What is TEAM PYP? It's Port Yonder Press' free short story mentored writing program for select applicants and geared to the mainstream market.
The logistics - This, our flagship year, we chose 7 teams. Next year, we'll limit our teams to 3, or possibly 4, at most (with 1 likely being for teen writers). You can find the specific guidelines here and initial 2012-2013 considerations are here. For more information or to apply for a spot on next year's teams, send your questions or a short writing bio to: teampyp@portyonderpress.com.
The judging - For final calculations, judging was blind – stories were sent to judges without author names attached, and most went through at least 2 judges, if not 3. In fact, I choose people as judges who I felt would be impartial and trustworthy.
The best stories contained these elements: imagination, interest, emotion, movement (either internal, external, or both), well-handled conflict, readability/flow, and all the usual writing skills such as strong characters, grammar, description, setting, dialog.
The logistics - This, our flagship year, we chose 7 teams. Next year, we'll limit our teams to 3, or possibly 4, at most (with 1 likely being for teen writers). You can find the specific guidelines here and initial 2012-2013 considerations are here. For more information or to apply for a spot on next year's teams, send your questions or a short writing bio to: teampyp@portyonderpress.com.
The judging - For final calculations, judging was blind – stories were sent to judges without author names attached, and most went through at least 2 judges, if not 3. In fact, I choose people as judges who I felt would be impartial and trustworthy.
The best stories contained these elements: imagination, interest, emotion, movement (either internal, external, or both), well-handled conflict, readability/flow, and all the usual writing skills such as strong characters, grammar, description, setting, dialog.
2011-2012 - 2nd Quarter 2nd quarter – October through December – word count: 2500 words (or less) in a genre of choice (no erotica) Based on the recommendations of our judges, and having given a fair accounting to each story, these are the results of both the General Fiction category and the [new] Speculative Fiction category, with an additional single selection added out of necessity. We've also included a few especially notable stories that didn't happen to place this time. Every story showed merit. If you didn't happen to win, please don't feel bad; the competition was amazingly tough this time. Dig in and do it for next time! (Due to the extra categories this time, I've left out judges' comments and excerpts. Feel free to contact the winners for that information.) WORDS FROM OUR JUDGES ON THIS QUARTER'S STORIES: "The lit stories were tough to judge. The top three actually tied in my opinion." "Your students have really grown a lot [this quarter].""Your stories are much improved from last time and I had a very hard time deciding ..." "I was happy to see how well done these were written. Very entertaining and enjoyable. I know short stories are notoriously hard to do well ...these were well done. [I looked at] writing skill and the ability to keep everything contained and clear, yet entertaining. I looked for a smooth flowing plot, clear dialog and character interaction, good description and a lack of flyaway bits that would leave readers confused rather than intrigued." "They were very well written, and attention-getting." TEAM PYP SECOND QUARTER SHORT STORY WINNERS GENERAL FICTION 
We had a TIE FOR FIRST in this category:
Christie's Dilemma by Jan Lazo-Davis (Team Voortrekker, Mentor Suzanne Hartmann) & The Deal by Jennifer Fromke (Team VeldtRunner, Mentor CathiLyn Dyck) 
Black Lungs by Diane Tarantini (Team Nautilus, Mentors Chila Woychik & Glynda Francis) (article already sold to a publisher for inclusion in an anthology) 
Enemy At Home by Barbara Hartzler (Team Precedent, Mentor Grace Bridges) TEAM PYP SECOND QUARTER SHORT STORY WINNERS SPECULATIVE FICTION 
Beans, Murder, Beans by Grace Bridges (Team Accolade, Mentor Gray Rinehart) 
Love That Binds by Jessica Thomas (Team Accolade, Mentor Gray Rinehart) 
We also had a THIRD PLACE TIE:
Femme Fatale by Linda Burklin (Team Nautilus, Mentors Chila Woychik & Glynda Francis) & Sweet Victory by Will Ramirez (Team VoorTrekker, Mentor Suzanne Hartmann) SPECIAL AWARD
