Expert Overview

Short story contest run by the nonprofit Parsec Inc., open to non-professional writers, with a Youth Story Prize for high school students aged 19 or younger. Writers submit one unpublished story of up to 3,500 words on an annual theme, with no entry fee. The youth winner receives $50 and publication in a members-only ebook.

Format

Individual

Judging Format

Jurors, Criteria based: Coordinators and first readers screen the entries and the ten best submissions are then read by the judges

Monetary

Grade Eligibility

Rising Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors

Geographic Eligibility

US, International

Discipline

Creative WritingScience FictionFantasyHorror

Entries

Not published

Percent Awarded

Not published

Important Dates

Submissions Open

January 1, 2027

Submission Deadline

March 31, 2027

Passed

Open

Approaching: < 1 mo.

Priority: < 2 weeks

Urgent: < 1 week

Registration Cost

No entry fee

About

Each year’s theme shapes the entries; the current one asks for a story about resources or workplaces that prominently features a non-human character. Writers submit one original, unpublished, unsold story through an online portal between January 1 and March 31. AI-generated stories are disqualified. Coordinators and first readers screen entries, and judges read the best ten. The main contest pays $200, $100, and $50 for the top three, and a teen may enter either the main contest or the youth prize, not both. Winners are notified in July.

The youth prize is the smallest award and publication is limited: stories appear in an ebook distributed to Parsec members and not sold publicly, with first place also in the Confluence conference program book. The organizer publishes no entry totals, so selectivity cannot be stated; a strong teen writer can instead compete in the main contest against adult non-professionals for larger prizes.

A placement is a modest credential within the science fiction writing community.