We invite writers to submit to the second Uncharted Magazine Cinematic Short Story Contest from January 05 to March 09, 2025. This award is for all of our genres: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller/Horror, Mystery/Crime, Young Adult, and Historical Fiction. 

Guest Judge Rachel Harrison will choose three winning stories from our shortlist. We’re excited to offer the first-place winner of this contest $2,000 and publication, while the second- and third-place winners will receive publication and $300 and $200, respectively.

Contest Prompt

For this short story contest, we want stories that feel immersive, like we walked out of our lives and into the technicolor settings and conflicts of your main characters. We want stories that use the array of our senses in new and exciting ways. We want stories with vitality and velocity that rely on swift cuts of action and reaction. Allow your characters to make good and bad choices and face the consequences in scene. Don’t let the camera look away!

Consider crafting your story based on the most important moments in your character’s life, and fully envelop us in these moments. Think of the opposites of shadow and light, and the gray areas in between, and write the stories we can’t look away from. We especially love stories that incorporate aspects of all genres, so consider how these combined elements might enhance your story. We’re drawn to stories that use their conflicts to create tension and resonance. 

Rachel Harrison is the USA Today Bestselling author of So Thirsty, Black Sheep, Such Sharp Teeth, Cackle, and The Return, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut story collection Bad Dolls. Her next novel, Play Nice, is out in September 2025 from Berkley. Find her on Instagram.

 Here’s what Rachel looks for in a short story:

I'm excited to read stories that are creative, visceral, and atmospheric. Take me to a new world! I gravitate toward stories with compelling characters and clear stakes. A cinematic story should be infused with emotion and elicit a strong reaction. Get my heart racing or eyes welling up or have me gasping in awe. I'm open to all genres and have a deep appreciation for a distinct voice and strong prose. Okay, ready? Action! 

GUIDELINES

• The deadline for entry is March 09, 2025. We will announce the shortlist within 10–12 weeks of the contest’s close. All writers will be notified when the results are in.
• Your $20 reading fee allows ONE cinematic short story of 1,001–5,000 words per entry.
• We encourage multiple submissions—each story should be a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee.
• Writers from historically marginalized groups will be able to submit for free until we reach our cap of 25 free submissions. No additional fee waivers will be granted.
• Please submit short stories only—5,000 word count maximum.
• We only consider unpublished work for contests—we do not review reprints, including self-published work (even on blogs and social media). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.
• Simultaneous submissions are okay—please notify us immediately and withdraw your entry if you find another home for your writing.
• All entries will also be considered for publication in Uncharted.
• Double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 (or larger if needed).
• Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable).
• Please include a content warning to help safeguard our staff (if applicable).
• We only read work in English, though some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
• We do not read anonymous submissions. However, shortlisted stories are sent anonymously to the judge.
• Work generated by AI will be automatically disqualified.

Some Submittable Hot Tips:

• Please be sure to whitelist/add to contacts this email address so notifications do not get filtered as spam/junk: notifications@email.submittable.com.
• If you realize you sent the wrong version of your piece: It happens. Please DO NOT withdraw the piece and resubmit. Submittable collects a nonrefundable fee each time. Please DO message us from within the submission to request that we open the entry for editing, which will allow you to fix everything from typos in your cover letter to uploading a new draft. The only time we will not allow a change is if the piece is already under review by a reader.

OPTIONAL FEEDBACK ON YOUR WRITING 

You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your piece. We will provide two-page global letters discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. Our aim is to make our comments actionable and encouraging. These letters are written by editors and staff readers of Uncharted. A significant portion of the editorial letter fees goes to our feedback editor. Should your story win, no feedback will be offered, and your fee will be refunded.

We invite writers to submit to the second Uncharted Magazine Cinematic Short Story Contest from January 05 to March 09, 2025. This award is for all of our genres: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller/Horror, Mystery/Crime, Young Adult, and Historical Fiction. 

Guest Judge Rachel Harrison will choose three winning stories from our shortlist. We’re excited to offer the first-place winner of this contest $2,000 and publication, while the second- and third-place winners will receive publication and $300 and $200, respectively.

