Annual Fiction Contest
We’re kicking off our first annual Fiction Contest with the theme: Poetics of Nature.
Submissions will close November 1, 2026 at 11:59pm PST.
Open For Entries!
Submit Your Story
Submission Period:
September 1 - November 1
$15 Entry Fee Per Submission
$200 - First Place
$75 - Second Place
$75 - Third Place
All three winners get published in Helia Lit’s physical annual anthology (and receive a free copy).
Prizes:
The Prompt
How does nature inspire you? How do you bring nature to life in your story?
Go spooky or tranquil or reverent (or somewhere none of those words reach). A forest with intentions. A drought rearranging a family over one summer. One tree holding a whole life. A character who belongs to a place more than to any person around them.
Nature doesn’t have to be your subject, but it has to be alive in your story (we love a good nature antagonist).
Come at the prompt through setting, character, theme, structure, or whatever angle inspires you. We want you to have the freedom to tell your story the way you envision it.
For your story to be considered, nature has to be a PIVOTAL element (meaning one sentence about the weather won’t do it).
Still not sure WTF that means? Here’s your litmus test:
If you can remove all mentions of nature from your story and it can stand on its own—it doesn’t fit the prompt.
This Is What We’re Looking For
We’re looking for stories we can’t stop thinking about.
There’s no set genre, time period, or trope you have to hit. We just want to see a story that hits the prompt and sticks within the 5,000 word guidelines.
We don’t weigh publication history, degrees, agents, followings, or prior contest wins (we won’t even ask you to tell us about them). We only consider the story itself.
How
To Enter
Write to the prompt and keep your story under 5,000 words.
Submit your story with the button to the right.
Upload your story and pay the $15 entry fee.
Watch for your confirmation email, which arrives within 20 minutes.
If no confirmation reaches you within 1 hour, check your spam folder, then write to us at hello@helialit.com and we will confirm your entry by hand.
The Prizes
First place: $200
Second place: $75
Third place: $75
Our first, second, and third place winners will be published in our annual anthology with a free physical copy. The winners will also receive:
Author interviews for Substack and Helia Lit
A free editorial review with Helia’s editors
A free query review from Emerald Editorial
All finalists will have their stories featured here.
Fiction only.
5,000 words maximum.
Opens: September 1, 2026.
Closes: November 1, 2026 at 11:59pm PST.
Winners will be announced December 1, 2026.
$15 entry fee per story, with no limit on entries.
Each story requires its own entry fee, no matter how many you want to submit.
(1 story = $15; 2 stories = $30; 3 stories = $45, etc.)
The Details
We Want To Read Your Story!
New, original short stories only. Work posted publicly on a blog, newsletter, or social account counts as published and will not be considered.
Entries must be in English.
Writers must be 18 or older.
You must pay the $15 entry fee for your submission to be complete.
No simultaneous submissions allowed.
Write your own story. Work generated by AI is not eligible.
Helia Lit staff, readers, and their immediate families are not eligible.
Stories must be 5,000 words or less. Longer stories will not be considered.
All stories must follow Helia Lit Submission Guidelines for Content.
Any story not written to the prompt will not be considered (no matter how epic and amazing it is).
The Rules
Your Rights
Winners and finalists grant Helia Lit 90 days of exclusive first rights, starting the day the story publishes, so we have a window to celebrate the work properly. After 90 days, every right returns to you.
Since your story will be published in our 2026 anthology (available January 2027), you also grant Helia Lit the right to publish your story in any reprints of this specific anthology (you can still submit your story elsewhere, but print is pretty permanent).
What we mean by this is that we reserve the right to have your story published in the 2026 anthology (digital and print). You can submit elsewhere, but know your story will stay here too.
If your story doesn’t place, you keep your rights the entire time.
We Adhere to the CLMP Code of Ethics
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The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. Intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree
to conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors;
to provide clear and specific contest guidelines—defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and
to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public.
This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.
How Reading Works
Two readers see every entry, and every entry gets read to the last line. We’ll see your name, but that’s it. We’re not checking out your socials, credentials, past contest wins, etc. We’re making it as blind as we can.
Entries close November 1 | Finalists announced November 20 | Winners announced December 1
We’ll celebrate the writers moving forward in each round on our socials and in our newsletter, Get Lit Weekly. Everyone who entered will hear from us by email on December 1 (placed or not).
Frequently Asked Questions
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As many as you like, at $15 each. Every story is read on its own.
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No. Send us the version you want us to read.
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Trim the story. We hold the 5,000 word cap for everyone. No exceptions (we love you, promise).
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Yes! Horror, fantasy, science fiction, literary, historical, and anything sitting between them.
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It won’t be considered. Send us something else (insert emojis). Sorry, not sorry.
Please Give These A Read
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Yes, it’s $15 per entry. One story per entry.
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No. The contest is separate from the print edition and from our contributor rates, however, winners will be published in our annual anthology.
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HELL YEAH! $200 for first place, $75 for second and third.
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Everyone hears back by December 1st, placed or not (check your inbox).
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No. We are a small team, and we’re devoted to giving every story a fair read.
