Join the Waiting List Below
Do you want in-depth feedback on your stories instead of getting a standard rejection?
Do you want to win these exceptional prizes?
- 1st Prize = $500, publication on our website and in a future anthology.
- 2nd Prize = $300, publication on our website, and consideration for our next anthology.
- 3rd Prize = $200, publication on our website, and consideration for our next anthology.
Additional Prizes and Benefits:
- Every winner gets lifetime access to our Flash Fiction Masters Writing Community.
- Winners are featured in our Story Time LIVE event on Zoom.
- We add winning stories to our Featured Stories page.
- We heavily promote winning stories.
Why Our Contest is Different
There are a lot of contests out there, but very few provide the level of feedback we do.
You also compete with hundreds or thousands of stories which reduces your odds of winning, but we designed a contest with excellent odds, magnificent prizes, and:
In-Depth Feedback on Every Story
We know how valuable feedback is to writers, because writers run our magazine!
When you enter our contest, you’ll get valuable developmental feedback from experienced editors who have read and edited thousands of stories.
Every submission receives feedback that focuses on:
- Strengths: The editor will identify where the story is strongest and most effective.
- Weaknesses: The editor will address elements of the story that could be stronger.
- Revision Suggestions: The editor will provide suggestions for revision and editing.
Testimonials from Participants
You found the perfect way to run a contest! I got the thrill of entering. (I literally couldn’t sleep the night before because I didn’t want to miss the submission window.) And, of course, I had to deal with the sadness of rejection. BUT, the feedback was so thorough! I never expected line edits and detailed suggestions. I feel like I got as much from this as from taking a semester class.
Kait
You know what? This feedback alone was worth my entry fee. Thanks so much! I’ll be back for the next contest too (whenever that is). Count on it. Thanks so much!
J. David Thayer
I really struggled with the thought of paying for editorial feedback when submitting a piece of flash fiction.
However, I had been struggling for months with a piece that I knew was close, but not quite there. Sophia did an unbelievable job with her feedback, simultaneously telling me what she loved in the story, and most important, what needed work. In the end, my fragile ego remained intact, and after taking her suggestions to heart, the redraft was not only accepted by another literary magazine, but named as a finalist in one of their short fiction contests.
Thank you again; I’ve seen the light.
Dutch
Feedback on my story was fantastic. Helpful for me in knowing where to go with this story and how to write better stories moving forward. You will see more pieces from me.
Thank you for responding to all of my emails. Flash Fiction Magazine has me hooked.
Patti
I wanted to thank you for taking the time and energy to provide your very thorough review of my piece. I found your feedback most helpful, and I’ve already made some revisions based on your suggestions. Your editorial critique is one of the best ones I’ve received, and I’m profoundly grateful for it. Thank you so much!
Victoria
Thanks for your excellent comments on my story. I wasn’t expecting such a thorough—or helpful—review, but I’m delighted to have your suggestions.
Ann Russell
Whilst unsuccessful, Sophia Huneycutt’s feedback was absolutely FIRST RATE. Her carefully tailored comments and recommendations made me feel as if my piece was the only story in her brief.
Barry
I wanted to personally thank you for your professional and informative review of my recent submission.
Your time, comments, and suggestions are very much appreciated, and will be useful to me in reworking this piece, and in future efforts.
Kent Bush
Wow, what wonderful comments. I’m grateful for your many good suggestions and edits, all of which I agree with. I can see I’ve got some work to do, but now I have a good plan in hand.
I’m very glad entered the contest. Your advice was worth far more than the entrance fee. I’ll look forward to reading the winning stories.
Ann Russell
Contest Editors
Kathryn Kulpa – Guest Editor
Kathryn Kulpa is a fiction writer and editor with words in Five South, Flash Frog, Milk Candy Review, Monkeybicycle, Pithead Chapel, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf. She is the author of a story collection, Pleasant Drugs (Midlist Press) a micro-chapbook, Who’s the Skirt? (Origami Poems Project), and a flash chapbook, Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus). Her new flash chapbook, Cooking Tips for the Demon-Haunted, is due out in 2023 from New Rivers Press. Kathryn’s stories have been chosen for Best Microfiction and the Wigleaf longlist and nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions. She is a flash editor at Cleaver magazine.
Ellie Jacobson
Ellie Jacobson lives in Minnesota with her husband, two teenage sons, and Mr. Percy, the cat. She majored in English at St. Catherine University and served as an assistant news editor for the college newspaper. After two years in college, she made the biggest mistake of her life by dropping out. After twenty years, she returned to school, graduating with a BS in technical communication. Now, as an MFA Creative Writing graduate student, she is writing a suspense novel. She is a fiction reader for Uncharted Magazine. Her words can be found at Medium, Coffee House Writers, and The Drabble.
Shanna Yetman
Shanna Yetman is an environmental writer and Latina living in Chicago. She enjoys character-driven fiction with a social-justice edge. Her writing has centered around motherhood, and now, the climate crisis and how we can reimagine our planet’s future. Shanna has an MFA in Fiction from the University of Maryland and a BA in English Literature from Wellesley College. She’s an alumna of the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Conference and has taught at UIC’s Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy (SISE). Her fiction has appeared in MoonPark Review, the Daily Drunk, Reflex Fiction, New Millennium Writings, Jellyfish Review, Connotation Press, and the Writing Disorder, among other publications. When she’s not writing, she’s chasing around her two kids and making sure they see as much of the natural world as they can before they beg her for screen time.
Bethany Bruno
Bethany Bruno is a Southern writer. She was born and raised in Florida, where she obtained three degrees in English: an AA from Indian River State College, a BA from Flagler College, and an MA from the University of North Florida. Her writing has been previously featured in several journals, including The MacGuffin, Ruminate, BULL, and Lunch Ticket Magazine. She was a contributor to Those Who Scream: A Novel by 30 Writers published by Thirty West Press. She was previously nominated for 2021’s Best of the Net and was an honorable mention in Off Topic Publishing’s Fiction contest. She works as a technical writer for the US Army. Together with her husband and baby daughter, she currently resides in Alabama.
Contest Guidelines and Entry Fees
- Entry fee = $30 per story.
- Please do not submit stories over 1000 words.
- Please do NOT submit previously rejected stories.
- We will consider all stories for publication in Flash Fiction Magazine unless you indicate otherwise.
- You are allowed multiple submissions.
- All decisions regarding the winners are final.
- Contest entry fees are non-refundable.
- By submitting, you agree to all contest rules.
The Stories We Accept
- We accept fiction stories between 300 and 1000 words.
- We do not accept previously published work. This includes stories published at FFM.
- We do not accept poetry.
- We do not accept children’s fiction.
- We do not accept erotica. Adult themes including sex, violence, and even politics, are fair game.
- Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Let our editors know if your story is accepted elsewhere.
Previous Winners
You can read all the previous winning stories on our Featured Stories page