flash fiction competition Archives

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition: #MicroPalace

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for our next micro-fiction contest. Another month to give you another opportunity to win 50 USD – and to become a better writer of course. The theme for this round of the Sweek Flash Fiction contest is very mysterious and medieval. Think of king and queens and big royal parties, the contest for May will be #MicroPalace. Write a story that includes the word ‘palace’ and see how creative you can get. What comes to mind when you see the word ‘palace‘?

Last month’s micro-fiction contest was all about the word ‘boat’ and with over a 100 entries we picked a few that really stood out. Check out our social media channels to find out who won. Goodluck in this round and we can’t wait what you come up with!

PLEASE NOTE

There will be no longer any ‘Best Feedback’ prize. Nevertheless we encourage you to comment on stories and help the Sweek writing community develop as a whole.
The popularity prize will only be awarded once per writer, for all round. Hence, winning the popularity prize for one micro round will make you ineligible for winning it again.

SUMMARY OF THE CONTEST

Write 250 words (max.) of prose including the word ”palace” within the story.
Add tag #MicroPalace – either in the main title of the story, in its description or tag(s) section to take part in the contest.
It’s international – you can participate no matter where you are from although entries marked as #MicroPalace must be written in English.
You can participate with this contest even if you have already participated/won previously.
Opportunities to grow – this is your chance to get discovered and published via Sweek Publishing!

___

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Download the Sweek app or use our website.
Website: https://sweek.com/
Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid
iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS
Log in or create an account.
Click on ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’ to upload your story.
Tag #MicroPalace in the title, description box or tag(s) section – find this at ‘Story Details’. Then publish your story.
Lastly, don’t forget to share your story with your friends and family to increase engagement and awareness. You can be smart by sharing it on all your social media channels as well!

__

DEADLINE

Open submissions: 1st May – 24th may (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 31rd of may

__

PRIZES

Also very important to know, what will the prizes be?

The Best Story

50$ US
A special ‘Best Story’ badge to add on your story cover
Getting published in the Sweek bundle book
A free copy of the bundle

The Most Original Story

A special ‘Most Original‘ badge to add on your story cover
Getting featured on the Sweek ‘featured’ category list

The Most Popular Story

A special ‘Most Popular’ badge to add on your story cover

__

HOW DOES IT WORK?

A step-by-step guide to give you the best writing experience.

Every round gives you a new word or sentence that you must include in your story. It can be open topic or a specific theme you write about.
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time, even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds. The winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcome to participate in the following editions.
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners and finalists will be personally contacted through e-mail and will also be announced on our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), blog and e-mail on the day of announcement.

How will be the winners be chosen?

The ‘Best Story‘ prize will be based on writing style, the plot development of the story, originality, the overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as the interpretation of the given prompt.
The ‘Best Story‘-winner will receice $50 US and will be published in the Sweek Micro Fiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek Self-Publishing.
The ‘Most Original Story’ must have an unexpected plots twist/ending, present unique insights or be written on a noteworthy topic.
The ‘Most Popular Story‘ will be determined by the total number of likes.
The shortlist (excluding The Most Popular Story) will be featured on Sweek and published in a bundle.
There will be one winner selected in the Best Story category, on in the Most Original category, and one story will be designated as the Most Popular Story. The latter prize awarded per writer, and as such, you cannot win Most Popular Story Twice.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announce. However, the titles on the longlist will not get published in the bundle.
The next round will be announced on 03/06.

__

RULES

Read the guidelines and rules carefully before participating in this contest to prevent misunderstandings.

You have to be 13 years or older to participate – younger participants need their parents’ permission.
This is an international contest – which means it’s open to every country, however when submitting your #MicroPalace story, it has to be written in English. (If you participate in another language than English, make sure that you write a correct language-specific tag.)
The story cannot exceed the maximum of 250 words.
The story has the #MicroPalace tag included. Either in the main title of the story, the description box or tag(s) section.
The story must be created by you. Co-writing is accepted, but the prize has to be share. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be against those involved.
The story must be submitted before the deadline. You will be disqualified if you edit your story afterwards.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can participate with any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be any genre, except not poetry. E.g it can be a combination of young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
The most popular story is determined by the number of likes on Sweek and needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. The deadline for like is 28th of April. Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. Can only be won once per writer.
You will be disqualified and deleted for spam comments/messages of your story for promotion (except for a special story dedicated to promotion).
If the winners do not respond within a period of two weeks, the price will be given to the second place.
By entering in this contest, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author object to such, he or she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in any way. (print or e-book)
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal or by bank transfer in case the winner lives in Europe. (Sweek bears the transfer costs). In special cases, the money will be given via gift card for example if creating a PayPal account is impossible.
Sweek is not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
By participating in this contest the user acknowledges that he/she is aware and accept the rules of said contest.

THE JURY MEMBERS

K. Banning Kellum

K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Melanie Faith
Melanie loves flash so much that she wrote a craft book about the genre to inspire fellow writers, In a Flash!: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose (Vine Leaves Press), and her next craft book, Poetry Power, will be published (Vine Leaves Press) in late October 2018. In her free time, she loves crossword puzzles and shoe shopping, photography, blogging, and visiting her darling nieces.

FAQ

Answers to all the Frequently Asked Questions.

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?
250 words max.
CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?
Yes, you can.
IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?
Yes, the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian.
HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?
You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).
For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. If you want to edit your story title/description, go to the 3-dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3-dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.
HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?
If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.
HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?
The absolute best way is to promote your story via your own social media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. The link to share your story can be found when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!
DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?
No, but if your story is tagged, you are definitely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure, please ask us.
HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?
The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.
WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?
No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.
WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?
We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!
WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?
We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Contest: #MicroClock

Tick-tock – it’s time for #MicroClock! That’s right, the hour has come for us to hand you the next keyword in our chronic contest. It’s time to clock in and write some timeless flash fiction with chronal themes, and we are excited! Watch out though, the idiomatic sands of time have already started to run out, so don’t waste another second and get to writing!

SUMMARY OF THE CONTEST:

– Write 250 words (max.) of prose including the word “clock” anywhere within the story. Due to their more or less identical function, the word “watch” will also be accepted.

– Add #MicroClock tag either in the main title of the story / its description / tags- section to take part in the challenge.

– You can participate no matter where you are from although entries marked as #MicroClock must be written in English.

– You can take part in this contest even if you’ve already participated/won previously.

– This is your chance to get discovered and published via Sweek self-publishing!

