Entry Deadline:
Friday, May 10, 2024

Welcome, Writers! Our Short Story contest will be held entirely online this year. If you need assistance uploading your file or have other questions about the contest, please contact us at shortstory@paweekly.com.

Contest Rules & Guidelines

Entry Requirements

• Each writer may submit only one story
• Stories must be 2,500 words or fewer
• The Adult entry fee is $20; the Young Adult and Teen entry fee is $10
• Entries may not have been previously published
• The use of AI assistance is not permitted. Writers are fully responsible for the integrity of their submissions and are liable to be disqualified if AI tools are discovered in submissions

Format Requirements

• Stories must be submitted as PDFs
• Story documents should have:
  
  • Double-spaced text
  • 12-point Times New Roman font
  • A title
  • Page numbers
• Story documents should not include:
  
  • The author's name (all stories will be judged blindly)
  • Artwork

Eligibility Criteria

• The contest is open to anyone who lives, works or attends school in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Redwood City, Stanford, Portola Valley, Woodside, Mountain View, Los Altos, or Los Altos Hills
• Children under age 12 may enter the contest and will be judged in the Teen category
• High schoolers who are 18 may enter either the Young Adult or Adult category

Prizes

Note: All fields are required

Name

Email Address

Address

City

Zip

Phone Number

School or Work Location

(If your home address meets the eligibility criteria, you may skip this question by typing "n/a")

Story Title

Exact Word Count

Category

Teen (age 12-14)

Young Adult (age 15-17)

Adult (age 18+)

Upload Your Story

Accepted file type: PDF There is a 20MB total file size limit.
Please do not include your name or any identifying information on your submission. For assistance, please email shortstory@paweekly.com

Payment Information
$20 entry fee for Adult stories; $10 entry fee for Young Writers under 18

Your First Name

Your Last Name

Address

City

State

Zip

Credit Card Number

CVV Number

Month January February March April May June July August September October November December

Year 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041 2042 2043 2044

By checking this box, I verify that this story is my original work and I received no assistance writing it. It complies with all the rules above and does not contain any machine-generated text. I understand the Palo Alto Weekly reserves first publishing and online rights to winning entries. Judges' decisions are final. Palo Alto Weekly employees, freelancers and their immediate relatives are not eligible to win.

Submit