Contest Prompt

For this short story contest, we want stories that feel immersive, like we walked out of our lives and into the technicolor settings and conflicts of your main characters. We want stories that use the array of our senses in new and exciting ways. We want stories with vitality and velocity that rely on swift cuts of action and reaction. Allow your characters to make good and bad choices and face the consequences in scene. Don’t let the camera look away!

Consider crafting your story based on the most important moments in your character’s life, and fully envelop us in these moments. Think of the opposites of shadow and light, and the gray areas in between, and write the stories we can’t look away from. We especially love stories that incorporate aspects of all genres, so consider how these combined elements might enhance your story. We’re drawn to stories that use their conflicts to create tension and resonance. 

Rachel Harrison is the USA Today Bestselling author of So Thirsty, Black Sheep, Such Sharp Teeth, Cackle, and The Return, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut story collection Bad Dolls. Her next novel, Play Nice, is out in September 2025 from Berkley. Find her on Instagram. 

Here’s what Rachel looks for in a short story:

I'm excited to read stories that are creative, visceral, and atmospheric. Take me to a new world! I gravitate toward stories with compelling characters and clear stakes. A cinematic story should be infused with emotion and elicit a strong reaction. Get my heart racing or eyes welling up or have me gasping in awe. I'm open to all genres and have a deep appreciation for a distinct voice and strong prose. Okay, ready? Action! 

GUIDELINES

• The deadline for entry is March 09, 2025. We will announce the shortlist within 10–12 weeks of the contest’s close. All writers will be notified when the results are in.
• Your $20 reading fee allows ONE cinematic short story of 1,001–5,000 words per entry.
• We encourage multiple submissions—each story should be a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee.
• Please submit short stories only—5,000 word count maximum.
• We only consider unpublished work for contests—we do not review reprints, including self-published work (even on blogs and social media). Reprints will be automatically disqualified.
• Simultaneous submissions are okay—please notify us immediately and withdraw your entry if you find another home for your writing.
• All entries will also be considered for publication in Uncharted.
• Double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 (or larger if needed).
• Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable).
• Please include a content warning to help safeguard our staff (if applicable).
• We only read work in English, though some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
• We do not read anonymous submissions. However, shortlisted stories are sent anonymously to the judge.
• Work generated by AI will be automatically disqualified.

Some Submittable Hot Tips:

• Please be sure to whitelist/add to contacts this email address so notifications do not get filtered as spam/junk: notifications@email.submittable.com.
• If you realize you sent the wrong version of your piece: It happens. Please DO NOT withdraw the piece and resubmit. Submittable collects a nonrefundable fee each time. Please DO message us from within the submission to request that we open the entry for editing, which will allow you to fix everything from typos in your cover letter to uploading a new draft. The only time we will not allow a change is if the piece is already under review by a reader.

Uncharted Magazine publishes Thriller/Mystery Short Stories from fiction writers of any background or experience. We are rolling horror stories into this category! We want stories that keep us up at night, afraid to turn the corner. Stories that take us into the resonant fear of looming monsters and haunting ghosts. We want stories that thrill us by keeping us on the edges of our seats, hearts pounding, wondering how it will end! Stories with characters who refuse to stay in the shadows! We want stories of mystery that make us search for answers, for reasons, for the things that happen in the shadows.
Guidelines:
All fiction categories are open year round and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere.
Payment: We pay our authors $200 for original fiction! We pay by check or PayPal, according to the author's preference.
Word Count: Submitted stories should be between 1,000-5,000 words.
We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.
Writers may submit one story per submission. Please wait one month after our initial reply before submitting again.
Cover letters: Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. We do not need your mailing address.  Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including each story's title and word count is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement. If necessary, please include a content warning to help protect our readers.
Format: double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font. Word docs work best!
Response Times: Please allow us up to three months to inform you if we have accepted your work for publication. You will usually hear from us much sooner. We cannot offer personalized feedback on each story. If we say, “Send more,” however, it does mean that we hope to see something else from you.
We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.
Diversity Statement: We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason. We reserve the right not to publish works that dwell unnecessarily in or that are unchallenging of the discrimination categories listed above. We reserve the right to send back work unread and unevaluated if we find the work violates our vision of inclusivity and non-discrimination. This may result in banning individual works or writers from our submission queue.
Rights: Uncharted Magazine holds the first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Uncharted Magazine's first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Uncharted Magazine first.
Courtesy: Please refrain from withdrawing your submission to fix a typo or misspelling. These minor issues will not result in an automatic decline. We read submissions based on the value of the story, not the typing.
OPTIONAL EDITORIAL FEEDBACK:
You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your piece. We will provide a global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. We aim to make our comments actionable and encouraging. These letters are written by editors and staff readers of Uncharted Magazine.

