Twenty-seven days, 562 authors and over 4 lakh readers. From a unique and path-breaking online fiction contest emerged 21 writers for publishing an anthology of short stories – ‘21 Tales to Tell’. The Notion Press Social Short Story Contest 2014 brought together authors and readers, giving a new dimension to the ever evolving printed word.
Notion Press, a self-publishing platform, released this book containing the 21 winning entries of the contest, here on Saturday.
In this contest held in January, writers from all over India participated through Facebook. Readers awarded scores for each story and they were updated, before an expert panel chose the best stories. “Short stories limit you to a few words but the way they’re said is what creates the impact,” says Deepti Menon, one of the winners.
“The younger generation today doesn’t read or write full-fledged novels. Short stories have a better reach among the youth and adolescents,” says Naveen V, co-founder of Notion Press. Since its inception in 2012, Notion Press has published the works of 27 authors and even has a bestselling novel. “We have created this guided publishing platform to cater especially to authors wanting to publish their work for a niche audience,” adds Naveen.
Notion Press also announced the launch of a social short story publishing platform. “This platform is built with a lot of social connectivity and gamification features to help make stories go viral,” says Bhargava Adepally, co-founder and chief technology officer, Notion Press.
Books published by Notion Press are available for sale on the Notion Press website, Flipkart, Bookadda and Amazon in paperback and ebook versions.