The top five finalists will be published in an upcoming issue of Digital Americana, but the winner gets a very unique prize. Not only will that story receive publication, but it will also be turned into a short literary film by the Digital Americana creative team. Check out the video for last year’s winner, “It Was Time To Escape Again.”

Digital Americana is also proud to announce that this year’s guest judge is Adam Cushman of Red14Films, a film production company that specializes in book trailers and other literary-to-film adaptations.

The deadline for entries is December 1, 2013. All entries must be unpublished, original creative flash fiction that is up to 501 words in length. There are no other restrictions, including genre.

For more information, visit Digital Americana’s contest page here.

Described as “entirely revolutionary” by WIRED, “The Silent History” tells the story of a generation of children who were born without the ability to create or comprehend language. Digital Americana chose the novella for its innovation in the field of digital publishing. The creators of “The Silent History” received $500 and an elegantly engraved crystal award from Digital Americana upon receiving the honor.

“Telling stories on multiple platforms is a tremendously exciting discipline. ‘The Silent History’ exemplifies all that is possible when you combine literary excellence with the latest technology,” said Tony Fasciano, editor in chief of Digital Americana. “We are very pleased to give this award to the creators of this innovative piece of work.”

Digital Americana is a literary journal with a state-of-the-art publishing mindset, dedicated to showcasing a modern American sensibility through fiction, nonfiction, poetry, multimedia and culture. It established its annual digital book award to bring attention to the craft of multiplatform storytelling and to give independent publishers an incentive for experimenting with digital publishing and transmedia. The magazine has released several issues and interactive creative writing features since 2010, with its most recent release being the Consume issue for Spring and Summer 2013. The next issue is set to come out mid-fall—it will be the magazine’s first issue to feature an original short documentary film, which will be part of an ongoing series about local Americana.

“The Silent History” is a creatively told novella involving more than 120 testimonials from parents, teachers, doctors and others touched by the so-called “silent phenomenon.” Formatted specifically for the iPad and iPhone, the app is now available on the App Store. The interactive novella was created by Eli Horowitz, Kevin Moffett, Matthew Derby and Russell Quinn.

Winners of the Digital Americana Prize for Storytelling are picked based on their ability to design a cohesive digital reading experience through an app, interactive PDF, enhanced e-book or interactive iBook. Writers must demonstrate purposeful use of the medium and be able to enrich a well-told original story with an interactive design.

“A few years ago, we felt frustrated with certain aspects of digital publishing,” said Quinn. “It was during this period that naysayers were dooming and glooming about the demise of everything sacred about long-form fiction. We agreed with some of what they were saying, but also believed that e-books could be so much more than a slightly worse version of the print edition. Since then, there have been many exciting digital-fiction projects and the future seems just a little brighter. ‘The Silent History’ was our attempt to see what was possible, and we’re thrilled to be awarded the 2013 Digital Americana Prize for Storytelling.”

Digital Americana is now accepting entries for its 501-word creative “flash fiction” writing contest, which has a final deadline of December 1. The winner will receive publication in the magazine and a production of a short film based on the submitted story. Entries will be judged by Adam Cushman, president of Red14 Films in Los Angeles and the producer of more than 20 literary shorts over the course of his career.

To learn more and to access “The Silent History,” visit http://www.thesilenthistory.com. For more information on Digital Americana and its previous and upcoming issues, go to http://www.thedigitalamericana.com.

[via prweb]

There’s also some changes under the hood to the updated iOS that updates the iOS’ functionality . . . There’s an easier way to get to control center, making it so users don’t have to go through multiple stages to access options for WiFi, Bluetooth, Flashligt, AirDrop, Do Not Distrub, or Airplane Mode. There’s iTunes Radio, which aims to move Apple into the world of streaming music dominated by apps like Pandora. New multitasking options make navigation easier. Safari now allows more than eight pages to be open at a time. The list goes on and on. What was old is once again new, and we all have to adjust.

But the biggest change to the new iOS is the aesthetic adoption of flat design over skeuomorphism. Altogether “flat design” has proven to be the driving modern aesthetic for web and interface design in the last few years.  Apple’s execution of this evolution towards modern design, using brighter colors, minimalistic shapes and lines is on par with the attempts of other leading tech giants—and say what you will about Apple’s design choices, but they are decidedly Apple design choices in their own way, and will soon be seen and remembered as classic and iconic—just as soon as the initial wave of sensationalism ebbs away.

The user reactions are actually a great representation of the nature of change in our culture today. We always want things to be different but are often skeptical when those changes actually come to pass. We enjoy comfort but, especially as Americans, we always want to have one eye toward the future because we know things can always be better than they are today.

Except for the Digital Americana logo that was designed four years ago. See how its flat design fits right into your iOS7 home screen like it was made to belong there?