Uncharted Magazine is excited to introduce a new submission category for publication in our magazine. We’re looking for stories that engage deeply with history. We want your characters to interact with infamous people of history, dwell deeply in past eras, and show us how the world used to operate and what lessons we can learn. We want history brought to life on our pages.

Guidelines:
All fiction categories are open year-round, and we do not charge any submission fees. We accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately and withdraw your work if your story is accepted elsewhere.
Payment: We pay our authors $200 for original fiction! We pay by check or PayPal, according to the author's preference.
Word Count: Submitted stories should be between 1,000-5,000 words.
We will also consider previously published fiction, as long as the writer retains the rights or second-publication rights can be obtained. We do not pay for reprints.
Writers may submit one story per submission. Please wait one month after our initial reply before submitting again.
Cover letters: Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. We do not need your mailing address.  Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself. Including each story's title and word count is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement. If necessary, please include a content warning to help protect our readers.
Format: double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font. Word docs work best!
Response Times: Please allow us up to three months to inform you if we have accepted your work for publication. You will usually hear from us much sooner. We cannot offer personalized feedback on each story. If we say, “Send more,” however, it does mean that we hope to see something else from you.
We consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions and are not open to submissions sent via post.
Diversity Statement: We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or for any other reason. We reserve the right not to publish works that dwell unnecessarily in or that are unchallenging of the discrimination categories listed above. We reserve the right to send back work unread and unevaluated if we find the work violates our vision of inclusivity and non-discrimination. This may result in banning individual works or writers from our submission queue.
Rights: Uncharted Magazine holds the first serial publication rights for three months after publication. Authors agree not to publish, nor authorize or permit the publication of, any part of the material for three months following Uncharted Magazine's first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Uncharted Magazine first.
Courtesy: Please refrain from withdrawing your submission to fix a typo or misspelling. These minor issues will not result in an automatic decline. We read submissions based on the value of the story, not the typing.
OPTIONAL EDITORIAL FEEDBACK:
You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your piece. We will provide a global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. We aim to make our comments actionable and encouraging. These letters are written by editors and staff readers of Uncharted Magazine.

Submission Guidelines
**Yes, you have indeed been redirected, correctly, to Uncharted, our new home on Submittable!**
Please read our submission guidelines carefully. 

Voyage simply aims to publish good work and provide a space for new and established voices. To get an idea of what we publish, please read our archives. General submissions are open year-round with no fee to submit.

We only accept submissions via our online submission managing system, Submittable. We DO NOT accept submissions via email. Submissions sent via email will be automatically discarded without a response. We accept simultaneous submissions, but please withdraw your work via Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere.

Though we consider reprints, please be advised that Voyage doesn't offer payment for work that has been published before. If you are submitting a piece that has been published, please notify us in your submission. 

Voyage pays $200 per accepted, previously unpublished piece of short prose.

Fiction: We are looking for short stories that surprise, inspire, entertain, or enlighten.

Creative Nonfiction: We’re on the hunt for personal essays and other creative nonfiction that specifically relates to the teen experience. Submit your creative nonfiction via our submission manager here.  

Manuscript Preparation: Please make sure your manuscript is double-spaced with Times New Roman 12. Submissions should be no more than 6,000 words. Please include the author's name and page number in the top right-hand corner of every page.  

Note: To ensure the protection of our volunteer readers, and to keep Voyage a safe space, please let us know in your cover letter if your work can be triggering in any way. This information will have no bearing on your submission or our decision—we just want to ensure the best possible environment for our readers. Thank you for your understanding. 

Editorial Feedback Options
The single feedback letter option costs $69 and will provide you with two pages of detailed and actionable feedback on your submission. The three-letter option will provide three separate letters (two pages each) from three different editors at $179. Our guest editors are paid a significant portion of the fee and all are incredibly astute professionals.

