Fictionate.me: July 2022 Worldbuilding Short Fiction Contest

THE SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES HAS ENDED! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO JOINED.

Do you have an entry? Tell your friends, family, and fans to vote for your story by liking your story on your Fictionate.Me story page!

Join the Fictionate.Me July 2022 Worldbuilding Short Fiction Contest to get published and win cash and other fantastic prizes! The top Grand Prize and People’s Choice winners are guaranteed publication in our newest anthology, and ten other authors (possibly more!) will be chosen for publication. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to build your publication credentials and win great prizes.

Theme:

Unmoored: Worlds of Pure Chaos Worldbuilding Short Fiction Contest

Minimum 1000 words; maximum word count is 5000.

Who can participate?

Any writer who wants to join can participate! You can be an established author or newbie writer who has never published. All are welcome!

Contest Period:

The submission period is Tuesday July 5, 2022, through Friday, ~~August 5~~ AUGUST 19,2022, 11:59 PM EST.

The judging period is after the submission period through ~~August 28, 2022~~, SEPTEMBER 9, 2022.

Voting period ends on ~~August 28th,~~ SEPTEMBER 9, 2022 at NOON EST.

Winners will be announced on ~~August 29, 2022,~~ SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 at NOON EST.

The anthology will be slated for launch on or around Friday, September 23, 2022.

Join Our Discord For Any Questions

Submission Guidelines:

1. On the opening day of promotion, July 5, 2022, the contest will be announced on Fictionate.Me’s website and social media pages. Submissions will open at NOON EST on that day. Submissions must relate to the theme of the prompt, or they will not be considered.

2. Submissions must be in one of the speculative genres (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, alternate history, etc.). Need more help? Click here for a comprehensive list of speculative subgenres!

3. Write a short fiction piece between 1000-5000 words on the prompt given for this month.

4. All work must be previously unpublished (no reprints). No fanfiction accepted.

5. Please keep content PG-13 to be inclusive of our young authors and readers (no excessive gore, violence, explicit sexual content, etc.).

6. To submit your fiction, upload your story to Fictionate.Me’s website here.

7. Need step-by-step uploading instructions? Click here! *Your story must be set to FREE in order for your audience and our judges to read and consider your work.

8. To officially submit your entry, use the tag #2022-july-contest when uploading your work. You must use this tag when you upload, or your story will not be submitted to the contest. When entering your genre tags, DO NOT INCLUDE THE HASHTAG SYMBOL when entering or the tag will not be entered correctly. Example: In the genre tag box, enter 2022-july-contest (without the hashtag!) and select the tag from the drop-down menu.

9. Add a story blurb and author bio to your account. We’ll use these later in the anthology if you’re selected.

10. Be sure to add a book cover image with your name and title on the front. Need to make a free book cover? Check out Canva’s free Book Cover Maker! After the contest is over, we will announce when you can put your story behind the paywall if you wish to monetize it.

11. Post the link to your story on your website and social media pages to spread the word and promote your story.

12. Tell your friends, family, and fans to vote for your story by liking it on your Fictionate.Me story page! *Voting only counts for the People’s Choice category.

13. Follow any of our official Fictionate.Me social media pages (Discord, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) to stay updated about the competition.

14. If your story is chosen for publication, you agree to our literary team making minor, necessary edits to your work (this is for proofreading purposes; we will never change your voice or content).

15. If you are under 18 years of age, please indicate this somewhere in your submission, as we’d love to do a feature on our young authors! This is also helpful in the judging process, as judging criteria is different for children and adolescents than it is for adults.

16. If you have any questions or need help in any way, send an email to heather@fictionate.me

Prompt:

Some places are beyond your wildest imagination. A world of contradictions. A world where natural awe-inspiring beauty vs. supremely advanced technology; a world where ancients collide with modernity; where primeval wizards clash with supremely advanced AI. Let the picture inspire you to write a speculative fiction story set in this world.

Use the picture below to write your story based on the elements you see in it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be this exact scenario, but it should include the implied elements. This is a science-fantasy contest, so let your imagination run wild! What happens when wizards meet some kind of alien force? What kind of technology do you see being introduced to an ancient world like this one? Look closer at the person in the picture, do they experience some kind of encounter that they could bring back to their people? Or are they what remains of a civilization? Perhaps they’re a visitor on another world that composes of these alien residents? Whatever the story is, the sky is the limit! But you must make sure that you use the image below to revolve your story around in some shape or form.

Write a short story that is set in this world. Worldbuilding is the focus here; immerse your readers in this strange new world, based on the visual and written prompts given. But don’t spend 5000 words just writing descriptions. Your characters will need to be immersed here too. Be sure to give your world a name!

**Let this picture inspire you to write a speculative fiction story set in this world.**

For some worldbuilding resources to help you get started, click the links below:

Masterclass: 10 Worldbuilding Tips: How to Write an Engaging Fictional World
Fictionate.Me: 7 Sci-fi Novels with Out of This World Worldbuilding
Fictionate.Me: 5 Fantasy Books with Delightfully Unique Worlds
Reedsy: Worldbuilding: How to Create a Fascinating New World [+Template]

All anthology contributors will receive print and digital contributor copies.

GRAND PRIZE

The Grand Prize winners are chosen by our literary team. Votes on the site DO NOT factor into choosing Grand Prize winners.