Open Novella Journal 2024

Round 1

Congrats to those who passed round one.

Now, I don't know the number of people who got nixed from the contest, but I do know there are around 700-750 stories that passed the first round, give or take, which I was expecting given the number of stories tagged #onc2024 currently sits at around 640.

All of my entries passed, meaning I managed to fill out the form correctly for all nine of my entries.

As for entries nixed, the only ones that I've read for this year that have been nixed were from a young writer who thought ONC was a great way to get their already existing kind of work out there which in turn would actually be two of the stories under the #onc2024 tag, but there's also under that tag works like my journal here.

The importance behind the number of entries each year, though, lies in the fact the number of stories that make it through the second and third rounds depends on the total number of stories submitted for each round. The less, the less that make it through each round.

Which, yeah, there was at least one person last year who wasn't super thrilled at some of us having multiple entries for ONC, me being one such individual with multiple stories; they thought others having multiple entries decreased their chances of moving forward in a round when in reality the higher number actually increases everyone's chances overall. Making the longlist is a hit or miss for my stories, but I've only ever been shortlisted once - last year.

The irony of their complaint was they were eliminated during the first round, the easiest round in ONC to pass, as qualification is the key to passing, whereas scoring factors into the second and third rounds.

Anyways, good luck to those still in, although good luck to those who aren't as you still should aim for those milestone stickers.