Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers 2025 ($1,500 prize)

The Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers is an annual no-submission-fee contest with cash prizes! Every year, the contest coordinator selects ten finalists from a pool of submissions from writers around the world. In addition to their cash prizes, winners get featured at Flights of Foundry, an annual convention where professionals from all over the industry come to discuss all things related to the speculative arts.

Eligibility Criteria for Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers 2025 ($1,500 prize)

This contest is for writers who are relatively new to paid or income-earning publication of speculative short fiction in English. To be eligible for this contest, all five rules below must be true of you:

1. You have published a total of less than 4,000 words of paid or income-earning speculative fiction in English.
2. You have earned a total of less than USD 320 from those words.
3. You have never been nominated for any award listed here as a major award in speculative fiction.
4. You are not a previous winner of the Dream Foundry writing contest.
5. No AI, machine learning, or large language model tools were used in the story except for checking spelling and grammar.

Please note that you are on the honor system for judging your own eligibility. However, we may disqualify any entrants in order to uphold the spirit of this contest’s goals; such determinations of eligibility are decided by the Dream Foundry and are not open to debate or argument.

What NOT to send

They are looking for short speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, etc.) Please don’t send us stories that have no speculative element (mainstream, contemporary, romance, westerns, historical fiction,, etc.)

Sexual and adult-themed stories are allowed. Please don’t send us erotica or gratuitous depictions of violence, sexual assault, or abuse.

Don’t send novels or non-standalone novel excerpts, screenplays, poetry, non-fiction, or works written for children.

Benefits of Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers 2025 ($1,500 prize)

1. First Place: $1,500
2. Second Place: $750
3. Third Place: $400

How to Apply

Submit one complete and finalized story of up to 10,000 words via our submission manager. Links to the submission manager will appear when submissions open.

All entries are final. No revisions are accepted.

No multiple submissions (do not send more than one story.)

Your submission must be previously unpublished at the time of submission, but simultaneous submissions (submitting the story to us while also submitting elsewhere) is allowed.

Entries can be from any country.

All entries must be original prose works in English. Plagiarism, poetry, song lyrics, or stories that utilize characters or settings from another person’s works will not be considered.

The manuscript should be in standard manuscript format and should be titled and numbered on every page, but the author’s name MUST BE DELETED from the manuscript file to facilitate fair judging.

View details of Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers

Apply for Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers

Application Deadline

02 June, 2025

Application Link(s)

• Apply for Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers 2025 ($1,500 prize)