The Fiction Factory Short Story Competition 2026 is open for entries.

Submission Guidelines

• The Competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over.
• International entries are welcome, but stories must be written in English.
• Stories must be previously unpublished
• There is no minimum word count, but stories must not exceed 3,000 words. All genres will be accepted except Children’s and Young Adult Fiction.
• All work submitted must be the entrant’s own original writing, and should not have appeared in print or appear on a website (including blogs and social networking sites).

Judge: Ruth Druart

Entry fee:

• 1 entry: £7.00
• 2 entries £13.00
• 3 entries £18.00
• Entry fee + optional critique £35.00

Prizes: Top prize- £500, and winners will be announced in November 2026

Deadline: June 30th 2026.

Please note: This is an external competition; all details and all submissions are on their website. Click here.