❓ HOW TO PARTICIPATE ❓

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #MicroClock either in the title, description or tags section (which is part of Story Details).

That’s it, easy-peasy – you’re published! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more fans!

🗓 DURATION 🗓

Submissions open: 1st of November – 22nd of November (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 31st of November

🏆 PRIZES 🏆

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Most Original Story: A special badge on the story + getting featured on Sweek!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and featured on Sweek!

💬 #MICROCLOCK FEEDBACK 💬

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microclock on Sweek and read a story.

Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.

Step 3. Add #microclockfeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.

Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until the 22nd of November 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

📜 RULES 📜

Read these guidelines carefully before joining this writing competition!

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
This is an international contest open to every country (if you participate in another language than English, make sure that you write a correct, language-specific tag). Entries marked as #MicroClock must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
Your story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be uploaded on Sweek during the submission period.
The story must be tagged with #MicroClock (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
The most popular story is determined by the number of likes. The deadline for likes is 29th of November, 23:59 CET
Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the prize will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
By participating in this contest the user acknowledges that he/she is aware of and accepts the rules of said contest.

🖋 HOW DOES IT WORK? 🖋

Step-by-step instructions

Every round gives you a new word/sentence (this time: “clock”) that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcome to participate in the following editions.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (this time: #microclock).
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 30/11/2018.
The Best Story prize will be based on writing style, the plot development of the story, originality, the overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as the interpretation of the given prompt.
The author of The Best Story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
The Most Original Story must have an unexpected plot twist/ending, present unique insights or be written on a noteworthy topic.
The Most Popular Story will be determined by the total number of likes and will receive a special badge on Sweek.
The shortlist (excluding the most popular story) will be featured on Sweek and published in a bundle.
There will be one winner in The Best Story and Most Original category, one contestant will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be designated as The Most Popular Story.
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microclockfeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get published in the bundle.
The next round will be announced on 01/12.

🤓 JURY MEMBERS 🤓

Together with the Sweek editorial team, our jury members choose the shortlist and the winners.

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum

K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Melanie Faith
Melanie loves flash so much that she wrote a craft book about the genre to inspire fellow writers, In a Flash!: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose (Vine Leaves Press), and her next craft book, Poetry Power, will be published (Vine Leaves Press) in late October 2018. In her free time, she loves crossword puzzles and shoe shopping, photography, blogging, and visiting her darling nieces.

Melissa Goodrich
Melissa Goodrich is the author of the story collection Daughters of Monsters, the poetry chapbook IF YOU WHAT, and a collaborative fiction collection forthcoming from Goldwake Press. She earned her MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona. Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review Online, Passages North, PANK, and others.

❓ FAQ ❓

Answers to all the Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. If you want to edit your story title/description, go to the 3-dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3-dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

The absolute best way is to promote your story via your own social media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. The link to share your story can be found when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are definitely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Contest: #MicroBlue

Our blue ribbon contest is back!

As the summer fades away and the dark, rugged autumn makes an entrance, some of us here at Sweek HQ were feeling a little blue. This suddenly changed however, when out of the blue, we had the idea for our next flash fiction round! Inspiration like this only comes along once in a blue moon, so we hope you’re excited for #MicroBlue!

In case there’s still any doubt, the word for this round is indeed “blue”, meaning that you can get as creative as you want, as long as you include that word in your story. Are your characters going to be blue-bloods involved in a fierce family drama? The boys in blue hunting for a particularly dangerous perp? Maybe a poor blue-eyed character trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea? A boxer, beaten black and blue but determined to win? The possibilities are nearly endless. Let’s get this started!

SUMMARY OF THE CONTEST:

– Write 250 words (max.) of prose including the word “blue” anywhere within the story.

– Add #MicroBlue tag either in the main title of the story / its description / tags- section to take part in the challenge.

– You can participate no matter where you are from although entries marked as #MicroBlue must be written in English.

– You can take part in this contest even if you’ve already participated/won previously.

– This is your chance to get discovered and published via Sweek self-publishing!

❓ HOW TO PARTICIPATE ❓

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #MicroBlue either in the title, description or tags section (which is part of Story Details).

That’s it, easy-peasy – you’re published! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more fans!

🗓 DURATION 🗓

Submissions open: 1st of October – 22nd of October (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 31st of October

🏆 PRIZES 🏆

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Most Original Story: A special badge on the story + getting featured on Sweek!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and featured on Sweek!

💬 #MICROBLUE FEEDBACK 💬

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microblue on Sweek and read a story.

Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.

Step 3. Add #microbluefeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.

Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until the 22nd of October 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

📜 RULES 📜

Read these guidelines carefully before joining this writing competition!

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
This is an international contest open to every country (if you participate in another language than English, make sure that you write a correct, language-specific tag). Entries marked as #MicroBlue must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
Your story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be uploaded on Sweek during the submission period.
The story must be tagged with #MicroBlue (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
The most popular story is determined by the number of likes. The deadline for likes is 31st of October, 23:59 CET
Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the prize will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
By participating in this contest the user acknowledges that he/she is aware of and accepts the rules of said contest.

🖋 HOW DOES IT WORK? 🖋

Step-by-step instructions

Every round gives you a new word/sentence (here: “blue”) that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcome to participate in the following editions.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microblue).
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 31/10/2018.
The Best Story prize will be based on writing style, the plot development of the story, originality, the overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as the interpretation of the given prompt.
The author of The Best Story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
The Most Original Story must have an unexpected plot twist/ending, present unique insights or be written on a noteworthy topic.
The Most Popular Story will be determined by the total number of likes and will receive a special badge on Sweek.
The shortlist (excluding the most popular story) will be featured on Sweek and published in a bundle.
There will be one winner in The Best Story and Most Original category, one contestant will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be designated as The Most Popular Story.
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microbluefeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get published in the bundle.
The new round will be announced on 01/11.

🤓 JURY MEMBERS 🤓

Together with the Sweek editorial team, our jury members choose the shortlist and the winners.

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum

K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Melanie Faith
Melanie loves flash so much that she wrote a craft book about the genre to inspire fellow writers, In a Flash!: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose (Vine Leaves Press), and her next craft book, Poetry Power, will be published (Vine Leaves Press) in late October 2018. In her free time, she loves crossword puzzles and shoe shopping, photography, blogging, and visiting her darling nieces.

Melissa Goodrich
Melissa Goodrich is the author of the story collection Daughters of Monsters, the poetry chapbook IF YOU WHAT, and a collaborative fiction collection forthcoming from Goldwake Press. She earned her MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona. Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review Online, Passages North, PANK, and others.

