About the competitions
We host two competitions: our weekly Reedsy Prompts contest and the Reedsy Literary Prize.
How does the Reedsy Prompts contest work?
Every Friday, we send out a newsletter that includes five themed writing prompts. The contest's five prompts will also appear at the top of our Reedsy Prompts page.
Writers have one week (until the following Friday) to write a short story based on a prompt.
Contest entrants compete for a $250 USD cash prize. Winners will also be considered for publication in our literary magazine, Prompted. Runners-up may be awarded $25 in credit to use on the Reedsy Marketplace.
To submit to the weekly contest, writers must pay a $5 entry fee. Alternatively, writers can post their stories directly to their profiles for free. Stories posted for free will be publicly available for the community to read and comment on. However, they will not be judged for the competition or eligible for prizes.
To learn more about the difference between posting a story for free and submitting it to the contest, scroll down to the section "About the Reedsy Prompts contest entry fee.”
Sign up to participate in the contest here.
Read the competition’s full Terms of Use here.
How does the Reedsy Literary Prize work?
Our longer short story contest invites writers to submit stories between 2,000 and 5,000 words.
Writers have three months to submit a story based on a single prompt, as specified here.
Contest entrants compete for a $1,500 USD cash prize, as well as feedback from a literary agent and guaranteed publication in our literary magazine, Prompted. Runners-up will be awarded a year-long Reedsy Learning membership (2nd place) and Reedsy Marketplace credit worth $100 (3rd place).
To submit to the Literary Prize, writers must pay a $20 entry fee. There is no option to post Literary Prize submissions directly to their profiles for free. There will be no refund if you delete your story or want to withdraw your story from consideration for the Literary Prize. If you choose to delete or withdraw a story and then re-enter, you will need to pay the entry fee again.
Sign up to participate in the contest here.
Read the competition’s full Terms of Use here.
How do I submit a story?
Please follow each of these steps:
Sign up for a free Reedsy Prompts account.
Head to the Weekly Prompts Contest page or the Reedsy Literary Prize page.
Choose the contest you want to join, then choose the prompt you want to respond to.
Enter your title and story.
For the weekly Reedsy Prompts contest: Choose whether you want to submit the story for official consideration in the contest or post it to your profile for free.
If you want to enter your story for official consideration for the $250 USD prize, you should 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, just hit “Publish to profile (free).”
We no longer accept submissions via email.
For the Reedsy Literary Prize: Enter your story for official consideration for the $1,500 USD prize by hitting the “Submit to contest ($20),” and follow the onscreen instructions to enter your payment details.
Can authors submit more than one story per week to the Reedsy Prompts contest?
For our weekly contest, all authors can submit one story per prompt. In other words, up to five stories per week, with each story written in response to a different prompt. However, each story must be different; duplicate entries will be removed. Authors entering multiple stories in one week to the competition will have to pay $5 per entry.
Can an author who has previously won continue to participate?
Authors who have won any of our competitions are welcome to continue submitting and are eligible to win multiple times.
Can I choose to submit my story to a weekly Reedsy Prompts contest after I've already posted it on my profile for free?
Yes, you can change your mind and submit to our weekly contest any time up until the contest closes. Just head to your story page and hit the button that says “Pay $5 and submit to this week’s contest.”
What is the deadline to submit a story?
For the weekly Reedsy Prompts contest, five new prompts go out every Friday. The deadline for all submissions (both competitive and non-competitive) in response to those prompts is the following Friday at 11:59 PM EST.
For the Literary Prize, which runs for three months, click here for more info about the deadline.
When is the weekly Reedsy Prompts winner announced?
The winner of each Reedsy Prompts contest is announced one week after the closing date in the Prompts newsletter, as well as on our website here.
When is the Reedsy Literary Prize winner announced?
The winner of the inaugural Reedsy Literary Prize will be announced in July 2026 on our website here.
Will my Reedsy Literary Prize submission be visible by anyone other than me?
The Reedsy team and the contest's guest judge will solely be able to read Literary Prize submissions. Only the winning story will be made visible on our website, in July 2026.
Who judges the Reedsy Literary Prize?
All entries undergo an initial round of review by the Reedsy team, who then longlist the top stories. The contest's guest judge reads the longlist and determines the overall winner, as well as the runners-up (2nd and 3rd place).
Who is eligible to participate in Reedsy’s competitions?
Our competitions are open internationally, to all writers over the age of 18. (Keep in mind, however, that for the weekly Reedsy Prompts contest, you will need a PayPal account to receive the $250 USD prize). Submitted stories must be written in English and not be previously published. They must be standalone, and not part of a greater body of work.
Can I submit stories under a pen name?
Yes! To change the name associated with your account, visit your account settings. And if you'd like a hand in coming up with your pseudonym, why not give our Pen Name Generator a try?
Why is my Reedsy Prompts contest entry approved days after I submit it?
Stories submitted to our weekly contest are reviewed and approved after the closing date. It can take up to seven days for the Prompts team and our judges to assess every single submission. So, if you submit a story on a Wednesday but the contest closes on Friday, your story will only be looked at after the Friday.
How does the Critique Circle email work?
Each Wednesday, we send out a Critique Circle email, encouraging users to leave feedback on other Reedsy Prompts stories by randomly pairing them with other writers' submissions. Only stories which are submitted to the weekly Reedsy Prompts contest and approved will be eligible for inclusion in the Critique Circle.
To leave feedback on a story, simply scroll down to the comments section and leave your notes there! Sign up for the Critique Circle by visiting your account settings.
There is no option to send critiques via private messages at this time.
What are karma points?
