Short Story Writing Contest
BayCon 42 / Westercon 78 is excited to announce the Society for the Promotion of Speculative Fiction’s short story writing contest. The winners will be announced at the convention and will receive $100 and free day badges to accept their prizes.
Story submissions will be accepted from 1 March to 31 March, 2026. Winners will be announced during Opening Ceremonies!
Stories must draw inspiration from this year’s theme: The Answer.
The Short Story Writing Contest is separate from the Writing Workshops which will be conducted at BayCon 42. However, you may submit the same story for both if it meets the criteria for both.
Prizes
Prizes will include the following:
Day Badge for BayCon 42 / Westercon 78
100USD
Additional prizes are TBA.
Eligibility
- All stories must be a standalone, short fiction story inspired by Our Theme.
- Word count minimum is 2,000 words. Maximum word count for all stories is 4,000 words (hard limit).
- Authors may not have previous paid fiction publications ($.08 per word or more).
Manuscripts
- Format: Rich Text Format (RTF) or Word-compatible Document (DOC/DOCX).
- Font: 12-point (Times New Roman, Cambria, or Palatino only).
- Margins: 1 inch all sides.
- Lines: Double-spaced. Do not place extra lines between paragraphs.
- Filename Format: [Story Title] by [Author Name] (example: “Spooky Spooky by Adna Jackson.rtf”)
- Additional Info: Modern Manuscript Format
Categories
Submissions will be accepted based on the age of the submitting author:
- Under 25 years old: Young Adult/New Adult
- 25 years and older: Adult
Our Theme
The theme for this year’s BayCon / Westercon, “The Answer”, acknowledges our forty-second convention by celebrating the cosmic absurdity of Douglas Adams‘ answer to the ultimate question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. BayCon is a community of those who, every year, celebrate the boundless creativity and cultural insight found across speculative fiction.
This year, we invite you to write stories that center on the themes of cosmic wonder, absurd humor, and imagination.
Questions?
Please email writing.contest@societysf.org should you have any questions or concerns about this contest.