Reedsy Short Story Contest — submit to be featured and win $250! 📝
Every Friday, Reedsy sends out a newsletter that includes five themed writing prompts. Those five prompts can also be found on the Reedsy Prompts page. Writers have one week (until the following Friday), to submit a story based on one of these prompts. Our team will pick a winner each week who will be featured on our blog and win $250! Sign up here to participate in our contest.
Read our contest's full Terms of Use here.
To submit your story, please follow these steps:
Sign up for a free Reedsy Prompts account;
Select one of this week’s five prompts from the top of the Prompts page and write a story;
Enter your title and story into the submission page;
Choose whether you want to submit the story for official consideration in the paid contest or post it to your profile for free.
If you want to enter your story for consideration for the $250 prize, hit “Submit to contest ($5),” and follow the onscreen instructions to enter your payment details.
If you don’t want to enter your story into the competition, hit “Publish to profile (free).”
Yes. As of July 2021, there is a $5 fee to enter the competition. However, there is no fee to post a noncompetitive story to the site or to create a Reedsy Prompts account, browse stories, and leave comments on other submissions.
Five new prompts go out every Friday. The deadline for submissions in response to those prompts is the following Friday by 11:59 pm EST.
The award is open to all writers over the age of 18. Submitted stories must be unpublished and written in English.
$250 USD (to be paid via PayPal) and publication on our Reedsy Prompts page, as well as a shoutout in our weekly newsletter, which reaches over 250,000 readers every week.
Unless otherwise specified, your short story must be between 1,000 – 3,000 words.
Stories may contain mature themes and language. However, stories containing large amounts of graphic or explicit language will not be considered for publication on our blog.
Authors can submit as many stories as they want, for as many different prompts as they’d like.
Authors who win the contest are welcome to continue submitting and are eligible to win the contest multiple times.
Yes, you can incorporate as many of the prompts as you’d like.
After you submit your story, you may still publish the story elsewhere, but the publication must include:
The relevant prompt; and
Acknowledgment to Reedsy.com for providing the prompt that inspired the story.
This acknowledgment should be in the form of a mention, and in the case of a digital publication, a “do follow” link back to https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts.
Please note that when authors submit a story, they retain the copyright, but they grant Reedsy a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, publish, and otherwise use the entry on any platforms, in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The Reedsy Team, alongside a team of volunteer judges.
Read our contest's full Terms of Use here.
How do I submit a story?
To submit your story, please follow these steps:
Sign up for a free Reedsy Prompts account;
Select one of this week’s five prompts from the top of the Prompts page and write a story;
Enter your title and story into the submission page;
Choose whether you want to submit the story for official consideration in the paid contest or post it to your profile for free.
If you want to enter your story for consideration for the $250 prize, hit “Submit to contest ($5),” and follow the onscreen instructions to enter your payment details.
If you don’t want to enter your story into the competition, hit “Publish to profile (free).”
Is there an entry fee?
Yes. As of July 2021, there is a $5 fee to enter the competition. However, there is no fee to post a noncompetitive story to the site or to create a Reedsy Prompts account, browse stories, and leave comments on other submissions.
What is the deadline to submit a story?
Five new prompts go out every Friday. The deadline for submissions in response to those prompts is the following Friday by 11:59 pm EST.
Who is eligible to participate in the contest?
The award is open to all writers over the age of 18. Submitted stories must be unpublished and written in English.
What is the award?
$250 USD (to be paid via PayPal) and publication on our Reedsy Prompts page, as well as a shoutout in our weekly newsletter, which reaches over 250,000 readers every week.
What is the word count limit for submissions?
Unless otherwise specified, your short story must be between 1,000 – 3,000 words.
Are there any restrictions about the type of content the story can include?
Stories may contain mature themes and language. However, stories containing large amounts of graphic or explicit language will not be considered for publication on our blog.
Can authors submit more than one story per week?
Authors can submit as many stories as they want, for as many different prompts as they’d like.
Can authors continue to participate in the contest after they win?
Authors who win the contest are welcome to continue submitting and are eligible to win the contest multiple times.
Can a story reference more than one prompt at a time?
Yes, you can incorporate as many of the prompts as you’d like.
Can I submit my story elsewhere if it wins?
After you submit your story, you may still publish the story elsewhere, but the publication must include:
The relevant prompt; and
Acknowledgment to Reedsy.com for providing the prompt that inspired the story.
This acknowledgment should be in the form of a mention, and in the case of a digital publication, a “do follow” link back to https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts.
Please note that when authors submit a story, they retain the copyright, but they grant Reedsy a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, publish, and otherwise use the entry on any platforms, in accordance with our Terms of Use.
Who judges the short stories and picks the weekly winner?
The Reedsy Team, alongside a team of volunteer judges.
Updated on: 03/18/2022
Thank you!