And at last, winners of the Short Story Contest

[Drum roll]
[Drum roll]
[Cymbals]

Before knowing the winners and going on to the rest of the article, we would like to thank you all who participated for your efforts. First and most importantly, to the writers who have contributed 82 stories for the contest. There are people who don't always appreciate the hard work that goes into writing a good story in just a few words, and even more so when it's about one of our Characters =P, but we know that's it's not an easy task. Secondly, to Bubok for collaborating with us to give you this contest. And thirdly, to all our readers who dedicated their time to read and rate the stories. THANK YOU EVERYBOBY!!

So, without further ado, as we're sure you're all thinking we're being pestilential, we shall list aaaaaaaaaall of the winners. We have chosen 7 stories amidst the preselected 25, as well as the 3 voted most popular:

- Antonio Alarcón ::: Hikiko Ghost & Hikiko Goblins. Read Story.
- Andrés Fernández ::: Gustavo de los brazos largos. Read Story.
- Edgarin ::: Menudo, el pirata borracho. Read Story.
- Laura Nicte ::: La Muerte. Read Story.
- Miguel Ángel López Matamoros ::: Abram, el nuevo conde de los vampiros. Leer Relato.
- Ricardo Rey Pena ::: Carlitos Caos Begins. Read Story.
- Rubén Hurtado ::: Menudo, el pirata borracho. Read Story.

At first we had the in mind preparing this book with only 10 short stories, buuuut, at the request of Bubok, we're going to include 5 more that were not preselected that, in their opinion, deserve their place in the book. And we have to say that we agree:

- R.G. Cárdenas ::: Coconut Case. Read Story.
- Juan Carlos Carvajal ::: La Formula de Hikiko. Read Story.
- Margarita Nora ::: Invasores. Rumbo al planeta Uno. Read Story.
- Ana Iglesias Sánchez ::: Perrito malo. Read Story.
- Daniel Gallego Vico ::: Un día más. Read Story.

Congratulations to all those selected! And for those of you who weren't chosen, if you are asking yourselves why them and not me, we'll tell you that we took into account the basic things like if it was well written, even if not perfect, and that it proved to be entertaining, and also other things that in any other contest they wouldn't took into account, like the coherency of the original character story, and the variety in the book, so the same Character isn't features 10 times. Nevertheless, these types of decisions are very subjective and we're not always able to argue the case logically. We just know that the ones we have chosen we liked very much.

And just as a reminder, each winning writer will receive the following prizes:

Sólo a modo de recordatorio, cada escritor recibirá por cada relato ganador los siguientes premios:

- Publication of the story in the book alongside your name. Remember that it will be before the 1st December
- Tolky Monkys voucher with a value of 60€
- 1 copy of the book including your story, courtesy of Bubok.
- Promotion and publicity by Bubok and Tolky Monkys with the tools at your fingertips.

The book and certificate will be sent before the 10th December. Now it's just a matter of revising the stories on behalf of bubok and the readers, in case there's something that needs to be tweaked, illustrate them, do the book's layout and design the front cover, next to nothing!

We'll keep you informed of any news, See you soon!

20 stories received and 9 remaining days to send in yours

As the majority of you who read this blog will probably know, on the 3rd of September we launched with Bubok, a platform of free books auto-publication, the first edition of the Tolky Monkys Short Story Contest. The goal is to publish a book at Christmas with short stories and illustrations of our Characters. Sweet, right?

18 days into the contest and 9 days to close, the time has come to make a first evaluation. For now, we have received 20 short stories of good quality, although we're very aware that “Spain is different” and that the server will be filling up in the last couple of days ;] How do we know this? It's easy, because up until now there have been more than 800 people who have read the rules and have been interested in our Characters for the contest. The truth is, we're really looking forward to choosing the winners, so we can start illustrating the book. It's going to be incredible!!

