Submissions are closed until January. Please join the waiting list and you will be the first to know. You will also get a discount code for being awesome.
Do you want in-depth feedback on your stories instead of getting a standard rejection?
Here are two examples of the feedback you will get when submitting to our contest:
Prizes and Benefits:
- 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.
- 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.
In-Depth Feedback on Every Story
There are a lot of contests out there, but very few provide the level of feedback we do.
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.
Here are two examples of the feedback you will get:
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, the 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
Your comments were so thoughtful and they actually really resonated with me, and I’m truly grateful. As I’m sure you know, writing is such a solitary endeavor sometimes. So feeling like someone read my story and understood what I’m trying to say, even if I’m not quite there yet, is encouraging.
Alison Sanders
Contest Editors
Finnian Burnett – Guest Judge
Finnian Burnett teaches undergrad English, British and American Literature, and creative writing. They are a doctoral student in English Pedagogy, a novelist, and a flash fiction writer. Finn’s work has been shortlisted or won in the Bath Flash Fiction Award, Blank Spaces Magazine, National Flash Fiction Day, Retreat West, Globe Soup, and more. Their work has appeared in Reflex Press, Ekphrastic Review, Fenacular Portfolio, The Daily Science Fiction, and Flash Fiction Magazine. Finn lives in British Columbia with their wife and Lord Gordo, the cat.You might remember their name from our website—we published their story “This Is the Room” in March 2021. We also nominated that story for Best Microfiction 2022.
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 DreamForge, Sky Island Journal, 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.
Mathew Channer
Mathew Channer is a writer and editor currently based in Ontario, Canada, who recently completed his BA with majors in creative writing and journalism. When he is not working on an endless series of speculative fiction stories, he is usually halfway up the side of a mountain, looking for rocks to climb. His work has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, Deep Wild Journal, and the anthology It Begins with Us. His best friend is an Alaskan Malamute named Nymeria who curls up under his desk while he writes. Find him on instagram or twitter: @mathewchanner.
Laura Besley
Laura Besley is the author of two micro fiction collections, (Un)Natural Elements (Beir Bua Press) and 100neHundred (Arachne Press), as well as a flash fiction collection, The Almost Mothers (Dahlia Books). She has been widely published in online journals, print journals and anthologies, including Best Small Fictions, 2021 with her story, “To Cut a Long Story Short.” Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Micro Fiction, and she has been listed by TSS Publishing as one of the top 50 British and Irish Flash Fiction writers with her story “On Repeat,” published by Reflex Fiction.
Having lived in the Netherlands, Germany and Hong Kong, she now lives in landlocked central England and misses the sea.
Alexander Pyles
Alexander Pyles is a writer, editor, and reviewer based in the Chicago area. Originally from Virginia Beach, VA, he finds himself stranded in the Midwest among the corn. He holds an MA in Philosophy and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. His chapbook MILO was published by Radix Media as part of their Futures series. His other fiction has appeared in Trembling with Fear, Black Hare Press, and other venues around the web. His nonfiction has appeared in the Chicago Review of Books, Three Crows Magazine, Litreactor Magazine, Analog Science Fact & Fiction Magazine, Ancillary Review of Books, Dark Matter Magazine, and others. When not writing or reading, he is attempting to cook, garden, or play video games when his kiddos allow it.
Aishwarya Mishra
Aishwarya is a writer based in Jharkhand, India. They write speculative flash fiction, short fiction, and poetry that pushes the limits of language and identity. Their work has appeared in XRAY, JMWW, and New Millennium Writings, and has been selected for the Best Small Fictions 2021 anthology. Apart from writing, they love dancing and hope that one day their bones would forget the difference between the two forms of movement.
Matthew Tett
Matthew is a freelance writer living in Bradford-on-Avon, a small town in Wiltshire, UK, where he lives with his husband and calico cat, Binky. He has been published in Writing in Education, the Cardiff Review, the New Welsh Review, and Ink Sweat and Tears. His short story “Spun Sugar” was published in the inaugural edition of Liberally. In 2021, he won Word After Word‘s mini memoir prize. “One Big Treat” is being published in Skobeloff Publishing’s forthcoming Horror & Ghost Stories Anthology. Matthew is also the producer of StoryTown. Since 2022, he has been a reader/team leader for the Edinburgh Flash Fiction and Short Story competitions. Matthew is currently working on his debut short story collection.
Susan Jessen
Susan Jessen enjoys reading, reviewing, and writing fiction of various genres. In addition to her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where she wrote an urban fantasy novel for her thesis, she’s taken undergraduate writing courses from Northwestern University, Loyola University of Chicago, and the University of Alaska. She worked as a Priority Editor for two years at Flash Fiction Magazine and has four years of experience evaluating unsolicited manuscripts for a boutique publisher. Her flash fiction has been published under a pseudonym in anthologies and magazines such as The Arcanist, Lost Balloon, and Shotgun Honey.
Contest Guidelines and Entry Fees
- Entry fee = $30 per story.
- Please do not submit stories over 1000 words.
- 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 are not interested in lyrical musings, journal entries, poetry, vignettes, or slices-of-life with no discernible plot or STORY.
- 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