❓ FAQ ❓

Answers to all the Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. If you want to edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

The absolute best way is to promote your story via your own social media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. The link to share your story can be found when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are definitely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Contest: #MicroSecret

Psssst, Sweekers!

The theme for this round of the Sweek Flash Fiction contest is a secret – or several, if you prefer. For this flash fiction round, #MicroSecret, we want you to write a story dealing with just that – whether it is the revelation, keeping, or public exposure of a secret, or perhaps something else entirely is completely up to you and your imagination. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!

SUMMARY OF THE CONTEST:

– Write 250 words (max.) of prose including the word “secret” anywhere within the story.

– Add #MicroSecret tag either in the main title of the story / its description / tags- section to take part in the challenge.

– You can participate no matter where you are from although entries marked as #MicroSecret must be written in English.

– You can take part in this contest even if you’ve already participated/won previously.

– This is your chance to get discovered and published via Sweek self-publishing!

❓ HOW TO PARTICIPATE ❓

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #MicroSecret either in the title, description or tags section (which is part of Story Details).

That’s it, easy-peasy – you’re published! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more fans!

🗓 DURATION 🗓

Submissions open: 1st of September – 22nd of September (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 30th of September

🏆 PRIZES 🏆

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Most Original Story: A special badge on the story + getting featured on Sweek!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and featured on Sweek!

💬 #MICROSECRET FEEDBACK 💬

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microsecret on Sweek and read a story.

Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.

Step 3. Add #microsecretfeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.

Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until the 22nd of August 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

📜 RULES 📜

Read these guidelines carefully before joining this writing competition!

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
This is an international contest open to every country (if you participate in another language than English, make sure that you write a correct, language-specific tag). Entries marked as #MicroSecret must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
Your story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be uploaded on Sweek during the submission period.
The story must be tagged with #MicroSecret (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
The most popular story is determined by the number of likes. The deadline for likes is 30th of August, 23:59 CET
Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the prize will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
By participating in this contest the user acknowledges that he/she is aware of and accepts the rules of said contest.

🖋 HOW DOES IT WORK? 🖋

Step-by-step instructions

Every round gives you a new word/sentence (here: “secret”) that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcome to participate in the following editions.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microsecret).
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 31/08/2018.
The Best Story prize will be based on writing style, the plot development of the story, originality, the overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as the interpretation of the given prompt.
The author of The Best Story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
The Most Original Story must have an unexpected plot twist/ending, present unique insights or be written on a noteworthy topic.
The Most Popular Story will be determined by the total number of likes and will receive a special badge on Sweek.
The shortlist (excluding the most popular story) will be featured on Sweek and published in a bundle.
There will be one winner in The Best Story and Most Original category, one contestant will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be designated as The Most Popular Story.
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microfearfeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get published in the bundle.
The new round will be announced on 01/09

WINNERS:

Best Story: No One Should Know by @Risti Ghosh

Most Original Story: Golden Crowns by @Jane W.

Most Popular Story: Babel by @Elvissavir

Best Feedback: @SilverStockings

🤓 JURY MEMBERS 🤓

Together with the Sweek editorial team, our jury members choose the shortlist and the winners.

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum

K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Melanie Faith
Melanie loves flash so much that she wrote a craft book about the genre to inspire fellow writers, In a Flash!: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose (Vine Leaves Press), and her next craft book, Poetry Power, will be published (Vine Leaves Press) in late October 2018. In her free time, she loves crossword puzzles and shoe shopping, photography, blogging, and visiting her darling nieces.

Melissa Goodrich
Melissa Goodrich is the author of the story collection Daughters of Monsters, the poetry chapbook IF YOU WHAT, and a collaborative fiction collection forthcoming from Goldwake Press. She earned her MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona. Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review Online, Passages North, PANK, and others.

❓ FAQ ❓

Answers to all the Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. If you want to edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

The absolute best way is to promote your story via your own social media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. The link to share your story can be found when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are definitely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Contest: #MicroFear

Hey Sweekers,

It’s time for yet another round of our flash fiction contest. This month, we’ve decided on something a bit more dramatic and visceral, namely (drumroll please!):

#Microfear!

So get caffeinated – or whatever your pre-writing ritual might entail – and show us what you’ve got!

SUMMARY OF THE CONTEST:

– Write 250 words (max.) of prose including the word “fear” anywhere within the story.

– Add #MicroFear tag either in the main title of the story / its description / tags- section to take part in the challenge.

– You can participate no matter where you are from although entries marked as #MicroFear must be written in English.

– You can take part in this challenge even if you’ve already participated/won previously.

– This is your chance to get discovered and published via Sweek self-publishing!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE ❓

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #microfear either in the title, description or tags section (which is part of Story Details).

That’s it, easy-peasy – you’re published! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more fans!

🗓 DURATION 🗓

Submissions open: 1st of August – 22nd of August (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 31st of August

🏆 PRIZES 🏆

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Most Original Story: A special badge on the story + getting featured on Sweek!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and featured on Sweek.

💬 #MICROFEARFEEDBACK 💬

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microfear on Sweek and read a story.

Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.

Step 3. Add #microfearfeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.

Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until the 22nd of August 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

📜 RULES 📜

Read these guidelines carefully before joining this writing competition!

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
This is an international contest open to every country (if you participate in another language than English, make sure that you write a correct, language-specific tag). Entries marked as #MicroFear must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
Your story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be uploaded on Sweek during the submission period.
The story must be tagged with #MicroFear (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
The most popular story is determined by the number of likes. The deadline for likes is 30th of August, 23:59 CET
Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the prize will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
By participating in this contest the user acknowledges that he/she is aware of and accepts the rules of said contest.

🖋 HOW DOES IT WORK? 🖋

Step-by-step instructions

Every round gives you a new word/sentence (here: “fear”) that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcome to participate in the following editions.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microfear).
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 31/08/2018.
The Best Story prize will be based on writing style, the plot development of the story, originality, the overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as the interpretation of the given prompt.
The author of The Best Story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
The Most Original Story must have an unexpected plot twist/ending, present unique insights or be written on a noteworthy topic.
The Most Popular Story will be determined by the total number of likes and will receive a special badge on Sweek.
The shortlist (excluding the most popular story) will be featured on Sweek and published in a bundle.
There will be one winner in The Best Story and Most Original category, one contestant will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be designated as The Most Popular Story.
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microfearfeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get published in the bundle.
The new round will be announced on 01/09.

