Submissions are invited for One Teen Story Contest 2025. The last date of submission is December 2, 2024.

About One Story

One Story began in 2001. Hannah Tinti and Maribeth Batcha saw short stories disappearing from high-profile print publications and smaller literary magazines folding. They knew that with fewer venues for short fiction, emerging writers would have a hard time getting noticed, and short stories could fall by the literary wayside.

Contest Details

One Teen Story publishes 3 stories a year and accepts submissions from teen writers ages 13-19.

For their One Teen Story contest, they ask writers ages 13-19 to enter their original, unpublished fiction. We are interested in great short stories of any genre about the teen experience—literary, fantasy, sci-fi, love stories, horror, etc. What’s in a great short story? Interesting teen characters, strong writing, and a beginning, middle, and end.

Guidelines

  • To enter, you must be between the ages of 13-19 as of December 2, 2024.
  • Short stories should be between 2,000 to 4,500 words and be the writer’s own original, previously unpublished work.
  • Previously published stories and stories forthcoming at other publications cannot be considered. This includes stories that have been self-published online on personal websites or other publishing platforms, including blogs and school publications.
  • By submitting your work, you are acknowledging that it is your own creation, that it has not been borrowed from any other person’s work (including film, video, and online content), that it has not been created with any assistance from AI tools or software, and that the characters and situations are of your own invention.
  • Stories should have teens as their main characters and be about the teen experience.
  • No entry fee is required.
  • Only one submission per person.

Prize

The winning stories will be published on our website. The contest winners will receive $500 upon publication. The contest winners will also have the opportunity to work with a One Teen Story editor prior to publication. Honorable mentions will be chosen in three age categories: 13-15, 16-17, and 18-19, and each will be announced on our website, by email announcement, and on social media.

How to Submit?

Interested participants can submit online via this link.

Submission Deadline

The last date of submission is December 2, 2024.

Contact

Email: otscontest[at]one-story[dot]com

Click here to view the official notification of One Teen Story Contest 2025.