Writing Contests
Short Story Contests
StoryStar will be hosting a Monthly Short Story Contest.
Each month, StoryStar will post a prompt on this page. Authors will write a story which incorporates the prompt and use the Publish option to to submit it to the contest. The story can be any theme as long as it is based on the monthly prompt. When submitting a story for a contest, select Contests from the Subject selection list. Users can then click on the Read Contest Entries just above Short Story Stars of the Week or the Contests option under subjects to read the entries.
For Example: The February prompt was Valentines. The story could be a romance about finding the love your life, or a horror story about a massacre on Valenties Day, or science fiction about an astronaut remembering past Valentines as they approach landing on Mars, or even a True account of the author's own prior Valentines.
Authors are allowed to submit as many new stories for each contest as they wish, constrained only by the system posting limits. Stories previously published on StoryStar are not permitted, but stories published on other locations are allowed. By submitteing a story to the contest, the author grants StoryStar the right to republish the story on Amazon and assigns StoryStar as the sole beneficiary of any sales.
Stories will be judged by the StoryStar users, who will read the stories and rate them using the STAR rating system. Users should rate each story read. In the event of a tie, it will be broken by (1) number of views, (2) Number of comments (3) Number of votes. After that, StoryStar Admin will just have to pick one and may received votes from members via the Vote 1-2-3 option.
There are NO cash prizes, just the ever valuable bragging rights. The winner will become the featured Author of the Month for the following month.
All submissions will be collected into an anthology which will be published on Amazon by StoryStar, which will be the sole receiver of sales therefrom. The authors of each story remain the copyright holder for their submitted stories just like any submission to be published on StoryStar.
Authors should return to this page regularly to determine the current contest prompt, which will be listed below:
March 2026 Contest Prompt = Spring
Entries can be submitted up to noon CST on March 31st.
The theme of the March 2026 StoryStar Writing Contest will be … Spring! Once again, think outside the box. The obvious stories will be about the time of year, but do not forget ALL that Spring entails.
Stories can be romantic tales of a Spring wedding. It could be a mystery about someone going missing at a Spring Break celebration. It could be a fantasy story about massive Spring rains causing a puddle that a child slashes through only to fall through to another dimension. Of course, rabbits might be hiding eggs! The possibilities are vast once you start thinking about it.
Thanks to everyone that sent me comments with ideas on this contest.
February 2026 Contest Prompt = Valentines
Stories must be submitted no later than 12PM CST on February 13, 2026 for consideration.
Contest Results:
First Place: The Card-Maker by Francys Wagner with 4.7. stars from 11 votes = 4.7*11= 51.7 stars.
Second Place: Andy's Antics: Valentines Day by Marla came in second with 4.6 stars from 10 votes = 46 stars
Third Place: A Special Date by C. Platt was third with 4.5 stars from 10 votes = 45 stars
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OLD CONTEST INFORMATION
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2023 - There are no new contests right now. When we compile the next anthology we will consider all ORIGINAL stories published exclusively on Storystar and nowhere else, that have high ratings and reader nominations.
Plus, your short story submissions to our short story competition may earn you Storystar front page STARDOM!
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Note that the below contests are completed. ONE story, or more, from among those submitted each of the past years, will be chosen for inclusion in the next anthology....
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Beginning today, 7/1/2021, and running through the end of the year....
INSPIRATIONAL AND FEEL-GOOD SHORT STORIES CONTEST!
With many Covid restrictions being lifted, and millions of people having been vaccinated, there is new hope in the air for healing and renewal and better times ahead. We've all had a lot of doom and gloom, fear and grief, to deal with over these past many months. Now we need some inspiration and feel-good. So any story published on Storystar that leaves the reader with a feeling of hope, inspiration, motivation, a smile, a laugh, a warm fuzzy, a triumph, a feeling of satisfaction, and/or a just plain good feeling is eligible.
Writers can officially enter the contest from their user panel, using their earned points. OR they can send a $5.USD entry fee to: paypal.me/storystar1 / Those who officially enter the contest will be eligible for a first prize of $50.USD payment, plus $100. worth of Storystar Rewards Points, which can be spent like cash on Storystar. The winning story will also be included in our next anthology. All eligible stories will be considered for inclusion in the next Storystar Brightest Stars Anthology publication, which will be released for Storystar's 12 year Anniversary in 2022. Please note that all stories must be original and exclusively published on Storystar in order to win the contest and be published in the anthology.
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Thank you to all who entered our unofficial 11th year anniversary contest over the past year. Contest winners will be announced soon....