WINNERS

BEST STORY: THE SOUND OF FEAR BY JOELRHUNT – https://sweek.com/read/12901/1102674648

MOST ORIGINAL: THE HYPOCRITE BY NANDHITHA HEMANTHKUMAR – https://sweek.com/read/7/1600671318

MOST POPULAR: PRISONER BY ELVISSAVIR – https://sweek.com/read/13873/1102674648

BEST FEEDBACK: PRANJJ

🤓 JURY MEMBERS 🤓

Together with the Sweek editorial team, our jury members choose the shortlist and the winners.

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum
K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Melanie Faith
Melanie loves flash so much that she wrote a craft book about the genre to inspire fellow writers, In a Flash!: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose (Vine Leaves Press), and her next craft book, Poetry Power, will be published (Vine Leaves Press) in late October 2018. In her free time, she loves crossword puzzles and shoe shopping, photography, blogging, and visiting her darling nieces.

Melissa Goodrich
Melissa Goodrich is the author of the story collection Daughters of Monsters, the poetry chapbook IF YOU WHAT, and a collaborative fiction collection forthcoming from Goldwake Press. She earned her MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona. Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review Online, Passages North, PANK, and others.

❓ FAQ ❓

Answers to all the Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. If you want to edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

The absolute best way is to promote your story via your own social media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. The link to share your story can be found when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are definitely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition: #MicroDoor

#MicroDoor round of our flash fiction challenge gives you a new task – “She/he has/had to find the door…” sentence to include anywhere within the story!

🤔 CONTEST SUMMARY 🤔

– Write 250 words (max.) of prose including the sentence “She/he has/had to find the door…” anywhere within the story,

– Add #MicroDoor tag either in the main title of the story / its description / tags section to take part in the challenge,

– You can participate no matter where you are from although entries marked as #MicroDoor must be written in English,

– You can take part in this challenge even if you already participated/won previously,

– It is your chance to get discovered and published via Sweek self-publishing!

❓ HOW TO PARTICIPATE ❓

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #microdoor either in the title, description or tags section (which is a part of Story Details).

That’s it! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more readers!

🗓 DURATION 🗓

Submissions open: 1st of July – 22nd of July (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 31st of July

🏆 PRIZES 🏆

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Most Original Story: getting published in the Sweek book + a special badge on the story + getting featured on Sweek + a free copy of the bundle!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and will be featured on Sweek.

💬 #MICRODOORFEEDBACK 💬

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microdoor on Sweek and read a story.
Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.
Step 3. Add #microdoorfeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.
Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until 22nd of July 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

🖋 HOW DOES IT WORK 🖋

Step-by-step instructions

Every round gives you a new word/sentence (here: “She/he has/had to find the door…”) that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about.
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcomed to participate in the following editions.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microdoor).
At the same time the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 31/07/2018.
The Best Story prize will be based on the writing style, plot development of the story, originality, overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as interpretation of the given prompt.
The author of The Best Story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
The Most Original Story must have an unexpected plot twist/ending, present unique insights or be written on a noteworthy topic. The author will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book via Sweek self-publishing.
The Most Popular Story will be determined by the total number of likes and will receive a special badge on the story.
Shortlist (excluding the most popular story) will be featured on Sweek and published in a bundle.
There will be one winner in The Best Story and Most Original category, one person will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be awarded as The Most Popular Story.
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microdayfeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get to the bundle.
The new round will be announced on 01/08.

📜 RULES 📜

Read these guidelines carefully before joining this writing competition!

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
The contest is international and is open to every country (if you participate in other language then English, make sure that you write a correct, language-specific tag). Entries marked as #MicroDoor must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek.
The story must have the #microdoor (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
Most popular story is determined by the number of likes. Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest.

WINNERS:

BEST STORY: “Gideon’s Choice” by Rachel Wollaston – https://sweek.com/read/6573/1102674648

MOST POPULAR STORY: “Anecdote” by Priya – https://sweek.com/read/43/2103109330

MOST ORIGINAL STORY: “Catastrophe” by mrcoykendall – https://sweek.com/read/9472/1102674648

BEST FEEDBACK: NehaVaradharajan

🤓 JURY MEMBERS 🤓

Together with the Sweek editorial team, our jury members choose the shortlist and the winners.

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum
K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Melanie Faith
Melanie loves flash so much that she wrote a craft book about the genre to inspire fellow writers, In a Flash!: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose (Vine Leaves Press), and her next craft book, Poetry Power, will be published (Vine Leaves Press) in late October 2018. In her free time, she loves crossword puzzles and shoe shopping, photography, blogging, and visiting her darling nieces.

Melissa Goodrich
Melissa Goodrich is the author of the story collection Daughters of Monsters, the poetry chapbook IF YOU WHAT, and a collaborative fiction collection forthcoming from Goldwake Press. She earned her MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona. Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review Online, Passages North, PANK, and others.

❓ FAQ ❓

Answers to all the Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, at the same time there will be flash fiction contest running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. To edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

Best way is to promote your story via your own Social Media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. You can find the link to share your story when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are surely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure you are participating, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT!

Yet another round of our flash fiction contest draws to a close! Here are the winners of #Microdoor!

BEST STORY: “Gideon’s Choice” by Rachel Wollaston

MOST POPULAR STORY: “Anecdote” by Priya

MOST ORIGINAL STORY: “Catastrophe” by mrcoykendall

BEST FEEDBACK: @NehaVaradharajan

SHORTLIST:

“The Hidden Door” by Mark Groenen

“Catastrophe” by mrcoykendall

“Escape” by RyanHatesMilk

“Blind Sight” by glovestory

“Coma” by mjpennell

“Gideon’s Choice” by Rachel Wollaston

“Oblivious” by Michelle Yssel

“Quicksilver Maze” by JohnnyWalkerI

Congratulations everyone, and great job! Thank you to everyone who participated, it was a really tough round – we love it when you make it difficult for us to choose!

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition: #MicroGame

Participate in the fourth round of the Sweek Flash Fiction contest: #MicroGame!

Make it your chance to show off your creativity and come up with an intriguing and gripping plot to surprise the judges and readers!

The rules are simple: write 250 words max. of fiction revolving around a game. To make sure your work is participating in the competition, tag it with #micrograme (check the step-by-step guidelines below to learn how to do so).

A quick reminder – to promote your microfiction pieces – use either ‘Promote your #MicroGame story!’ on Sweek or ‘Sweek Fan Group‘ on Facebook where you can exchange feedback and gain new readers.

