Call for the One Teen Story Writing Contest 2025!!!
One Teen Story contest asks writers ages 13-19 to enter their original, unpublished fiction. We are interested in great short stories of any genre about the teen experience—literary, fantasy, sci-fi, love stories, horror, etc. What’s in a great short story? Interesting teen characters, strong writing, and a beginning, middle, and end.
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One Teen Story publishes 3 stories a year and accepts submissions from teen writers ages 13-19.
One Teen Story is looking for great short stories written by teens about the teen experience. Some examples of stories they look out for are ones that deal with issues of identity, friendship, family, and coming-of-age. Gratuitous profanity, sex, and drug use are best avoided. They’re open to all genres of well-written young adult fiction between 2,000 and 4,500 words. Because of their format, they can only accept stories that are strong enough to stand alone (as opposed to excerpts from novels-in-progress). Proof of the author’s age will be required for all stories accepted for publication.
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One Story began in 2001. Hannah Tinti and Maribeth Batcha saw short stories disappearing from high-profile print publications and smaller literary magazines folding. They knew that with fewer venues for short fiction, emerging writers would have a hard time getting noticed, and short stories could fall by the literary wayside.
Batcha had the innovative idea of mailing one short story at a time to subscribers, like a letter from a friend. Tinti signed on as editor. One Story launched in 2002.
To keep the doors of One Story open to all, the co-founders set a policy that they would only publish one author. Since then, One Story has published over 300 stories by 300 different writers in an unfussy 5 x 7 chapbook format. While a copy of One Story might get wrinkled, dog-eared, and passed along, the story itself stays with the reader.
After its first ten years, One Story, Inc. expanded its publishing roster to include One Teen Story, which gives teen authors the opportunity to be published, professionally edited, and paid for their work.
The organization also began offering writing workshops and online craft classes that follow the ethos of its publications. Classes are fun, affordable, and easy to fit into one’s life. One Story now provides high-level writing education to thousands of adults who may not have the time or money for an MFA or other high-commitment programs.
The winners will be announced in the Spring of 2026. All contestants will be notified of the results.
Location:
OnlineBenefits
- The winning stories will be published on our website.
- The contest winners will receive $500 upon publication.
- The contest winners will also have the opportunity to work with a One Teen Story editor prior to publication.
- Honorable mentions will be chosen in three age categories: 13-15, 16-17, and 18-19, and each will be announced on our website, by email announcement, and on social media.
Eligibilities
- To enter, you must be between the ages of 13-19 as of December 1, 2025.
- Short stories should be between 2,000 to 4,500 words and be the writer’s own original, previously unpublished work.
- Previously published stories and stories forthcoming at other publications cannot be considered. This includes stories that have been self-published online on personal websites or other publishing platforms, including blogs and school publications.
- By submitting your work, you are acknowledging that it is your own creation, that it has not been borrowed from any other person’s work (including film, video, and online content), that it has not been created with any assistance from AI tools or software, and that the characters and situations are of your own invention.
- Stories should have teens as their main characters and be about the teen experience.
- No entry fee is required.
- Only one submission per person.
- One Teen Story reserves the right to approve all final, edited content.
- A parent or legal guardian must sign a consent form for One Teen Story to publish the names of winners and honorable mentions who are under the age of 18 on our website and social media platforms.
- You must submit through our online submission manager.
- Proof of age must be provided by all winners and finalists.
Application Process
- When you are ready to submit, please go to our online submission manager and select One Teen Story Contest, followed by your age group (13-15, 16-17, 18-19).
- You will receive a confirmation email upon submitting. This is also where you can view the status of your submission or withdraw a submission.
- All manuscripts must be written in English when submitted and must not have appeared online in any form or language. Translations are accepted, but we will ask to see a copy of the original text.
- All paper submissions will be recycled upon receipt. We accept DOC, DOCX, PDF, and RTF files. Please include the story title and all writer contact info on the first page of the submitted file. Please also double-space your submission and include page numbers.
Application Deadline: December 1, 2025 (5 Days Remaining)
Apply nowOfficial link
