The StoryBottle Co. Short Story Contest is back! As always, we're looking for the best stories we can find, regardless of genre or style. We love the highbrow literary, the pulpy, the strange, and everything in between. What matters most to us is great storytelling—fiction that surprises us, moves us, and reminds us why we love stories in the first place.

 

The winner will receive $1,000, publication in StoryBottle online and in print, a standalone hand-printed chapbook, and author copies of both publications. All entries will also be considered for publication in StoryBottle.

Guidelines:

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• Submit one story up to 10,000 words by January 15, 2027.

• Multiple and simultaneous submissions are fine, but each story must be submitted separately and withdrawn if accepted elsewhere.

• Entries must be previously unpublished.

• Please remove name and any identifying info from the manuscript.

• Writers with pre-existing relationships with the editors are not eligible. ​​

• The entry fee is $15.