Are you ready? The game is on! Join our challenge until 22/05 to win $50 and get published!

How to participate:

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in.

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’.

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #microgame either in the title, description or tags section (which is a part of Story Details) and description.

That’s it! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more readers!

Duration:

Submissions open: 1st of May – 22nd of May (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 31st of May

Prizes:

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize.

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge.

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and will be featured on Sweek.

#MICROGAMEFEEDBACK

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microgame on Sweek and read a story.
Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.
Step 3. Add #microgamefeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.
Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until 22nd of May 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

How does it work?

Every round gives you a new word that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about (here: game).
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcomed to participate in the following editions.
At the same time the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 31/05/2018.
The jury prize will be based on the writing style, originality and plot development of the story. The most popular story will be determined by the total number of likes.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microgame).
The author of the best story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
There will be one winner in The Best Story category, one person will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be awarded as The Most Popular Story (read more about the prizes below).
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microgamefeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get to the bundle.
The new round will be announced on 01/06.

GENERAL COMPETITION GUIDELINES

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
The contest is international and is open to every country. Nonetheless, your story must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek.
The story must have the #microgame (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
Most popular story is determined by the number of likes. Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest.

THE JURY

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum

K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

FAQ

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, at the same time there will be flash fiction contest running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. To edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

Best way is to promote your story via your own Social Media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. You can find the link to share your story when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are surely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure you are participating, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition: #MicroKey

The third round of Sweek Flash Fiction Challenge has the word #key which you have to include your 250 words microfiction.

Last time you had to write a story that revolves around a letter. In this round, you only have to mention the word “key” anywhere within the story. This means that the topic is open and you can write about anything you want.

Below you can read how to participate. Here you can find the general guidelines for the Sweek Flash Fiction Challenge.

Unlock your creativity with #MicroKey! 🗝

How to participate:

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in.

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’.

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #microkey either in the title, description or tags section (which is a part of Story Details) and description.

That’s it! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more readers!

Video tutorial on how to publish a story on Sweek!

Duration:

Submissions open: 1st of April – 22nd of April (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 30th of April

Prizes:

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize.

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge.

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and will be featured on Sweek.

How does it work?

Every round gives you a new word (here the word is: “key”) that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about.
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcomed to participate in the following editions.
At the same time the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 30/04/2018.
The jury prize will be based on the writing style, originality and plot development of the story. The most popular story will be determined by the total number of likes (deadline for the likes count: 29/04 at 23:59 CET).
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microkey).
The author of the best story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
There will be one winner in The Best Story category, one person will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be awarded as The Most Popular Story (read more about the prizes below).
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microkeyfeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get to the bundle.
The new round will be announced on 01/05.

GENERAL COMPETITION GUIDELINES

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
The contest is international and is open to every country. Nonetheless, your story must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek.
The story must have the #microkey (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
Most popular story is determined by the number of likes. Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest.

#MICROKEYFEEDBACK

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microkey on Sweek and read a story.
Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.
Step 3. Add #microkeyfeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.
Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until 22nd of April 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

THE JURY

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum
K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

The Best Story – Arielle Lynn with “Behind closed curtains”

The Most Popular Story – Janki Hemani – “The Magic Key”

The Best Feedback – Toshiba Patel, @toshiba

SHORTLIST

Chellperry – “The Secrets We Keep #Microkey”

zparkles – “Illusion #Microkey”

Shahzoda Vareberg – “The Art of Listening”

I. E. Kneverday – “Codebreaker”

C.M. Ross – “I Failed Her”

Crina Stanciu – “Music – Microkey”

KMathison – “Finding the Key”

Aveek Dutta – “The Last Adieu”

C.M. Ross – “I Found You”

FAQ

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, at the same time there will be flash fiction contest running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. To edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

Best way is to promote your story via your own Social Media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. You can find the link to share your story when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are surely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure you are participating, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition: #MicroLetter

Sweekers, if you participated in the previous rounds of Sweek microfiction contest, please keep in mind that this time the rules have changed. As we stated in the general guidelines: one month we give you a specific word to include in your story (last time it was: #microheart) and then in the following one – we give you the topic.

In this round you have to write your flash fiction about a letter.

A letter might bring you an exciting or heart-breaking news. It can also strengthen readers’ bond with the characters of your story (you probably remember the letters in the “The Sorrows of Young Werther” about his failed romance) or add some flavour to the plot itself.

Your story, your approach! Show us that you can say a lot in a little by writing your #Microletter story with 250 words of prose!

How to participate:

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in.

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’.

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #microletter either in the title, description or tags section (which is a part of Story Details) and description.

That’s it! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more readers!

Duration:

Submissions open: 1st of March – 22nd of March (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 30th of March

Prizes:

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize.

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge.

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and will be featured on Sweek.

How does it work?

Every round gives you a new word that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about (here: letter).
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcomed to participate in the following editions.
At the same time the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 30/03/2018.
The jury prize will be based on the writing style, originality and plot development of the story. The most popular story will be determined by the total number of likes.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microletter).
The author of the best story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
There will be one winner in The Best Story category, one person will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be awarded as The Most Popular Story (read more about the prizes below).
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microletterfeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get to the bundle.
The new round will be announced on 01/04.

GENERAL COMPETITION GUIDELINES

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
The contest is international and is open to every country. Nonetheless, your story must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek.
The story must have the #microletter (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
Most popular story is determined by the number of likes. Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest.

#MICROLETTERFEEDBACK

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microletter on Sweek and read a story.
Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.
Step 3. Add #microletterfeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.
Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until 22nd of March 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

WINNERS

The Best Story – Olinda Braganza – “Your Wish is My Command!”

The Best Feedback – Rinandharu

The Most Popular Story – Veronika Faith – “I invite.”

FULL SHORTLIST

“Mud” by Mark Groenen [English]

“His Gems” by RashmiAgrawal

“Her Promise” by ariellelynn

“Through the window” by Arya Ashok Dixit

“Your Wish is My Command!” by Olinda Braganza

“A Boy Named Love” by Christina Li

“The Letter #MicroLetter” by MelissaNeubert

“Letters” by Swatilekha Roy

“Number 57 #microletter” by Kathryn Evans

“Let’s Play” by Sean

THE JURY

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

Louise Blackwick
Louise Blackwick is a next-generation fiction writer, author of several experimental novels and short stories. Blackwick is particularly known as the writer of the Vivian Amberville book series, a bestselling philosophical fantasy saga about a girl whose thoughts can control and reshape reality.

