Open for Business: The 25th Annual Austin Chronicle Short Story Contest

Thank you for your patience while we've shifted the annual Austin Chronicle Short Story Contest from an autumn-winter time frame to winter-spring. As this edition will be the 25th time the Chronicle has solicited your handcrafted tales, we've tried to work out ways to mark that milestone. We'll save most of those for the time when we choose our finalists and winners (late May/early June), but here's one change you might find significant: We'll now accept submissions electronically as well as by snail mail. On the contest homepage of the Chronicle website – austinchronicle.com/shortstory – you'll find our new online entry form. Just fill that out and attach a PDF of your story, and you're in.

But whether you submit your story electronically or by traditional mail, the same rules still apply: The story must be unpublished, typewritten, and no longer than 2,500 words; the author's name must not appear on the story itself, but the title should; one entry per person; Chronicle staff, freelancers who have contributed more than one article since January 2016, and first- through fifth-place winners from the 2015 contest are ineligible; and there are no submission fees. Mailed entries must still include a cover letter containing the name, address, email, and phone number of the author, as well as the story's word count and title.

Anyone can enter, no matter how far outside Austin you live. A total of $1,500 in prize money will be divided among the three winners, and their stories will be printed in these here pages. The deadline for postmarked or online submission is March 3, 2017. The complete list of rules and regulations are at austinchronicle.com/shortstory. Please read them carefully before entering your story. Got questions? Contact books@austinchronicle.com. And happy writing.