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Storystar's 10 Year Anniversary Contest Winners:
1st Place Winner: Mike Kapembe, "Path of Shadows"
2nd Place Winner: Rati J., "Night of Stars"
Runners Up: 1) Dr. Umesh Jagdale, "Partner" 2) Kanishka Roy, "Red, Violet, and Everything in between" 3) Daryl Delancey, "The Flats"
The following writers who entered the contest were advanced to the Ten Year Anniversary Anthology of Storystar's BRIGHTEST STARS, published in 2020: Douglas Richards, Ayush Kumar, T.R. Hart, Shamik Dhar, Iain Cambridge, Jane Lockyer Willis, John Filkins, Gail Moore, Carl Brooks, Gordon England, Darrell Case, Jason James Parker, Aziz, Valerie Allen, and Wilbur Arron. (The anthology includes 60 writers and 60 stories.)
Thank you to everyone who entered!
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PREVIOUS WINNERS
2017 TRUE STORIES CONTEST!
Here are the TOP STORIES (All Cash Winners!):
TRUE Stories Written BY Children Winner: The Tiny Brother Problem, By Neha, Born 2007, F, from Washington State
TRUE Stories Written BY Teens Winner: Silent Problems, By Ingrith Pineros, Born 1998, F, from Bagota, Colombia
TRUE Stories Written by Adults Winner: Mashed potato days for Autistics like me., By Kevin Hughes, Born 1951, M, from Wilmington, NC
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2016 WRITING CONTEST BY/FOR KIDS & TEENS
Here are the TOP 5 STORIES (All Cash Winners!):
Overall highest rated contest winner, as well as the highest rated story in the 'Stories written by adults FOR Children'
category: Petra The Brushtail Possum, By Ryan Thomas, Born 1976, M, from Sydney, Australia
Stories written BY Children winner: Case of the Missing Pig, By Anthony George, Born 2004, M, from Nashville, TN
Stories written BY Teens winner: Oh How The Mighty Tania Has Fallen!, By Cassidy Flores, Born 2003, F, from Alberta, Canada
Stories written by adults FOR Teens Winner: Diving with Sharks, By Gordon England, Born 1954, M, from Cocoa Beach/FL
5th highest rated story overall, therefore awarded cash as well: Rainy Night, By Catherine Yating Zhu, Born 2004, F, from Portland, OR
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SUMMER 2015 TRUE STORY WRITING CONTEST by/for kids/teens WINNER: ANGELINA CAO, of Portland, Oregon, as chosen by reader ratings. Her story: "Tonsillectomy"
THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the Summer 2015 true story writing contest. All true stories posted in the kids/teens categories from July through September were eligible to win. The winner was chosen from the combined total of ratings given to their story.
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5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TRUE STORY CONTEST WINNER SELECTED BY READERS:
To BokoHaram With Love, BY MELODY KUKU, OF NIGERIA
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2011 STORYSTAR SHORT STORY WRITING CONTEST WINNERS HAVE BEEN DETERMINED BY READERS!
Best true story written by or for a child: TIE: Sweet Memories by Philip Baryaruha
& Harvesting Season by Justin Lagat
Best true story written by or for a teen: The Things Cancer Can Not Do by Gabrielle
Best true story written by or for an adult: From Behind the Window by William Cline
Best fiction story written by or for a child: Captain Nolan the Sandbender Saves the Ocean by Linda McMann
Best fiction story written by or for a teen: The Ghost by Nicole Izmaylov
Best fiction story written by or for an adult: Baby Sugar by Carol Jo Pettit
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STORY STAR OF THE YEAR:
Through the Eyes of an Eagle by ELAINE FABER
(Determined by the grand total of accumulated points earned by ALL of Elaine's stories published on Storystar during the entire year, as well as the overall quality of her contributions. The above story is just one among many great stories that she has generously shared, so please be sure to click on the link below it to read 'More stories by this author'.)
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2010 Writing Contest Winners (Determined by highest rating and number of votes):
Her Name Means Hope in Arabic by Judy Jones
First runner up: Two Spirit by Phil Whitley
Second runner up: Mr D and Cynicism by Ari Sam
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Pre-launch Short Story Contest Winners
(Determined by panel of four judges who were provided with only the story to read, with no knowledge of the author's name and location. Note that the stories entered in this first early contest formed the basis for the creation of Storystar):
A Cold Touch by Dale Flowers
First runner up: The Mistress by Arlene Hartzell
Second runner up: Her Conclusion by Jason James Parker
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Publish Your Story Here Today!