FAQ

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, at the same time there will be flash fiction contest running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. To edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

Best way is to promote your story via your own Social Media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. You can find the link to share your story when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are surely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure you are participating, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition: #MicroHeart

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Sweek and write a piece of flash fiction including the word “heart” in your story!

Show emotions, write on romantic feelings, unconditional love, heartbreak – your story, your approach! Speak from your heart… and create your #microheart flash fiction! 💓 Let us feel the love in the air!

If you don’t really feel Valentine’s vibes, feel free to use satire 😉 or anything else (your story doesn’t have to be about anything specific as long as the word “heart” is included in it). The new rules (see the post with general info) allow you to write 250 words of prose.

How to participate:

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in.

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’.

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #microheart either in the title, description or tags section (which is a part of Story Details) and description.

That’s it! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more readers!

Duration:

Submissions open: 1st of February – 22nd of February (23:59 CET)

Winners announcement: 28th of February

Prizes:

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize.

The Most Popular Story: will be featured on Sweek and will be awarded a special badge.

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and will be featured on Sweek.

How does it work?

Every round gives you a new word (here the word is: “heart”) that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about.
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcomed to participate in the following editions.
At the same time the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail on 28/02/2018.
The jury prize will be based on the writing style, originality and plot development of the story. The most popular story will be determined by the total number of likes.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round (here: #microheart).
The author of the best story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
There will be one winner in The Best Story category, one person will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be awarded as The Most Popular Story (read more about the prizes below).
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #microheartfeedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get to the bundle.
The new round will be announced on 01/03.

GENERAL COMPETITION GUIDELINES

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
The contest is international and is open to every country. Nonetheless, your story must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek.
The story must have the #microheart (in the main title of the story / its description or within the tags section).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
Most popular story is determined by the number of likes. Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest.

#MICROHEARTFEEDBACK

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #microheart on Sweek and read a story.
Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.
Step 3. Add #microheartfeedback at the end of your comment so that we can find it.
Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like until 22nd of February 2018. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

WINNERS

The Best Story – “Weep for Adonais” by Allyssa Kidd

The Best Feedback – Swatilekha Roy

The Most Popular Story – “Life bond” by Harshita Nagar

We received so many great stories, from romantic and touching to gripping and blood-curdling ones.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and the winners!

FULL SHORTLIST

– “Hold On For” by MeMistressNicola

– “Letter From the Land of Flamingoes” by Sreeparna

– “My Wayward Son” by Laura Van De Steene

– “I Wear My Heart On My Sleeve” by Rachel Wollaston

– “Listening To The Rain (#MicroHeart entry)” by NikiJads

– “Cupid’s Mistake” by miss_peerless

– “A haunting tale of love” by Pineapple

– “A World Away” by Christina Li

– “Weep for Adonais” – Allyssa Kidd

– “Science versus Romance” – T. S. Garrett

– “Small Mercies” by Christina Li

– “#MicroHeart The Refugee Camp” by Sharvari Narendra (Official)

THE JURY

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum
K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Louise Blackwick
Louise Blackwick is a next-generation fiction writer, author of several experimental novels and short stories. Blackwick is particularly known as the writer of the Vivian Amberville book series, a bestselling philosophical fantasy saga about a girl whose thoughts can control and reshape reality.

FAQ

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

250 words max.

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, at the same time there will be flash fiction contest running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. To edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

Best way is to promote your story via your own Social Media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. You can find the link to share your story when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are surely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure you are participating, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within 3 days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition [general information]

With the new year of 2018, we launch a new version of our popular Microfiction challenge – Sweek Flash Fiction Challenge 2018!

Our attention span is constantly decreasing, and we believe that flash fiction is the perfect modern form of storytelling which can be quickly written or consumed. A limit of 250 words means that each story will take you only one minute to get through! Check the winners of the previous edition – Microfiction rounds of 2017 if you are looking for some gripping, yet short stories or want get an idea of what our juries are looking for.

Updated rules will give you a new way to challenge yourself and win attractive prizes! Say a lot in a little! 😊

CONTEST SUMMARY

– Write 250 words (max.) of prose including the word of the round anywhere within the story or write about a specific theme (check what is required),

– Add a special tag: #micro[wordoftheround] either in the main title of the story / its description / tags section to take part in the challenge,

– You can participate no matter where you are from,

– You can take part in this challenge even if you already participated/won previously,

– This is your chance to get discovered and published via Sweek self-publishing!

PRIZES

The Best Story: $50 cash prize + getting published in the Sweek book + a free copy of the bundle!

The Most Original Story: getting published in the Sweek book + a special badge on the story + getting featured on Sweek!

The Best Feedback: $15 cash prize.

The Most Popular Story: will be awarded a special badge.

All shortlisted authors will get published in the bundle and will be featured on Sweek.

HOW DOES IT WORK

Every round gives you a new word that you must include in your story (open topic) or a specific theme to write about.
Only prose is accepted.
You can join the contest at any time (even if you didn’t take part in the previous rounds). Also, the winners and shortlisted authors of the earlier editions are welcomed to participate in the following editions.
At the same time the contest is running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.
You have 3 weeks to write, then the jury members along with the Sweek editorial team will be judging the entries.
The announcements of the new round will go live on the 1st of each month via our Social Media channels as well as via our official account on Sweek. The winners will also be announced via our Social Media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), blog and e-mail.
The Best Story prize will be based on the writing style, plot development of the story, originality, overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as interpretation of the given prompt.
The author of The Best Story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing.
The Most Original Story must have an unexpected plot twist/ending, present unique insights or be written on a noteworthy topic. The author will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book via Sweek self-publishing.
The Most Popular Story will be determined by the total number of likes and will receive a special badge on the story.
Every round you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round. Please note that the keyword and the tag will be different each round!
The author of the best story will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the shortlisted stories via Sweek self-publishing. BUY THE FIRST MICROFICTION BOOK!
There will be one winner in The Best Story category, one person will get The Best Feedback title and one story will be awarded as The Most Popular Story (read more about the prizes below).
To win in The Best Feedback category you must tag your comments with #micro[word]feedback.
The shortlist will include 10-20 titles (all will be published in the bundle). If there are enough high-quality stories selected by the jury, the longlist will also be announced. However, the titles on the longlist will not get to the bundle.