Karma is awarded to authors who contribute to the community. You can gain karma by submitting stories, winning contests, and gaining upvotes on your comments. Here’s the breakdown:
Receiving likes on a story or comment = 1 point
When your story is approved = 10 points
If you win a contest = 100 points
If an author has a lot of karma, this generally means they have contributed popular content to Reedsy Prompts. Check out the leaderboard here.
About the Reedsy Prompts contest entry fee
Is there an entry fee?
Yes. As of July 2021, there is a $5 fee to enter our weekly competition.
There is no fee to post a non-competitive story to the site, nor is there a fee to create a Reedsy Prompts account, browse stories, and leave comments on other submissions.
Why is there an entry fee?
An entry fee helps cover the administrative costs of running a weekly contest.
Reedsy Prompts has always been about creating a writing routine, which is why we also allow authors to post and share their stories on their profiles for free.
Is the entry fee refundable?
There will be no refund if you delete your story or want to withdraw your story from consideration for the contest. If you choose to delete or withdraw a story and then re-enter, you will need to pay the entry fee again.
What’s the difference between posting a story for free and submitting it to the weekly contest?
If you post a story for free, your story will immediately be publicly available to read on your Reedsy Prompts profile. However, it will not be considered for the weekly competition, and cannot be shortlisted or win the $250 USD prize.
If you submit a story to the competition for $5, your story will be eligible for the $250 USD prize, and it will be read and evaluated by a panel of judges. It will also be publicly available to read on your profile and in the Reedsy short stories directory once it’s been approved by a judge. Finally, if you win, your story will be considered for publication in Reedsy's literary magazine, Prompted.
About the Reedsy Prompts contest prize
What is the prize?
For our weekly contest: $250 USD (to be paid via PayPal) and publication on Reedsy Prompts, where it will be highlighted as a winner. You will also receive a special spotlight in the Reedsy Prompts newsletter, which is sent out to over 500,000 subscribers every week. Winners will also be considered for inclusion in Reedsy's literary magazine, Prompted.
Each week, a handful of shortlisted entries will also be awarded a $25 credit towards Reedsy Marketplace services — such as professional book editing, design, or marketing. There is a limit of one $25 credit per user, even if they are shortlisted multiple times. Learn more about the Reedsy publishing community here!
Who judges the short stories and picks the weekly winner?
All entries undergo an initial round of review by the Reedsy team and our team of judges, which consists of Reedsy Prompts members. The Reedsy team and our judges shortlist the top stories. The Reedsy team then reads the shortlist and determines the weekly winner.
About Prompted
What is Prompted?
Prompted is a literary magazine highlighting select winners from the weekly Prompts contest.
Each volume of Prompted is edited and introduced by a guest editor. Available in print and online, the magazine is a celebration of the short story — and of the imaginative feats authors accomplish in just a week’s time.
If you’re curious to learn more, check out our past issues here.
Who picks stories for publication in Prompted?
The Prompts team selects past winners for inclusion in issues of Prompted. To be considered, you must enter — and win — one of our weekly contests, or the Reedsy Literary Prize.
About stories
What are the word count limits for stories?
For the weekly Reedsy Prompts contest: between 1,000-3,000 words.
For the Literary Prize: between 2,000-5,000 words.
Can a submission to the weekly contest reference more than one prompt at a time?
Yes, you can incorporate as many of the prompts as you’d like. However, you can only submit a story once to a prompt, so pick the most relevant prompt when submitting.
Are there any restrictions about the type of content a 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 site. Read our Terms of Use for more information.
Can I use artificial intelligence (AI) to write or help write my story?
No. As stated in our Terms of Use, submissions must be new, original, and standalone work written by the user submitting the story. The use of generative AI or other assistive technologies to create, draft, or revise stories is not permitted for any of our contests.
What does it mean to report a story or comment?
By reporting a story or comment, you are sending it to the Reedsy team to review. From there, the team will make a discretionary decision as to whether to remove the comment or story in question.
What can I report a story or comment for?
If you see a story that goes against the Terms of Use, is spam, contains offensive content, or requires a content warning, you can hit “Report” at the bottom of the story and select one of the following reasons:
This story contains defamatory, obscene, graphic, explicit, offensive, or any other such unsuitable material.
This story requires a trigger warning.
This story is suspicious, spam, or plagiarized.
You can also report inappropriate comments by hitting “Report” and selecting between the following options:
This comment is abusive or harmful.
This comment is suspicious or spam.
Unwarranted or repetitive reporting of content which does not violate the Terms of Use is not acceptable and can result in users being removed from the platform.
Can I delete or edit my story after I submit it?
You can delete your story at any time. Stories can be edited after they’re submitted until the closing date of the contest passes.
If you pay to enter your story into any of our contests and then delete your story, you will not be issued a refund for your entry fee, and you will need to pay again if you wish to re-enter the contest.
Can I submit my story elsewhere after publishing it on Reedsy Prompts?
When authors submit a story to our weekly Reedsy Prompts contest, 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.
After you submit your story, you may still publish the story elsewhere, but the publication must include:
The relevant prompt;
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 “dofollow” link back to https://reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/
Can I submit my story elsewhere after submitting it to the Literary Prize?
Yes. We accept simultaneous submissions, as long as your story has not been previously published anywhere online or in print.
Can I receive feedback on my stories?
The Reedsy team does not offer individual feedback on submissions. However, we do send out a weekly Critique Circle email for the weekly Reedsy Prompts contest submissions. Scroll up to the question “How does the Critique Circle work?” for more information!
How can I get more likes and comments on my submissions?
The best ways to receive likes and comments on your stories are to share them via social media and to take part in our weekly Critique Circle email. The more you engage with other users on Reedsy Prompts, and the more you comment on the stories of others, the more likely you are to receive comments in return.
