Capstone

The Capstone for the Written Storytelling Certificate is original writing of any genre between 2,000-4,000 words, an excerpt to be read at the Storytelling Certificate Celebration. We encourage students to work on their Capstone throughout the duration of the Program. Once a student completes the Program, they may publish their Capstone in The Story Center anthology, Community Voices.

The Capstone for the Oral Storytelling Certificate is a 5-7-minute story to be performed at the Storytelling Certificate Celebration. We encourage students to work on their Capstone throughout the duration of the program.

Community Voices publishes Capstone projects from writers who have completed The Story Center’s Written Storytelling Certificate Program.

Once you complete the program requirements in the Storytelling Certificate Program, your Capstone should be submitted to Program Manager Melanie Pierce at mpierce@mymcpl.org. Capstones need to be in standard manuscript format: 12 pt. font, double-spaced, Times New Roman. The piece must be at least 2,000 words long.

Publication Manager Kyndall Tiller will contact you about publishing your Capstone in Community Voices. If you are submitting for publication, you will be asked to resubmit your work along with an author bio and introduction through a Submittable form.

Pieces published in Community Voices should be 2,000-4,000 words.

Your Capstone may be any genre: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, an excerpt from a longer work, etc. If you choose to submit an excerpt from a longer work, we encourage you to select an excerpt that can stand alone. You may include images (no more than three), but please note they will be printed in black and white.

Yes, The Story Center will hire a copy editor to edit your work. While it will be edited, we ask that you make sure that your piece is in the best condition possible with minimal typos. Please also note: a copy editor focuses on grammar only, and submissions are considered final. If you’re unsure about your content, we encourage you to work on your Capstone throughout the Storytelling Certificate Program.

If you are a writer featured in the anthology, you can order copies. Please contact the Publication Manager Kyndall Tiller at ktiller@mymcpl.org or (816)883-4774. There will also be a limited number of copies available at the edition’s book launch which takes place every June.

Each participant is featured once.

No, you do not have to publish your piece in Community Voices. You also have the option of deferring your submission and being included in the following year’s edition.

Yes, you as the author retain sole copyright of your piece as outlined in the retention of copyright statements below.  As the sole copyright holder, you are free to submit or publish the same work via other publication avenues.

The Author’s Retention of Copyright

The author is the sole copyright owner of the work and retains all rights to the work except for those expressly granted to Woodneath Press in this agreement. The work is defined as the author’s individual contribution and does not refer to the anthology as a whole. The author continues to be the sole owner of his or her own work, even after its publication in this anthology. Woodneath Press does not limit the author’s right to publish this work in any other format.

The Publisher’s retention of Collective Copyright

Woodneath Press is the sole copyright owner of the anthology as a collective work and retains all rights to the collective work therein. The collective work is defined as the complete anthology and does not refer to the author’s individual work. The collective work copyright will not limit or prevent the author’s rights to publish or profit from the work separate from the anthology except to the limited extent provided in this agreement.