ROUNDS OF THE FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE 2018

First Round: #MicroHeart – word (1st of February – 22nd of February) – FINISHED – view the winning stories

Second Round: #MicroLetter – theme (1st of March – 22nd of March) – FINISHED – view the winning stories

Third Round: #MicroKey – word (1st of April – 22nd of April) – FINISHED, view the winning stories

Fourth Round: #MicroGame – theme (1st of May – 22nd of May) – FINISHED – view the winning stories

Fifth Round: #MicroDay – word (1st of June – 22nd of June) – FINISHED – view the winning stories

Sixth Round: #MicroDoor – theme (1st of July – 22nd of July) – FINISHED – view the winning stories

Seventh Round: #MicroFear – word (1st of August – 22nd of August) – FINISHED – view the winning stories

Eighth Round: #MicroSecret – theme (1st of September – 22nd of September – FINISHED – view the winning stories

#MICRO[wordoftheround]FEEDBACK

How to join?

Step 1. Search for #micro[word] on Sweek and read a story.
Step 2. Provide feedback/critique in a comment on the story.
Step 3. Add #micro[word] at the end of your comment so that we can find it.
Step 4. You can participate as many times as you like during each round. You can take part even if you didn’t write a story on the topic!

JURY MEMBERS

Together with the Sweek editorial team, our jury members choose the shortlist and the winners.

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum
K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Melanie Faith
Melanie loves flash so much that she wrote a craft book about the genre to inspire fellow writers, In a Flash!: Writing & Publishing Dynamic Flash Prose (Vine Leaves Press), and her next craft book, Poetry Power, will be published (Vine Leaves Press) in late October 2018. In her free time, she loves crossword puzzles and shoe shopping, photography, blogging, and visiting her darling nieces.

Melissa Goodrich
Melissa Goodrich is the author of the story collection Daughters of Monsters, the poetry chapbook IF YOU WHAT, and a collaborative fiction collection forthcoming from Goldwake Press. She earned her BA in Creative Writing from Susquehanna University and her MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona. Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review Online, Passages North, PANK, and others.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

You can use the app or the web version, it is up to you. There is slightly more functionality present on our app version currently though. For example, receiving notifications when you have a new comment on your story!

Website: https://sweek.com/
Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid
iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

HOW DO I PUBLISH A STORY?

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website.

Step 2: Create an account or log in.

Step 3: Go to ‘My stories’ and then click on ‘New story’. Create a chapter and write or copy in your story.

Step 4: Publish your story and fill in the correct tag in your Story Details (if you are using the website, do not forget to press Enter!). Finalize by ‘Publish’ – your story is now published and part of the writing contest!

Video tutorial on how to publish a story on Sweek!

RULES

Read these guidelines carefully before joining this writing competition!

You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
The contest is international and is open to every country. Nonetheless, your story must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 250 words.
The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek.
The story must have the #hashtag that includes the word of that round (micro + word of the round).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and actions may be taken against those involved in plagiarism.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards – it will lead to your disqualification from the contest.
You can participate with multiple entries.
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be in any genre, as long as it’s prose, not poetry. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
Most popular story is determined by the number of likes. Falsification of likes and followers will lead to disqualification. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behaviour continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print.
The cash prize will be transferred via PayPal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize will be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We’re not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest.

FAQ

Answers to all the Frequently Asked Questions

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes, you can.

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

Yes, at the same time there will be flash fiction contest running in the following languages: English, Dutch, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Polish.

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. To edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us via Facebook and we can check it for you.

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

Best way is to promote your story via your own Social Media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform (for the official ‘Promote Your Story’ post, created for each round) or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: Sweek Fan Group. You can find the link to share your story when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are surely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure you are participating, please ask us.

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

The current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the shortlisted authors within the days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing (every 3-4 rounds, depending on the number of shortlisted stories). If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story. BUY THE FIRST MICROFICTION BOOK!

Sweek flash fiction competition: #MicroLife!

Are you capable of saying a lot in a little? Welcome to the Sweek MicroFiction Challenge! Write a short story of 200 words max, incorporating the word ‘life’ and win $50 as well as get published in the Sweek Microfiction book!

In each round, you need to incorporate a given word in an original and creative way (you micro-fiction doesn’t have to be about that word, the word just needs to be somewhere in the story). The word of the 6th round is LIFE. Join now!

How to participate:

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in

Step 3: Upload your story by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’

Step 4: Publish your story with the tag #MicroLife either in the title, description or tags section (which is a part of Story Details) and description.

That’s it! Don’t forget to share with your friends and family to get more readers!

Duration:

Submission open: 22nd of November – 13th of December

Winner announcement: 20th of December

Prizes:

Best Microfiction: $50 + getting published in the Sweek Microfiction book

Most Popular Microfiction: $50 + getting published in the Sweek Microfiction book

Top 10 best stories (shortlist): Featured on Sweek for 3 weeks

COMPETITION GUIDELINES

The story must be tagged with #MicroLife in order to join the contest. Word limit: maximum 200 words
Variation of the word is allowed, as long as the word ‘life‘ is fully in the variation
You can join any round of the challenge (so you can participate in the 6th round if you didn’t join any previous rounds)
The story doesn’t have to be exclusive but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek
The story must be written in English
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline: 13/12/2017, 23:59 CET
You can participate with multiple entries
The story can be any genre, as long as the word ‘life’ appears in the story. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime
Most Popular Story is determined by the number of followers (all the allowed languages are participating). The deadline for the count of followers is 19/12/17, 23:59 CET
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a self-published book. The author keeps all the rights. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print
Most popular story is determined by the number of followers. Falsification of followers will lead to a warning, followed by immediate disqualification if the behavior continues. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.

Want to know more about our monthly MicroFiction Competition in general? Check out this blog post!

THE JURY

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum
K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Sweek Flash Fiction Competition [general information]

Can you say a lot in a little? Join Sweek Microfiction competition! We are challenging you to write a compelling story, with an exciting plot and with jump-off-the page characters, in less than 200 words!

GIF

Writing good flash fiction requires the ability to come up with an original idea, to play with words and to develop a storyline that will hook the reader. In order to challenge your writing skills and creativity, every three weeks we will launch a new round of our MicroFiction contest.

How does it work?

