Short story contest #47 launched on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Its premise is
LESS
For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story in which one or more characters are trying to make something--anything--smaller in some way. Trying to change their behaviors ("I will ____ less") or their weight counts, and so does inventing a way to make something faster ("this process will take less time"). So does inventing a shrink ray.
In the spirit of the contest premise, you get less space to work with this time. Stories must be between 1,000 and 3,000 words long. Usually you can go as long as 5,000 words, but this time you must work with LESS!
Remember: For this contest, the maximum word length is 3,000 words!
GENRE RULES: No fiction aimed at readers younger than 12, no exploitative sex, no over-the-top grossout horror, and no stories that are obvious parodies of (or other uses of) well-known fictional worlds/characters created by other authors. (So, no "fan fiction".) Other than that, we'll take anything from the most super-realistic literary drama to crazy farces (real-world or otherwise) to any variant of science fiction or fantasy you can imagine. Read our past issues and you'll see.
DEADLINE: 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Friday, July 3, 2026
Expected Publication Date: On or around Sunday, August 16, 2026. We will notify authors if the publication date will be more than two days earlier or later than that.
Prize Money: In US dollars, $250 for first place, $200 for second, $150 for third, and $75 for honorable mention. If there is a guest writer selection, guest writers are paid $35. Guest writers are published about one month after the winning stories are published.
One entry per author. There is no fee for entering this contest. Remember to take all author information out of your story! Tell us who you are in the space provided in the web form cover letter you get when you click on the "submit" button, NOT in your story! No headers, no bylines... just the story.
On The Premises magazine accepts submissions in the following formats only: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), plain text (.txt), and OpenOffice/NeoOffice (.odt). If you have any questions, please write to Questions@OnThePremises.com. Thanks!