Since 2008, Broken Pencil: the magazine of zine culture and the independent arts, has been running the world’s most audacious short story contest — The Indie Writers’ Deathmatch Short Story Contest.
“This is definitely not a contest for sensitive writer types. If you can’t handle the thought of your short story being smacked down by online voters, then you’ll want to stay well clear of this one. Think Literary Survivor. On an island. Surrounded by a sea of sharks.”
– Jennifer Moss, The Vancouver Sun
For 2020, we decided to try something different… The Indie Illustrator’s Deathmatch! We’re continuing to switch it up and are introducing something new for 2021.
Broken Pencil presents the Zinesters Deathmatch!
Entrants all create a storyboard of a zine idea and create a zine cover. The top 16 are selected to battle it out in our online arena. The top 10 zine ideas go on to the next round and create the zine itself. This continues until a winner is crowned by our readers! (Four rounds in total.) With thousands of votes cast each year, the Deathmatch is a high-stakes struggle for artistic bragging rights! Complete rules are here.
Fame, Fortune & More
The winners and runners-up get published in Broken Pencil Magazine, plus cash prizes of up to $500 and BP prize packs. The ultimate winner also gets an in-depth consultation with the BP staff about their career, plus their zine featured in Broken Pencil Magazine.
Enter … If You Dare
The 2021 Zinesters Deathmatch is now open! Deadline to enter is December 31, 2021. Click HERE to enter.
If you have questions about Deathmatch, email our fiction editor at [email protected].