I found a contest that one publisher just started. Create a short story in topic "modern fairy tale for adults". I would like to, but I'm not exactly sure what is it about..? Last year I were disqualified for writing a porn instead of erotic tale.
Yeah, don't you just love when someone tosses out a word like adult after people have been clouding it's meaning for years by linking it with porn. Lol. They probably mean giving the fairy tales a grown up kick - there's actually an anthology of fairy tales turned into crime stories -called Once Upon a Crime. They probably want something like that - something sexy but not sexual, or a thriller, horror or crime story.
Yeah, its like I'm living in different world or something So the fairy tale where strange things happens to adult people, how about that? Because I'm not sure about crime or horror, they would just say crime or horror.
Yes, that could probably work -and if all else fails email the contest people and ask them if they have any story samples of what they're looking for.
Teodor, I'm not sure which publishing company you are looking at but just in case ... I found this site online that talks about what to look out for ... http://blog.winepresspublishing.com/2011/04/why-you-should-avoid-book-publishing-contests/ Not trying to burst anyone's bubble but I don't want anyone to be caught unawares either. If it's legit, good luck with your story!
Drusy, its like the biggest publisher in the Czech Republic and I don't think its benefiting them in any way, because last year's book of five most succesfull stories just didn't sell. So for this year they plan to release just ebook. Well, I personally think that winner stories were all crap, so I don't wonder about the success of their policy. They don't respond to my email and are quite puzzled on discussion forums how to explain that topic. One guy tells "Its like some of last Harry Potter movies or "Mirror Mirror", basically you can count on all animated movies like fairy tales for adults - Tim Burton's Death Bride etc" So that probably settles the area. I wanted to write about one lazy guy that wins lifetime supply of energy drinks and that totally turn's his life. So I would probably do wrong thing again
That it's a big publisher is good ... I love fairytales, I could go into the evolution of them but we will skip the history lesson. Technically, fairytales, folklore and mythology are all different but, anymore, they have become jumbled together in most popular writing and films. In reality, Harry Potter is not technically a fairytale (according to the school of thought that I adhere to). "Mirror Mirror" is a fairytale - or a remake of one anyways. It was horrible. I couldn't get through the first fifteen minutes of the film. It's true that the best person to tell you what they are looking for are the publishers but I would imagine that they are looking for a book written for adults (so the MC is probably an adult as well) and there would be elements of magic, fantastical creatures and objects that have supernatural qualities (like enchanted swords, magical spears, etc.) They want it to be modern so things would be updated. Plumbing, A/C, internet - these would all be present. Cell phones ... you get the idea. Throw in a romantic love interest, a dangerous dark wizard somewhere and that's the basics. Think Artemis Fowl at age 30. (If you haven't read it - Artemis Fowl is a YA series by Eoin Colfer and is a modern fairy tale for YA.) Just to be safe - you might want to throw in a few actual fairies. So, based soley on the premise you gave us, no - it's not a modern day fairy tale. But if you have the guy get a wish from a magical being where he asks for unlimited energy for the rest of his life and they give him a lifetime of energy drinks - that changes things. Hope this helps!
There's a new movie out (or coming out soon maybe) about Hansel and Gretel. It looks like it's sort of an adult version of the Hansel and Gretel story. It's scarier, there's a lot of violence and more adult themes. Basically just an R-rated version of a G-rated story. Could that be what they're looking for?
Thanks for help, Drusy. I don't want to look like retard on their forums I read Artemis Fowl few pages and throw it away. I should have to suppress my ego once and read a whole thing. Everybody is mentioning that guy
A few years ago the BBC did modern re-telling of Shakespeare stories (one of them stared Billie Piper). They were set in modern day. The characters had the same names but jobs were obviously different, and the themes were the same, but I didn't recognise some of the stories. Fairy tales are pretty scary to begin with. I would suggest taking the basic elements of one and playing with it.
That's a very good point - television is doing a lot with remakes lately ... Grimm and Once Upon a Time would both be current television shows (still in production) that are perfect examples of updated fairytales.
If they mention the upcoming Hansel and Gretel movie as an example of an adult fairytale, for their competition you could probably just get away with writing fantasy in a modern setting. That movie just looks like action-adventures with characters from a fairytale, not the same thing as a fairytale. When someone says adult fairytales they generally just mean add sex and/or violence to a fairytale. Which I personally find very annoying. It can be done without, but it generally flops with most people(Poor Lady in the Water).
just don't enter any contest that makes you pay an entry fee... most of those that do are scams and/or the prize doesn't justify the fee...
