How to Submit a Short Story to the Writory Contest
Quick answer: Submit a short story to Writory at /submit-story: sign in, paste or upload one story of 100 to 3,000 words and pay $8. Entries close 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Your story is judged blind against a published rubric, and on 30 November 2026 you receive a certificate and a score out of 100.
Paste your story of 100 to 3,000 words at /submit-story, pay $8, and it is entered; the round closes 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Before you open the form
Have the story finished and in plain text somewhere you can copy from: a notes app, a document, an email to yourself. It must be your own original work, between 100 and 3,000 words counted on the story text alone, in any genre and any language. It does not have to be unpublished; a story from your blog qualifies. Take your name out of the text and the title, because judging is blind and the panel should meet only the story. Read it aloud once. Then open /submit-story.
Age 13 or over, any country, no residency rule. The fee is $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five; pick the tier that matches how many finished stories you are entering this round, since each is judged on its own. Free entry exists only when earned: the winner of a round enters the next free, and entering three rounds running brings the Seasoned Quill badge with a free entry attached.
The steps at /submit-story
Sign in, or create an account with your email; it takes a minute, and it is where your entries, certificate and scorecard will live. Choose how many stories you are entering. Paste or type the first story into the box; a file upload sits beside it if you prefer. A live word counter shows the total as you paste, and the form will not go forward with fewer than 100 or more than 3,000 words. Give the story a title.
Pay. Writers outside India pay in US dollars. Once payment clears the entry is recorded against your account and the round's deadline applies to it: 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. If you are entering more than one story, each goes in as its own entry and is judged on its own. Keep the payment confirmation until results day; it is your proof of entry if anything needs checking.
What happens after you submit
Nothing you need to act on, for a while. Every story in the round is judged in one pool, so a story sent in the first week and one sent an hour before the deadline are measured against the same field. Your name is removed before reading and the story is scored against the published rubric: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10.
On 30 November 2026 you receive your certificate and all five marks. The winner takes $100 and free entry to the next round and is published on /winning-stories with consent. Your score is yours alone; it is not published. You keep every right to the story and may send it anywhere at any time, before or after results. If you want more than the numbers, a written feedback report from the editorial team is available as a separate option.
The deadline, in your time
Entries close on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. The clock is Indian Standard Time because Writory is run from India; IST is UTC plus five and a half hours. At 11:59 PM IST it is early evening in London and early afternoon in New York. A story that arrives at 12:01 AM IST joins the next round instead. The first contest runs from 1 September to 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 30 November 2026. From December the contest is monthly: entries close on the 25th, results on the 30th, and the next round opens the moment they land.
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. Monthly winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Can I submit a story that has already appeared on my blog?
Yes. Writory asks for original work, not unpublished work, so a story from your blog, a newsletter or an old anthology qualifies as long as it is yours. Copied work is rejected, not scored. Other contests may count a public post as published under their own rules; entering here changes nothing about that.
Do I need to format the story in any particular way?
No. Paste plain text; formatting is never scored and the judges read words, not fonts, margins or page breaks. Keep the title on the story and your name off it, since judging is blind. Scene breaks can be a blank line or a centred mark, whichever you already use.
What does it cost, and is there any free way in?
$8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five, paid in US dollars by writers outside India. Free entry is earned rather than open: win a round and the next entry is free, or enter three rounds running for the Seasoned Quill badge and its free entry.
What does the certificate show, and when does the score arrive?
Both arrive on 30 November 2026. The certificate carries your name and the contest round and records a blind-judged, scored result. The score is five marks out of 100, one for each rubric line, so you can see which part of the story held and which did not. Scores are private to the writer.
Who can submit?
Anyone aged 13 or over, from any country, with an original story of 100 to 3,000 words in any genre and any language. There is no residency requirement and no separate category by nationality. A writer under 18 who wins can have the prize paid to a parent's or guardian's account.
How do I know my entry went through?
Payment clears, the entry is recorded against your account, and you hold the payment confirmation. If you can see the entry when you sign in, it is in the round. Keep the confirmation until results day; it is the reference to quote if anything ever needs checking.
More story contest pages
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 31 countries have entered, readers come from over 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.