Voyage Values
Voyage YA is committed to diversity and inclusivity. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. Voyage has a zero-tolerance policy for any work that is discriminatory or harmful in any way, whether intentional or unintentional. Hate speech of any kind will not be tolerated and any work that violates our values will be immediately declined. Voyage maintains the right to further ban authors if problematic behavior persists and/or deplatform authors should there be problematic behavior via other platforms.

As the landscape of publishing changes, Voyage acknowledges that there is still much work to be done. Systemic racism and structural inequality have been problems for a long time, and Voyage will actively work to dismantle them. We have joined the global movement to fight for equality and will consciously work to amplify marginalized voices of authors who have been historically underrepresented in publishing.

We urge authors and readers alike to visit some of the resources we have found helpful—and seek out others:
 

• We Need Diverse Books and their resources page for writers
• Writing with Color
• Lee & Low 2019 Diversity Survey
• Editors of Color Database & Database of Diverse Databases
• Conscious Style Guide
• #DVpit
• Black Lives Matter

Introducing Voyage’s newest publication opportunity: Three-Sentence Stories. Can you write a compelling story in just three sentences? Give it a try for the chance to be featured on our Instagram, @VoyageYA. Have fun and challenge yourself with this unique opportunity!

Guidelines:

• Stories must be fiction, and exactly three sentences.
• Stories must be written for a young adult audience.
• Stories must not be previously published, including on personal blogs and websites.
• Submissions may include up to five three-sentence stories in one document.
• Submitters may submit once per month.
• We do not pay for Three-Sentence Stories, but we do promote authors on Instagram!
• Editorial Feedback Letters are not available for Three-Sentence Story submitters.

Note: To ensure the protection of our volunteer readers, and to keep Voyage a safe space, please let us know in your cover letter if your work can be triggering in any way. This information will have no bearing on your submission or our decision—we just want to ensure the best possible environment for our readers. Thank you for your understanding. 

Uncharted is looking to add some talented new readers to our team! If you love the following genres:  Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller/Mystery, and Historical Fiction or experience across a wide spectrum of these genres., and three to four hours of reading submissions a week sounds like fun, we encourage you to apply. Our readers work remotely and can set their own schedules. BIPOC, marginalized or underrepresented writers are strongly encouraged to apply!

This position begins when accepted and involves a commitment for 6 months, though we are flexible. PLEASE NOTE: readerships are unpaid and on a strictly volunteer basis. If interested, please send a cover letter, resume, and at least one writing sample. We look forward to hearing from you!

*Cover letters should address your interest in the above genres, including favorite stories and/or writers. Please include any memberships. 

This volunteer position begins as soon as selected and involves a commitment of at least six months. Readers should have a keen eye for quality young adult fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. If at any point you'd like to end your reader position with Voyage YA, we ask that you kindly give us at least two weeks' notice. Readerships are unpaid and fulfilled on a strictly volunteer basis. Applications will be open until the submission cap of fifteen is reached.

We'll conduct this process in two rounds. Our process involves answering a few specific questions and a reader assessment.

Please send a cover letter, résumé, and at least one writing sample in a single file. We look forward to hearing from you!

     Thank you for supporting Voyage YA by Uncharted!
     Best,
     The Voyage YA Team


Voyage YA Values
Voyage YA by Uncharted is committed to diversity and inclusivity. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, disability, family status, gender identity or expression, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. Voyage YA has a zero-tolerance policy for any work that is discriminatory or harmful in any way, whether intentional or unintentional. Hate speech of any kind will not be tolerated and any work that violates our values will be immediately declined. Voyage YA maintains the right to further ban authors if problematic behavior persists and/or deplatform authors should there be problematic behavior via other platforms.   
     As the landscape of publishing changes, Voyage acknowledges that there is still much work to be done. Systemic racism and structural inequality have been problems for a long time, and Voyage YA will actively work to dismantle them. We have joined the global movement to fight for equality and will consciously work to amplify marginalized voices of authors who have been historically underrepresented in publishing.
     We urge authors and readers alike to visit some of the resources we have found helpful—and seek out others.
 

• We Need Diverse Books and their resources page for writers
• Writing with Color
• Lee & Low 2019 Diversity Survey
• Editors of Color Database & Database of Diverse Databases
• Conscious Style Guide
• #DVpit
• Black Lives Matter