Applications are now open for the Owl Canyon Press Short Story Contest. Writers are invited to create and submit a short story consisting of 50 paragraphs. The contest provides the 1st and 20th paragraphs, and the short story writer crafts the rest.   First prize is $3000, 2nd prize is $2000, and 3rd prize is $1000 with the winning short stories published in a short story anthology, as well as an invitation to give a public reading at Inkberry Books in Niwot, CO. The twenty-four (24) Finalists will also have their short stories included in this anthology. Owl Canyon Press provides paragraphs #1 and #20, and the writer creates the other 48 paragraphs (i.e., paragraphs 2-19 and 21-50) to complete the story. Their goal is to discover new and upcoming authors whose works stimulate the imagination. They have received grants from the Goethe-Institut as well as the Austrian Ministry of Education and Culture.

Opportunity Focus Areas

• Writing

Benefit

• The First prize is $3000.
• The 2nd prize is $2000.
• The 3rd prize is $1000.
• The winning short stories published in a short story anthology.
• An invitation to give a public reading at Inkberry Books in Niwot, CO.
• The twenty-four (24) Finalists will also have their short stories included in this anthology.

Eligibility

• There’s no cost to enter.
• Anyone can submit, including outside the USA, but the stories must be in English.
• 50 Paragraphs total – including the 1st and 20th provided in the submission form.
• No maximum word count, but each paragraph needs to be at least 40 words – this isn’t flash fiction so feel free to use as many words as you need to tell the story.
• Dialogue is fine as long as it’s in a paragraph of at least 40 words.
• Authors retain all rights to their short stories.
• Winning authors agree to permit Owl Canyon Press to publish their stories in an Anthology.
• Failure to comply with any contest guidelines may result in disqualification.