Gather.com – THE ‘gathering place’ for authors and publishers to share their work with an interested, informed, and engaged audience -- has announced its first short fiction competition. Entries not to exceed 3000 words are due by January 15, 2006; the winner will be announced in early February.

The winning story will be reviewed by Houghton Mifflin’s in-house editor for “The Best American Short Stories” series and will be featured on Gather.com and VoidMagazine.com. The winner also will receive a cash prize, a selection of best-selling titles from Houghton Mifflin (including the “Best American” 2005 series), and a subscription to the “Believer” literary magazine. All contest entries will be published on Gather.com, and the authors can invite their friends and families to read the submissions.

There is no contest entry fee. Entries must be in English, original, unpublished and not submitted elsewhere until winners are announced. Details at http://fictioncontest.gather.com