted works should be within the realm of science fiction and must show a new worldview that conforms with scientific logic. 
  • The work involves both the technical setting of the Dyson Sphere (overall structure, scale and size, construction materials and methods, etc.) and the ecological environment of the internal civilization (gravity changes, alternation of day and night, species distribution, etc.). 
  • The writing should be smooth, the imagination and speculation should be creative and novel, and the plot should convey a sense of wonder.

Requirements

Content Requirements

It needs to conform to the concepts and characteristics of Dyson Sphere scientific theory, including the uses, size, and structure of a Dyson sphere and other related basic settings, and reflect and expand them in the story. On this basis, we welcome the canons and content of various streams of technology that can be considered as topics which could be related to the “Dyson Sphere.” 

Word Requirements

30,000-100,000 words. Only finished stories will be accepted.

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Publication Right of the Works

Multiple works will be shortlisted for the ten grand prizes. If your work is shortlisted, you will be required to allow us to make it publicly and freely available on our website for a year. Those whose stories make the shortlist but don’t win will each receive US$2,000. 

Out of the shortlisted works, ten winners will be announced early in 2024. The authors of the ten winners will each receive US$20,000 (Rs. 16L+). 

If your work is one of those winners, you agree to grant SciFidea a ten-year publishing license to that work, with the US$20,000 prize being an advance against royalties. The author will share 50% of the net income on print publishing rights (including foreign languages in foreign countries), and another 30% of the net income from developing your work into other media (film, television, animation, graphic novels/manga, and so on). 

If the work has gone on to another phase within the ten-year time limit (for instance, being adapted into a film), the contract will automatically have a ten-year renewal from the ending date of the previous one. 

Please note that SciFidea is not only a publishing website or literature agency but an IP (Intellectual Property) producer per se.

How to Enter?

  • All entries must be original and written in English. 
  • E-mail submissions only. Send entries as .docx attachments to: scifidea[underscore]contest[at]col[dot]com.
  • Please include the following in the body of your email: The title of the work, The author’s name, address, and telephone number, The exact word-count.
  • The manuscript should be a .docx attachment, in standard manuscript format, and should be titled and numbered on every page, but the author’s name MUST BE DELETED to facilitate fair judging. 
  • At the very beginning of your manuscript (not in the body of the email, and not in a separate file), please include a couple of sentences summarizing your plot. 

Deadline for Submission

August 31, 2023, 11.59 PM UTC+8 (Singapore Time).

The Guest Jury’s Selection

  • The Guest Jury of the contest will select 10 winning works from the shortlisted works.
  • November 1 to December 1, 2023.

Announcement of Finalists

As the submissions keep coming, their editor team will keep reviewing the entries till October 31, 2023, when the shortlisted works will be announced.

Awards Ceremony

The results of this contest will be announced at the beginning of 2024.

Awards/Prizes

  • 10 SciFidea Awards, with a prize of $20,000 (Rs. 16L+) for each award-winning work.
  • All award-winning works will be recommended to be published and adapted to other art forms/media (such as animation or movies); some outstanding works will be translated into other languages and showcased in foreign countries.

Click here to read the official notification of the Science Fiction Writing Contest by Dyson Sphere [10 Prizes of Rs. 16L Each].

Image taken from here.