What Are The Best Short Story Contests For Money In 2024?

Man, I used to spend hours down this rabbit hole when I was trying to justify more writing time. The real heavy-hitters for pure cash are contests like the 'Writers of the Future', which tops out at $5000 for first place. They've got a huge sci-fi/fantasy focus, but they don't own your rights after, which is huge. Then there are the genre-specific ones like the 'Soul-Making Keats' contest from the National League of American Pen Women—some categories have prizes up to $2500. These feel more like proper literary establishments. The catch is a lot of them have entry fees that can add up, so you've gotta weigh if the shot is worth the buy-in. I submitted to one a few years back that was $15 entry, prize was $1000, and got an honorable mention that felt better than the prize would have, honestly.

Looking back at my last five attempts, the biggest shift came when I stopped trying to sound 'literary' and just focused on the last line. I'd write the final image first—something that sticks in your teeth or gives you a chill—and then build the whole story backward to earn it. Contests get flooded with competent, forgettable prose. Judges read hundreds. They're numb. That last sentence is the only thing that wakes them up. I also started hunting for contests with very specific, weird prompts. The narrower the prompt, the fewer entries they get. A general 'open theme' contest is a lottery. But if they want a ghost story set in a laundromat involving a single sock? Fewer people bother, and your odds improve dramatically. The money's often smaller, but winning begets more wins. It's a resume line. Never submit anything you wrote the same week. Let it sit until you've forgotten the rhythm of the sentences, then read it aloud. The clunks announce themselves.

Surprised nobody mentioned the back of the book yet. Judges for a paid contest are reading hundreds of entries, probably in a tight timeframe. That means your first paragraph is everything. It needs a hook, but also a distinctive voice they can latch onto immediately. I've seen stories with incredible middles get passed over because the opening felt generic. Read the previous winners out loud, not just for theme, but for rhythm. Does your opening sentence have that same cadence? Another thing: don't try to game the theme. If the prompt is 'second chances,' writing a literal story about a parole hearing is a trap everyone else will fall into. The winning entry last year for a contest like that was about a gardener trying to revive a specific, extinct rose. It was all metaphor, but it fit the brief perfectly. They're paying for originality of thought, not just competence. And for the love of all that's good, triple-check the formatting guidelines. Sending a PDF when they want a .doc with specific fonts and spacing is an instant disqualifier, no matter how brilliant the prose. It screams that you didn't read the rules, which tells them you're not serious.

Think about power dynamics. Structure the story as a shift in power between characters. Who has it at the start? Who has it at the end? How does the transfer happen? Each scene can be a minor negotiation or battle for control. This creates inherent tension and a clear structural throughline that's easy for a reader to follow and feel satisfied by.