African American

• Create/log into your Short Story Awards Account
• Complete and submit the Online Entry form.
• Pay the entry fee(s) through PayPal. You can use credit cards at the PayPal checkout system. If you pay by credit card, the charge on your credit card statement will show as Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group (for ShortStoryAwards.com). After you submit your entry online, you should receive a confirmation email from this address: info@shortstoryawards.com. So, be sure to add this email address to your address book to help ensure that you receive your confirmation email. To complete the entry process, please also print out a copy of your “Confirmation of Entry” email. This will list all of your entry details.
• Once you have paid for your entry/entries into the Short Story Awards, you will be able to use your Account page to upload a copy of your story. All uploads must be in PDF format only; no other formats are accepted. Please ensure your submission is not password protected and is no longer than 5,000 words. Plus, your file name must include your last name in brackets after the story name. As an example, if your last name is Jones and the name of your story is “The Wishing Tree”, you must name your PDF: The Wishing Tree (Jones). You only need to upload your story once for all categories you have entered. We do not accept email attachments for story submissions.

So, if one story title is entered into three categories, the entry fee would be $65 ($25 for category one; $20 for category two; and $20 for category three).

Here's another scenario. If submitting two different stories—one in just one category and the other in two different categories, it would be $70. Story A, submitted in one category, would be $25. Story B, submitted in two categories, would be $45 ($25 plus $20). In total, the entry fees would add up to $70.

There is no limit to the number of stories you can submit, and you can enter a story into as many categories as you like. It is recommended, though, that you apply to categories that fit your stories or marketing strategies.

Here's an example. If you've written a historical romance with elements of struggle, you might decide to submit your story to the Romance category, as well as the Historical, and the Survival/Overcoming Adversity one.

Stories will be judged on their content, with judges being experienced publishing executives, writing teachers and editors.

If a story is received after our deadline of January 28, 2027, it will automatically be entered into the 2028 Awards program. Late entries will not be considered for the current year or offered a refund.