Write a short story on the theme “Buried” and submit it for a chance to see your story published and win $100. It’s free to enter and open to everyone.
Spring is here! (Or it isn’t, depending on your hemisphere.)
Spring means new life, rains, plants growing, seedlings emerging from the earth.
Our theme for this Spring’s contest is “Buried.” Interesting word. Buried cities, online information buried in an ocean of propaganda, or a corpse buried for endless rest.
Have you ever looked for buried treasure? Or buried a seed in the ground? Or have you ever gotten buried by your siblings in the sand at the beach?
Your story could be a tale of something long buried being uncovered, or perhaps the opposite—something free being buried and forgotten. Or you could take it in a completely different direction; say, an alchemist’s apprentice buried in homework, or a hidden city suddenly unburied in an earthquake, or a child unburying an old photo of her grandmother.
So get creative! We can’t wait to see what you come up with. “Bury” us in submissions!
Your story does not need to include the word “buried,” but it should embody the idea in one way or another.
This contest will be judged by The Company’s first-year apprentices: R.J. Catlin, Vella Karman, and Noah Matthews.
All genres and styles of narrative writing (storytelling) are accepted for this contest, as long as it’s 1,500 words or less. It’s completely free to enter.
Your story can be funny, scary, heartwarming, compelling, or invigorating. You can interpret the theme as creatively as you want.
The deadline to enter is 11:59pm ET on July 1, 2024. We’ll announce the winners sometime in the month of July.
Fabulous Writing Contest Prizes
The winner of this contest will take home a $100 Amazon gift card and be published by The Pearl. The runner-up will receive a $50 credit to spend in The Company Store.
Member Bonus: Anyone can enter one story in this contest for free, but Agents and Operatives of The Company with an account in good standing can submit up to three stories.
How to Enter this Writing Contest
Entering the contest is simple. If you don’t have an account with The Company yet, you can get one for free here. Simply register, log in, and then submit your story here. There’s some additional details on that page about file types, font sizes, and that sort of thing, so make sure you read all of the details on the submission page before you submit.
Details Roundup
Writing Contest Theme: “Buried” – all styles and genres are welcome. Your story does not need to include the word “Buried,” just the idea.
Word Limit: 1,500 words or less.
Deadline: 11:59pm ET on July 1, 2024
Contest Prize: Winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card and their story will be published by The Pearl. Runner-up will receive a $50 credit to The Company Store.
Who can participate? Anyone. There is no cost to enter. The writing contest is open to writers of all ages and experience levels. You may live anywhere in the world, but you must have a mailing address in the United States to receive physical prizes. If you’re an Agent or Operative level member of The Company, you can submit two additional stories for free.
Do I keep the rights to my work? Yes! We will only publish the contest winner to our website. All others retain complete control and copyrights of their work. Before The Pearl publishes the winner, they will ask for permission from the author. You can still win even if you’d prefer your story to not be published.
How do I enter? Register for a FREE account with The Company. Registration is easy. Once registered, log in to submit your work for this contest.
I need help! We’d love to help you. Shoot us an email at info@writers.company. Don’t wait until the day of the deadline to ask for help. You can also ask questions on “The Company Secrets” Facebook group.
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About the Contest Judges
The Spring Writing Contest will be judged by The Company’s first-year apprentices.
R. J. Catlin is a storyteller from the shores of West Michigan who loves Jesus, weird fun facts, and talking about movies with her friends.
Connect with R.J. on her website RJCatlin.com or find her on Instagram @rjcatlinauthor.
Vella Karman is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas who loves God, people, and stories of all kinds, especially the ones told in writing or dance.
Find Vella at VellaKarman.com and connect with her on Instagram @vellakarmanauthor.
Noah J. Matthews is a writer and amateur filmmaker hailing from the backwoods of Northern Michigan.
Follow Noah’s writing at NoahJMatthews.com.
Hello. I have a question… I was going to use something that needs copyright things can I? (For the contest)
Hi JC. I’m not sure I understand your question exactly, but you are responsible for making sure that you have the rights to use the content of your story. Please don’t submit anything that might violate someone else’s copyright.
Thanks for clarifying that! Your answer well answered my question.
You’re welcome. Happy to help!
Can I submit something that I previously self published?
Hey Joseph. Sorry, this contest is for previously unpublished material only.
If you previously self-published, but have since completely removed the work from publication (meaning it’s no longer available anywhere), we can make an exception for that and you may submit.
I had an idea for this contest, but it was a fan-fic. I wasn’t sure if that was allowed. Can I write a story with the same characters, but using different POV, thoughts, and emotions, and still enter it?
That’s such a good question, Natalia.
No, you may not submit fanfic to this contest. Let me explain why. You must hold the copyright to the work that you submit. Unfortunately, fan-fiction typically violates the rights of the author of the original work. If you are copying characters directly from their work, that’s technically stealing their work.
It’s usually fine to do for fun or as an exercise to grow as a writer, but when you begin to share it publicly (especially with the hopes of profiting off of it, like you might with this contest), then it becomes a problem.
However, only the author’s specific work is protected, not necessarily their ideas. So, for instance, you make write a story about a boy wizard who attends a magical school, but you can’t call him Harry Potter and you can’t call the school Hogwarts.
You can write a story about a magical world where it’s always winter, just so you don’t call it Narnia or use the same line “always winter, but never Christmas,” because that would be directly copying C. S. Lewis.
If we’re honest, everything we write is inspired by something.
For the story you’re considering submitting, could you simply change the names of the characters and places to make it your own work?
In any case, we hope you figure out a solution and decide to submit. 🙂
Ok, thanks. I just had a really fun (and rather sad) idea from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Anyway, thanks for the memo and I’ll keep that in mind in case I come up with anything else that might work.
Hi Natalia, sorry to cut in, just was reading the comments here and came across yours. I’m fairly certain 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is in the public domain, meaning it ISN’T a copyright violation if you want to write stories using characters and such from it. Hope that helps!
That’s a great point, Hayley. I made the assumption that we were talking about fanfic of something relatively modern.
Hello!
I’m asking about which name to put on a submission as a 12 year old since parents are asked to do enter in the name of young entrants. Do I put mine or my mom’s?
Thanks!
When are the results for the contest coming out?
No pressure, but if you are going to get the results out “sometime in July” you only have a few hours left… LOL. Did we Burry you in stories???
Haha, you’re right! It’s scheduled to go out today. 🙂