Overall most inventive and unique Girls' Day Out by Dan T. Davis (Team Accolade, Mentor Gray Rinehart) This very different story was judged as "cute, light, and fun," with "interesting concepts and a well developed plot." It was without a doubt the most contemporary and potentially one of the most salable stories of the quarter, in my opinion, given the right speculative market. ~Ed. HONORABLE MENTIONS
Two others were very close but didn't quite place. Liberty Speidel's CSI Effect (Team Precedent, Mentor Grace Bridges), which I believe has already caught the eye of an editor, and Heidi Kortman's Bringing Granny Home (Team Precedent, Mentor Grace Bridges) which was lauded as a "humorous" and "charming" story. | 2011-2012 - 1st Quarter 1st quarter - July through September- word count: 1000 words (or less) in a genre of choice (no erotica) And now, considering the input of those judges, I’ve tallied the results and come up with the following list, along with select judges’ comments. Let me also mention that coming to a final conclusion was no easy task. Each story has merit, and each is ready to garner some measure of success in the writing world, today. Our job was to try and pick the very best of the bunch, the shiniest apples in the bushel of tasty fruit.1 TEAM PYP FIRST QUARTER SHORT STORY WINNERS 
Hot Toddy by Jennifer Fromke
(Team VeldtRunner, Mentor CathiLyn Dyck) “a strong story” “very entertaining” “understated” An excerpt: Why would Griff be up at this hour? She blushed from her forehead down to her pounding heart. The same could be asked of her. The soft click of the door closing was the only sound she’d made. Had he been awake the whole time? Would he glance this way? She pulled the edges of her robe together over her heart and held her breath…. 
Tinges by Barbara Hartzler (Team Precedent, Mentor Grace Bridges) “suspense from the git-go” “a growing uncertainty” “uncanny ending” An excerpt: Not that awful snow again. They appeared on a gray-green cobblestone street at the edge of a stone-walled village. This night sky was dark emerald instead of yellow-brown this time. “Quick. Get out of sight.” Dylan dragged the group across the mossy stones. Emma tried to avoid the puddles, but there were too many. Her flats felt like galoshes…. 
Unquiet Personality by Grace Bridges (Team Accolade, Mentor Gray Rinehart) “a clean-cut, strong, unique story” “good descriptions” “witty use of personality traits” An excerpt: Yet another thunderclap boomed overhead, and all the lights went out before coming back on one at a time. Ellie frowned. Maybe the lightning was somehow affecting the house wiring. But the whir of the dishwasher continued unabated from the kitchen. Opening a new browser tab besides Mandy’s page and the personality descriptions, she then googled and selected a local electrician at random…. HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order) Switched by Cindy Smith (Team Outsail, Mentor Lisa Lickel) - “well crafted” “very original” “Excellent use of quite ordinary language to create threat by the antagonist.” The Ferris Wheel by Dan Davis (Team Accolade, Mentor Gray Rinehart) – “strong story” “real emotion” “out of genre for him, a plus” A Cure For Every Disease by Jessica Thomas (Team Accolade, Mentor Gray Rinehart) – “a good job of conveying close POV” And finally, I’d also like to put in a plug for J. L. Rowan’s A Brief Candle which, I feel, handled medieval fantasy action quite well. One judge said it this way: “Good use of sentence length to drive tension in the battle scene …” Congratulations to all of you! Our up-to-2500 word 2nd quarter has begun! Dig in with your mentor and let’s kick it up a notch. I’m sure the stories will shine – can’t wait! *** Now the stories are sent out to first one magazine and then another. Again, we’re aiming for the highest ranking general (*not* religious) markets we can find. When a story comes back marked “unable to use at the present time,” it goes out again, to another high ranking market. We work from the top down, and we won’t stop for yellow lights. :) I’ve had the honor of working with both mentors and authors for the past 3 months in this endeavor. I truly love what I’m seeing here. And I can’t emphasize enough what a tough time we had picking those listed out of the line-up; some simply resonated with the judges more than others. What a great 1st quarter, teams – onward! ~Chila |
