A First Contest That Tells You Where You Stand
Quick answer: New writers can enter Writory's debut short story contest with no publication history; the judges never see a byline anyway. Entry is $8 for 100 to 3,000 words, and every entrant, first-timer included, receives a certificate and a private score out of 100 with all five marks, so one entry answers the question rejections never do.
No publication history required and none visible: judging is blind, so a first entry is read like a five-hundredth. Every entrant, newest included, receives a certificate and a private score out of 100 with all five marks shown.
The question a form rejection never answers
A new writer's real question is not whether they can win something. It is whether the work is any good, and a form rejection from a magazine cannot answer it: maybe the story missed by an inch, maybe by a mile, and the email reads the same either way. A scored contest answers it with numbers.
Every entrant here gets five marks against a rubric published before entry: storytelling and character at 25 each, language and originality at 20, theme at 10. Judging is blind, so an empty publication history is invisible, and the first story you ever submit is read with the same attention as anyone's five-hundredth.
Start small, keep the loop turning
The floor is 100 words. A tight piece of flash is a fully competitive first entry, judged on shape and ending rather than scale, and the flash fiction page at /flash-fiction-contest covers how short work is read. Enter by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, read your marks on 30 November 2026, and aim the next story at the weakest number. Monthly rounds follow the debut.
If you want more than the marks, an optional written feedback report is available with any entry: prepared by the editorial team, quoting your own lines back with specific notes. Writory's poetry track record is checkable: over a year of dated poetry winners pages, entrants from 40 countries, and poetry winners from India, the USA, Ireland, Kenya and Slovenia. The first Story results are scheduled for 30 November 2026; Story winners have not yet been announced.
The published rubric, 100 points
- Storytelling & Structure (25 points): Does every scene cause the next, and does the ending pay off the opening?
- Character & Emotional Impact (25 points): Do we want something with your character, and does the story make us feel it?
- Language & Craft (20 points): Clean, deliberate prose: rhythm, precision, and nothing wasted.
- Originality & Voice (20 points): The angle only you could write, told in a voice that sounds like nobody else.
- Impact & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 3,000 words by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive on 30 November 2026: every entrant receives a certificate with their name and a score out of 100. Writers keep all rights. Winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Do I need any publications to enter?
None, and the judges could not check anyway: no bio or byline reaches the panel. The manuscript is the whole application, which for a new writer is the fairest arrangement on offer.
If my score is low, who sees it?
You, and nobody else. Non-winners' scores are never published, and the certificate does not display your marks. A low first score is a private baseline, and the next month exists to move it.
What is the written feedback add-on?
An optional paid report from the editorial team, separate from the scorecard everyone gets. It quotes lines from your own story and explains what is working and what to fix, so the notes cannot be mistaken for a template.
Is a 400-word story too short to take seriously?
Not here. Anything from 100 words competes, and the rubric reads short work on its own terms: shape, precision, and whether the ending pays for the space it takes. Short work often makes a strong first entry because every line has to earn its place.
How long before I know anything?
Days, not months. Entries close on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST and every entrant's certificate and marks go out on 30 November 2026, so the gap between finishing a story and learning how it read is under a week if you enter near the deadline.
More story contest pages
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 40 countries have entered, readers come from more than 150 countries, and every submitted poem is judged and scored out of 100 across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and impact and resonance. Every entrant receives a certificate; winners receive cash prizes and are published by name. Entries close on the 25th of each month and results are announced on the 30th. Writory is listed by Duotrope, Poetry Kit, Christopher Fielden's competition list and Creative Writing NZ, among other organisations. Past results are public at past winners and the leaderboard.