Announcing the 35th Annual Palo Alto Weekly

Entry Deadline:
Friday, Apr 02, 2021

Welcome, Writers! For the first time, our Short Story Contest will be held entirely online. All stories will need to be submitted through this page as PDFs. If you need assistance uploading your file or have other questions about the contest, please contact Kali Shiloh at (650) 223-6580 or [email protected]

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

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, 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+)

(Ages as of 12/31/2020)

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 [email protected]

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 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041

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. 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