If you're still mulling over the idea of participating, stop mulling and go ahead. Better to think about a story idea instead of weather or not to participate ;] Like our grandparents always told us: “It's better late than never”. Publishing a book this Christmas with drawings of our Tolky Monkys Characters is definitely a good thing. Don´t wait more! ;]

Remember, you have until the night of September the 30th to present your story. You can upload it to Bubok or send it to info[at]tolkymonkys[dot]com. In this sense, and since we've been getting a lot of questions, we've created a little manual in which we explain the steps you should follow when uploading your story to Bubok so you can enter it in the contest:

Download the manual to publish the story [Only in Spanish]

And if you need to refresh your memory, visit contest section to better inform yourselves [Only in Spanish]:

See Contest Rules | See Characters availables for the Contest
Visit the Bubok blog | Know Bubok

A few tips for writing Short Stories

As you already know, a couple of days ago we launched the first of our Short Story Contests with the help of Bubok. Since we are well aware that writing is a difficult task - especially the starting-off stage and facing that damn blank paper - and that some of you will have doubts about the key points, here we will copy some advice that our fellow bubokeers have posted on their blog.

1. Think of an idea and build the plot up around it. Outline the action:
> Beginning. Capture the readers' interest.
> Plot
> Ending. The finale is very important. It ought to be surprising.

2. Keep the plot well strung together.
3. Stay away from rhetoric and digression. Keep to the point!
4. Instead of explaining things in detail, play around with subtle suggestions.
5. Keep the narration interesting at all times.
6. Add an adjective only to the indispensable.
7. Stay away from periphrasing and circumlocution. (don't beat around the bush)
8. Choose adequate words. (There's nothing wrong with relying on an online dictionary http://www.rae.es/rae.html)
9. Avoid cacophonies and repetitions.
10. Find inspiration in the physical traits of the character that you have chosen, to work on their psychological characteristics and personality.
11. Don't explain, allow your character to do it.

We hope that these little literary tips help you achieve a better story for the Character that you like the most. You all know that you can write to us or leave a comment at any time ;]

See the Characters for the Contests
See the Complete Rules

Short Story Contest Tolky Monkys – Bubok ::: 1st Edition

Hello again! We hope you've all gained strength this summer and that the holidays have served to recharge your creative batteries to the max!

A few days ago we started off backing up the Twestival Madrid, so today we announce our decision to publish a book for Christmas with stories and illustrations of our Characters.

With this goal in mind, we're launching a short story contest with a hand from Bubok, a platform of free autopublication, where anyone can be their own Editor and make their dream of publishing a book come true, written with his own hand. Yes, you read correct, A-N-Y-O-N-E can do this. And why with these guys? Because they have a fantastic community of writers and because once written, illustrated and printed into a demo, the book can be put up for sale directly on the it's site. So the question really ought to be: With who, if not them?

All of you who wish to participate have from the 2nd till the 30th of September to dust off your quills and write a story about one of our Characters available for the contest. But bear in mind that not all of them are available for this one. We've selected 15 of them [See list of Characters for the Contest].

A few basic things you will need to take into account before rushing off to write, which are: The number of words should be between 650 and 800, not including the title. There is a maximum of 3 stories per writer and never using more than one Character per story, although you may invent secondary characters if you wish. And one very important thing: be consistent in the existing story of your chosen Characcter. Lastly, to send in the short story, you will have to register at Bubok and upload the story with the name "Concurso Relatos Cortos Tolky Monkys Bubok" [See complete Rules for the Contest].

Out of all the stories we receive, on the 14th of October we will upload the preselection from 25 stories to Facebook so that EVERYONE can vote for them. On the 21st of October the voting will be closed. The three most-voted stories will be included in our book as “The Public's Favourites” and we will chose between 7 and 12 stories to include in it also. In total, we are counting on 10 to 15 stories for this publication.

As prizes, per each winning story, the author will receive:

- Publication of their story alongside name and surname, or pseudonym.
- Tolky Monkys Gift Certificate of 60€, exchangeable for any product of our on-line store.
- A copy of the book, printed and mailed to your home by courtesy of Bubok.
- Promotion and publicity by Bubok and Tolky Monkys in all media at our disposal: Blog, Facebook, Shops, Press releases, etc.

If this has piqued your curiosity and you would like to enter, don't wait another minute to start writing because time has started to fly since the moment we published this post ;] And of course,before you do a thing visit the info section of the contest:

NOTE: This first edition is only for spanish speaking writers. Sorry... =(

See Rules of Contest | See Available Characters
Visit Bubok Blog | Discover Bubok