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fractured lit gods & monsters challenge

April 20 to May 4, 2025

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Sometimes we just need a prompt to free us from our fear of the blank page in order to write something amazingly weird and poignant. We offer these challenges as a way to help you break your typical mold and writing process and deliver that story that’s been poking at your mind and in your heart! Flash fiction is all about augmenting the rules and still creating a sense of story and consequence, of velocity and depth, of something we won’t forget.

We’re challenging writers to create new stories of up to 1,000 words within fourteen days! You’re invited to submit to the Fractured Lit Gods & Monsters Challenge from April 20 to May 4, 2025.
We’re excited to offer the winner of this prize $500 and publication. All entries will be considered for publication at our regular rate of $75/$50, depending on length.
Challenge Prompt: For this challenge, we want stories based on the theme of Gods & Monsters. We want stories that deliver our readers challenging characters with an eye toward shifting power dynamics. We ask writers to interpret these themes widely and at a slant, to develop stories that defy our sense of good and evil. Stories that play in the shadows, that aren’t afraid to show us the forgotten worlds, both real and imaginary. We love when writers twist and turn our familiar understandings of tropes and archetypes to create something mashed-up and completely new! As always, we want active characters who aren’t afraid to fail, to react, to live largely on the page. Topple the gods, show us the monsters, and wow us with your brevity and precision of language.

GUIDELINES:
  • Your $20 reading fee allows up to two stories of 1,000 words or fewer each per entry—if submitting two stories, please put them both in a SINGLE document.
  • We allow multiple submissions—each set of two flash stories should be a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee.
  • Please send micro/flash fiction only—1,000 word count maximum per story.
  • We only consider unpublished work for challenges—we do not review reprints, including self-published work (even on blogs and social media).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 and withdraw your entry if you find another home for your writing.
  • All entries will also be considered for general publication in Fractured Lit.
  • Double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 (or larger if needed).
  • Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history and a third-person point-of-view bio (if applicable).
  • We only read work in English, though some code-switching/meshing is warmly welcomed.
  • We do not read anonymous submissions.
  • Unless specifically requested, we do not accept AI-generated work. For this challenge, AI-generated work will be automatically disqualified.
The deadline for entry is May 04, 2025. We will announce the shortlist within ten to twelve weeks of the challenge’s close. All writers will be notified when the results are final.
Some Submittable Hot Tips:
  • Please be sure to whitelist/add this email address to your contacts, 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 EDITORIAL FEEDBACK:
You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your piece. We will provide a two-page global letter 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 Fractured Lit. Should your story win, no feedback will be offered, and your fee will be refunded.

flash & micro

always open

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Fractured Lit publishes Micro and Flash Fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash 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.

Editorial Letter – If you’re interested in knowing a little bit more about what we thought of your flash or micro, utilize this option. When we’ve reviewed your piece we will include 1-2 pages of feedback on your story including suggestions for revision, where it might be a good fit for publication, and other comments about ways it can be improved. Our editors are paid a significant portion of the fee, to meet the rates the Editorial Freelance Association recommends for developmental editing.

guidelines

  • We pay our authors $50 for original Micro Fiction and $75 for original Flash Fiction.
  • Micro Fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less.
  • Flash Fiction is 401-1,000 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 up to two stories in the same document. You may submit again as soon as you have heard back about your current submission.
  • Cover letters are optional, but it's nice to know who is submitting to us. Please refrain from describing your stories. The work needs to speak for itself.
  • Including the title and word count of each story is helpful for more efficient consideration of your work. Please include a brief third-person biography statement. An optional content warning in the cover letter will better protect our readers and provide them a safe reading experience of your submission. This will provide us a chance to make sure the right reader receives your submission.
  • 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 consider submissions sent via Submittable. We are not open to email submissions. For mail submissions, please see our faq.
  • Fractured Lit holds 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 Fractured Lit’s first publication. For reprints, we ask for acknowledgment of its publication in Fractured Lit first.