As a creative writer, one great way to practice your craft and maybe earn some money is to enter competitions. Reedsy offers one of the best around through its Prompts platform.
Get to know Reedsy Prompts and what to expect after you submit a short story to its online contest.
What Is Reedsy Prompts?
Reedsy Prompts is a website designed for one thing: hold weekly short story contests with prompts and prizes for writers.
After signing up, you get a notification every Friday with a new theme and five related prompts. You choose one that inspires you most and write a story between 1,000 and 3,000 words.
The submission fee is $5. The rewards include $250 for the winning story, $25 worth of Reedsy credit for a few shortlisted authors, and publication on the Prompts platform.
Read through the Reedsy Prompts’ terms of use, especially its submission policies. Besides making sure your work is original and not violating anyone’s copyright, for example, you should learn how Reedsy can use your story and how you can repost it on other websites.
Let’s break down each step and additional tips. They’ll help you understand the whole process, what makes a good strategy for winning the contests, and how to make the most of Prompts as an online tool for writers.
1. Submit Your Story Through the Online Form
When it comes to writing your story, make sure it’s compelling, but also planned and written well. Reedsy editors do spruce up winning stories before showcasing them, but it’s those already in good shape that tend to win. So, don’t waste that fee on a story that isn’t ready.
If you’re happy with it, however, go to the current contest’s web page and click the Submit story button on the prompt of your choice.
A new page will open with an online submission form. Enter your story’s title and main body, either by writing it straight in or copy-pasting it from your favorite book-writing software. Then, select up to three categories to tag it with, and tick whether the submission has sensitive content.
When done, hit Submit to contest ($5), but you can also use the Publish to profile (free) button to just add the story to your Reedsy Prompts portfolio for visibility and feedback. If you change your mind before the relevant contest expires, you’re welcome to submit it.
Once you pay the fee, the submission automatically goes through for approval. If successful, the judges will then evaluate your story.
At this point, you can either relax and wait for the outcome or submit another story to a different prompt. You can enter each week’s contest up to five times, but each story must be original, and you don’t get a fee discount for multiple entries.
2. Wait Two Weeks for the Prompt’s Results
Each contest closes after a week. The judges then take another week to read through the submissions—sometimes in the hundreds.
In other words, be patient. Two weeks can fly by if you occupy yourself productively. See what else you can do on Prompts or how authors can benefit from Reedsy Discovery.
3. While Waiting, Manage Your Story and Profile
Your submission will appear on your profile along with any other stories you’ve posted on Reedsy Prompts. Click on the story to access the Edit submission and Delete buttons. Up to the contest’s closing date, you’re welcome to make changes to your entry.
If you scroll down, you’ll also find Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram share buttons. Even if you don’t win the contest, you can still grow a following.
When it comes to tweaking your profile in general, you can add a bio and photo, as well as follow and interact with other users. If you have a website or blog, add your profile URL or the Prompts widget so that visitors can quickly jump to your short story portfolio. Keep that in mind for book ad ideas for authors.
As soon as your submitted story is approved, it’ll go live on the platform. People can find it on the Stories page, read it, and leave likes and comments. You can even respond to the latter, starting a conversation.
As readers interact with your stories, you earn karma points. Approved and winning stories get you even more. Unfortunately, these karma points only signify your popularity and make you more prominent on the website—they don’t lead to additional rewards.
5. Participate in the Critique Circle of Reedsy Prompts
Once you sign up and submit a story, you’re automatically included in the so-called critique circle. This means that every Wednesday, you’ll get an email asking you to comment on someone else’s entry. Likewise, another user will be assigned your work.
To opt out, go to the home page, hover over or click the arrow on your profile icon, and select Account settings. Under Emails, you’ll find a tick box beside Weekly critique circle emails. All you have to do is deactivate it and hit Save changes.
If Prompts really doesn’t work for you as a writing group, there are many other online communities for writers with perks that might interest you.
6. If You Win, Expect a Notification and Reward
At the end of the two weeks, the winner is alerted via email and on the website. The $250 is paid through PayPal, and Reedsy displays the story on Prompts, as well as its newsletter and magazine.
If you’re shortlisted, you may earn credit worth $25, which you can then spend on an editor, designer, marketer, or any other professional on Reedsy’s marketplace.
7. Your Story Is Edited Before Appearing on Prompted
Prompted is a literary magazine that Reedsy produces to share with the world its top Prompts winners. If you win and your story is included in an edition, it will be edited alongside the magazine’s other content.
8. If You Don’t Win, Check the Prompt’s Results
The two weeks have elapsed, and you didn’t get a celebratory email or notification from Prompts. This probably means you didn’t win, but don’t lose hope.
The contest never stops offering you opportunities to boost your creative writing income and skills. Your first stop at the end of a Prompts round should be its results page.
It will feature lots of details, including the total number of stories and contest entries. Eventually, the winner and shortlisted pieces will appear under the competition’s theme and description.
You can read each one for inspiration and to get a sense of what Reedsy judges are looking for when reviewing entries. This is a great way to learn how to win a Prompts contest. From there, work on self-editing techniques for better writing.
9. Join Online Events for Members
As part of the Reedsy Prompts community, you’ll get a range of offerings, from online courses for writers to magazine launches featuring readings and Q&As.
Besides keeping an eye out for email invites, visit the Prompts website often to catch announcements of online events.
10. Receive a Digital or Printed Copy of Prompted
By default, you can download a digital copy for free. Just go to Contests > Magazine on the website, enter your email address, and click Download.
The print edition costs $4.99—unless you win a free copy. Opportunities like this come up often at online events on Prompts.
Either way, get your hands on the magazine, especially if it contains a story of yours. It’s a fantastic tool for your marketing campaign as you can share the news and the magazine itself on your website or social media profiles.
Use Feedback on Reedsy Prompts Constructively and Improve Your Creative Writing
Cash prizes, impressive spotlights, and a supportive community. Now that you know how the contests work on Reedsy Prompts and what you can get out of them, take the plunge and see how you do.
It’s a competitive platform, but so are all creative writing competitions. Do what you can to perfect your storytelling by practicing with books and short stories, as well as utilizing feedback, no matter its source.
The comments you get on Prompts can provide plenty of insight. They can be just as helpful as full-blown reviews and manuscript assessments.
