Fiction Potluck Contest The Writer's Workout

The Basics

Fiction Potluck is free to enter and open to fiction writers of all ages around the world. One entry per person per quarterly challenge.

Each quarter, we host a guest judge—they pick the challenge. Our team reads all entries blind and selects up to ten finalists, whose bios are published on the Potluck page and our blog. The guest judge reads the finalist pieces and chooses three winners. Join us for Fiction Potluck Friday at the end of each quarter to read the winning pieces!

General Rules

• All entries must be in English and original works of fiction.
• Include your piece title and "Fiction Potluck" in your file name.
• The competition runs on UTC time, beginning and ending at midnight.
• You must keep your entry private until after we post the top three winning stories.
• The judges' decisions are final.
• The judges will not provide feedback for every piece submitted.
• Winning entries are published as received.

The following are not accepted:

• Simultaneous submissions (to protect your anonymity—you'll hear back within 15 days)
• Previously published works (see above)
• AI-assisted or generated content
• Fanfiction, erotica, religious, or political content
• Pieces longer than the word count limit
• Pieces submitted outside the competition time

No identifying info inside your file.
Include your piece title at top of your doc
TNR or Arial, 10/12, single spaced
Indent paragraphs
Empty margins on all sides
Empty line for scene breaks

Name your file with piece title and Fiction Potluck

Accepted file types: .doc, .docx, .odt
Live, unlocked Google Docs or Microsoft Word links are accepted via email (submissions[at]writersworkout.net). Set your document permissions to "anyone with the link can [comment or edit]" so we can collect it. We will not request access and we are not responsible for locked docs.

Rights

Your submission grants The Writer's Workout (WW) exclusive electronic rights for up to 90 days, ending with the winner announcements. WW reserves non-exclusive rights to digitally publish winning entries indefinitely. Winning pieces will be published as received.