Application

All application materials must be submitted by March 1, 2008.

The application deadline for 2008 has come and gone. The application will be back in August for Alpha 2009.

Admissions Decisions for Alpha 2008 have gone out. If you applied to Alpha and have not received your admissions decision please contact us.

How to apply:

1. Fill out the online application form.

If someone other than you will be paying your Alpha tuition, please let them know that you are applying to Alpha at the time of application and not when the tuition has come due.

Important note: a limited pool of scholarship funding is available for Alpha applicants. If the possibility of a full or partial scholarship would make the difference between being able to attend Alpha and not attending, then applicants are encouraged to inquire about a scholarship. Asking for a scholarship will have no effect on your chances of admission, but in order to receive a scholarship, you must make the request in the appropriate section on the application form.

2. Send in the application fee ($10.00 USD).

The application fee may be sent either by cheque, made payable to “Alpha” in U.S. Dollars, and sent to the following address:

Alpha, the SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers
P.O. Box 3681
Pittsburgh, PA 15230-3681

or electronically via PayPal by clicking on this button:

Do not include any payment for the workshop until you have been notified of your acceptance.

3. Submit one original SF, fantasy or horror short story between 2000 and 6000 words.

You may not submit fan fiction (fiction using existing characters or creations) or an excerpt from a longer work - you must submit a complete, original short story.

All submitted stories must be:

E-mail your story to story-submit@spellcaster.org.

How do I know whether my [fill in the blank] arrived safely?

If something arrives over a weekend, or a holiday, you may not receive an immediate response but you will receive a timely response for all stages of the application process. Including, but not limited to:

All confirmations are sent via email. Therefore, it is critical that you enter your email address correctly and that you can reliably receive email at the supplied address. We strongly suggest that the email account used is not one that is shared between friends or family members. We’ve had problems more than once with email addresses that are shared by more than one person where mail never made it to the intended recipient. If you sent something in and more than a day or two has gone by without a response (excluding weekends and holidays), please feel free to contact us.

We will notify people of their acceptance by April 15 (by e-mail, unless otherwise specified).

Questions? E-mail us at alpha@spellcaster.org.