Most events are installed on their deadline date, unless there is a long submission window or unless it's a rolling submission.
P=Poetry, N=Nonfiction, F=Fiction
- This event has passed.
F – On the Premises Short Story Contest Theme: Vehicle
The Current Contest
Short Story Contest #43 launched on Sunday, December 10, 2023.
VEHICLE
For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which some kind of vehicle plays an important role. Merely using the vehicle as a simple plot device or to help characters get somewhere is not enough. For instance, “While flying home I made a bunch of new friends on the flight” isn’t good enough, because the same story–making new friends–could easily be told without the plane.
GENRE RULES: No fiction aimed at readers younger than 12, no exploitative sex, no over-the-top grossout horror, and no stories that are obvious parodies of existing fictional worlds/characters created by other authors. (For the same reason, we do not accept “fan fiction”.) Other than that, we’ll take anything from the most super-realistic literary drama to crazy farces (real-world or otherwise) to any variant of science fiction or fantasy you can imagine. Read our past issues and you’ll see.
Deadline: 11:59 PM Eastern US time, Friday, March 1, 2024.
One entry per author. There is no fee for entering this contest.
Remember to take all identifying information out of your story! Tell us who you are in the space provided in the web form cover letter you get when you click on the “submit” button, NOT in your story! No headers, no bylines… just the story.