Every round, we announce a new word that you must incorporate into your story. The story doesn’t necessarily have to be about that word, you only have to incorporate it. There are no genre restrictions.
The word is announced on Thursday every three weeks on our social media and blog.
The writers have time until Sunday of the second week to submit their stories. On Thursday we announce the winners as well as the word of the next round. You can compete for the jury and the crowd prize. The jury prize will be based on the writing style, originality and plot development of the story. The most popular story will be determined by the total number of followers.
Every round, you must tag your story with a hashtag that includes the word #micro + the word of that round. Please note that the keyword and the tag will be different each round!
Each winner will receive $50 and will be published in the Sweek Microfiction book with all the winning stories
You can join any round you’d like, the rounds are independent from each other.

First Microfiction Book (buy it via publish.sweek.com)

First round: #MicroCoffee (20th of July – 10th of August) – *finished*. Check out the winning story!

Second round: #MicroBook (10th of August – 27th of August) – *finished*. Check who is the winner!

Third round: #MicroDream (31st of August – 17th of September) – *finished*. Check out the winners!

Fourth round: #MicroLight (21st of September – 13th of October) – *finished*. Check out the shortlist and the winners!

Second Microfiction Book (to be published):

Fifth round: #MicroFreedom (19th of October – 16th of November) – *finished*. Check out the shortlist and the winners!

Sixth round: #MicroLife (22nd of November – 13th of December) – *finished*. Check out the shortlist and the winners!

Seventh round: #MicroTime (20th of December – 10th of January) – *finished*. Check out the shortlist and the winners!

GENERAL COMPETITION GUIDELINES

You need to be 14 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
The contest is international and is open to every country. Nonetheless, the micro fiction must be written in English.
The story cannot exceed 200 words.
The story doesn’t have to be exclusive (for instance, it can be from your blog) but needs to be newly uploaded on Sweek
The story must have the hashtag that includes the word of that round (micro + word of the round).
The story must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared.
The story must be submitted and finished before the deadline. Don’t edit your story afterwards.
You can participate with multiple entries
You can join any round of the contest at any time.
The story can be any genre, as long as the word from the round appears in the story. It can be a combination of e.g. young adult, romance, fantasy, science fiction and crime.
Most popular story is determined by the number of followers. Falsification of followers will lead to a warning, followed by immediate disqualification if the behavior continues. The most popular story needs to meet quality requirements determined by the Sweek team. You can only win one popularity prize as a writer.
Spam comments/messages with promotion of your story (except for a special story dedicated to promotion) will result in disqualification and possible account deletion if the behavior continues.
If winners do not respond within a timeframe of two weeks, then the price will be given to the second place.
By entering in this competition, you give Sweek the right to publish your story in a book. In case the author does not agree, he/she must state in the short description that Sweek cannot publish the story in print
Participation in this contest means that the user is aware of and accepts the rules of this contest.

THE JURY

Julian Tunru
Julian Tunru is the author of the Dav Iven historical fiction series, creator of The Nearly Complete Guide to Writing Your Novel, and self-confessed semicolon enthusiast.

K. Banning Kellum
K. Banning Kellum is a life-long resident of New Orleans, LA. A documentary actor, article writer and horror author, Kellum is best known for his Hyraaq Tobit series of horror stories. A proud husband and father, Kellum credits his love of family and the haunted history of New Orleans as his source of inspiration.

Louise Blackwick
Louise Blackwick is a next-generation fiction writer, author of several experimental novels and short stories. Blackwick is particularly known as the writer of the Vivian Amberville book series, a bestselling philosophical fantasy saga about a girl whose thoughts can control and reshape reality.

FAQ

DO I NEED TO DOWNLOAD THE APP?

You can use the app or the web version, it is up to you. There is slightly more functionality present on our app version currently though. For example, receiving notifications when you have a new comment on your story!

Website: https://sweek.com/
Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid
iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

HOW DO I PUBLISH A STORY?

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website

Step 2: Create an account or log in

Step 3: Go to ‘My stories’ and then click on ‘New story’. Create a chapter and write or copy in your story.

Step 4: Publish your story and fill in the correct tag in your Story Details (if you are using the website, do not forget to press Enter!). Finalize by ‘Publish’ – your story is now published and part of the writing contest!

Video tutorial on how to publish a story on Sweek!

WHAT IS THE WORD LIMIT?

200 words max

WHAT IS THE PRIZE?

$50 cash prize + getting published

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

Yes

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

You need to add it to your Story Details (don’t forget to press Enter on the website).

For each contest, you can edit your story as many times as you want before the deadline. To access your story: log in, go to ‘my stories’ and click on your story. To edit your story title/description, go to the 3dot menu in your Story Dashboard and click Story Basics; to edit your tags/other story details, go to the 3dot menu in your story dashboard and select Story Details

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

If you see the tag on your story page after you searched for it, it is participating. If you are not sure, contact us and we can check it for you ?

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

Best way is to promote your story via your own social media and network. You can also promote it on the Sweek platform or share it in the Sweek group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/306066656501682/?ref=br_rs. You can find the link to share your story when you search for your story in the search bar and click on it. Here you’ll find the share button on the story info page!

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

No, but if your story is tagged, you are surely participating. However, if you’d like to know for sure you are participating, please ask us ?

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

Current search is based on the title, the description and the tag. So you can search for either of those.

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

No worries, sometimes it can take a few minutes after publishing to become visible on all the platforms. If you still can’t find your story the next day, please contact us.

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

We will e-mail all the participants within the days after the announcement, but you can find them first on our Facebook page!

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

We will bundle the winners and finalists of each round and publish them via Sweek self-publishing! If you do not wish for Sweek to publish your story participating in this competition, please indicate this in the short description of your story.

News & Updates

SUMMARY OF THE CONTEST

___

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

DEADLINE

__

PRIZES

__

HOW DOES IT WORK?

RULES

THE JURY MEMBERS

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

Our blue ribbon contest is back!

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

Psssst, Sweekers!

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?

Duration:

Prizes:

How does it work?

GENERAL COMPETITION GUIDELINES

THE JURY

WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

FAQ

CAN I PARTICIPATE WITH MORE THAN ONE ENTRY?

IS THE CONTEST AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH?

HOW DO I ADD A TAG AND EDIT MY STORY?

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER MY STORY IS PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR NOT?

HOW DO I PROMOTE MY STORY?

DO I GET A CONFIRMATION OF PARTICIPATING IMMEDIATELY?

HOW CAN I SEARCH FOR MY STORY?

WHAT IF I CAN’T FIND MY STORY ON SEARCH RIGHT AWAY?

WHERE WILL THE WINNERS BE ANNOUNCED?

WHEN CAN I EXPECT THE SWEEK MICROFICTION BOOK?