The SECRET IDENTITY
Short Story Contest:
A just-for-fun short story contest for young writers, ages 9-16.
Open for Entries Now!
Write a story about a SECRET IDENTITY, inspired by one of our picture prompts…
…win one of 3 amazing books!
1. Keeper of the Lost Cities – Shannon Messenger
2. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (Wingfeather Saga 1) – Andrew Peterston
3. The False Prince – Jennifer A. Nielsen
Step 1: Choose Your Picture Prompts
(Click on any image to enlarge it.)
Prompt #1
Prompt #2
Prompt #3
Step 2: Write Your Story
Write a 700-1,000 word short story about a Secret Identity, inspired by your chosen picture prompt. (Try to make it a complete story if you can.)
What we’re looking for…
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A catchy opening to hook readers.
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Plenty of adventure / danger / excitement!
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A balance of action and dialogue.
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But most of all, a great story… which basically means to just have fun!
Entries close on November 25th, 2024
In approximately…
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Due to many of our contestants being in the United States, entries will remain open until 11pm Pacific Time.
(Which is 6pm, Tuedsay 26th in NZ)
Step 3: Submit Your Story
Once you’ve written your story, enter it using the button below.
Sign Up!
If your story isn’t ready to submit yet, sign up here to be notified when entries are coming to a close. If this is your first time joining us, your email address will be added to our mailing list (which we use to notify you of upcoming contests and giveaways). You can easily unsubscribe at any time.
Important Details & Conditions of Entry
The winners of our three age categories will get to CHOOSE their prize out of three incredible options:
Prize Choice #1: Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
Prize Choice #2: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
Prize Choice #3: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Entry Conditions:
- Entries are open internationally.
- Entries are open to young writers who are 9 to 16 years old and must be their own original work. No AI stories permitted.
- If you are under 13 years old, you must get the permission of a parent or guardian to participate.
- Only one entry per person. (However, siblings who enter may use the same email address.)
- Entries close on Monday, Nov 25th, 2024. The winners will be announced on Nov 30th.
- Entries must be between 700-1,000 words.
- To enter this competition, you must agree to both these entry and prize conditions, as well as our Privacy Policy and our website Terms & Conditions.
Prize Conditions:
- The book you choose for your winning prize will be a paperback copy. Cover may vary although we’ll try to keep it to what’s pictured above.
- If you already own the first book in the series, winning writers will be given the option to request another book from within the same series as their prize instead.
- We’ll announce the winners via email on November 30th, and the winning stories and any ‘Honourable Mentions’ will be posted here on our website.
- The winners will be personally notified by email (and we’ll need to ask for their postal address).
The Storylights Team:
Amy Bryant
…an award-winning writer of Children’s & YA Fantasy Adventure (coming soon), who loves cheering on young writers.
Thor the Viking Sheep
…Chief Bodyguard and Mascot of Epicness, who dauntlessly watches out for enemies and gives well-meaning (if unhelpful) advice.
Josh Bryant
…master of fancy website stuff, who raises 4 little hobbits with his lovely wife Summer and gives much better advice. (Don’t tell Thor.)
“It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.”
– William Faulkner
Keeper of the Lost Cities
by Shannon Messenger
Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret.
She is a Telepath, and has the power to hear the thoughts of everyone around her – something that she’s never spoken about, even to her own family.
But everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who also reads minds. She discovers there’s somewhere she does belong, and staying where she is will put her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a magical world.
Sophie has new rules to learn, and not everyone is thrilled with her “homecoming”. There are secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memory, secrets that other people desperately want.
Would even kill for . . .
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
(The Wingfeather Saga Book #1) by Andrew Peterson
Janner Igiby, his brother, Tink, and their disabled sister, Leeli, are gifted children as all children are, loved well by a noble mother and ex-pirate grandfather. But they will need all their gifts and all that they love to survive the evil pursuit of the venomous Fangs of Dang, who have crossed the dark sea to rule the land with malice. The Igibys hold the secret to the lost legend and jewels of good King Wingfeather of the Shining Isle of Anniera.
Full of characters rich in heart, smarts, and courage, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is a tale children of all ages will cherish, families can read aloud, and readers’ groups are sure to enjoy discussing for its many layers of meaning.
The False Prince
(The Ascendance Series, Book 1) by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Privacy Policy
The Storylights
Firstly, we'll never sell or share any of your personal information with anyone else unless we're required to by law, and we only collect the minimum personal data that we need to run our services. For example, we need your name and email address so we can notify you if your competition entry has been selected for a prize, or to send you details about our next competition.
Secondly, any original story material that you send to us, either as part of a competition or not, remains your own personal intellectual property. However, by submitting your story to us, you grant us the right to display it on on our website, and we agree to always credit it to you the author. You retain full rights to your story, including the right to reuse it or resubmit it to any other competition or publication.
Terms & Conditions
The Storylights
By using this website, (for example, by submitting a form, or entering a competition or giveaway), you agree to be bound by and follow these terms and conditions:
- You agree that you are either at least 13 years old, or you have the permission of a parent or guardian to use this website.
- We understand that the name you choose to use on our website or submit with a competition entry, may be an alias or pen name (for young authors, this can be a good way to help protect your privacy), but you understand that we will treat that name like your real name, including when we provide credit to the author of a winning story.
- You agree that any written work that you submit to us as part of a competition or giveaway, is your own original work, written by you and not copied from or written by another person. (No AI work permitted.)
- You agree to not submit any written work to us that promotes or encourages violence, racism, self-harm, or any other activity that is either illegal or potentially damaging to other people.
- You keep all intellectual property rights to any of your own written material that you submit to us, but you agree to give us the right to display your work on our website as part of the services we provide. (For example, displaying competition winners and honourable mentions.)
- We reserve the right to judge competition entries at our sole discretion, and will award the winning entry based on whatever criteria we think to be fair.
- We reserve the right to exclude from competition, any entry that we feel goes against the spirit of the competition, or breaches one of our other conditions, like plagiarism.