We hold four contests a year. Click on the Current or Latest Contest box on www.writeradvice.com for details.
Questions? Please ask. Thanks!
You can read this more easily at https://writeradvice.com/seeking-flash-memoir/
Everybody Has Great Stories to Tell
A flash memoir shows readers how you (the narrator) experienced and reacted to a turning point in your life.
Write about something that changed the way you viewed yourself or your world.
Show what happened and how it affected you. Invite us into your emotional truths.
What We’re Looking For:
We look for a protagonist, a conflict, a setting, excellent use of language, and an ending that makes a point and/or makes us think.
We enjoy stories with a discovery, complex characters, language that engages us, and a tone that rings true. Enlighten, inspire, or dazzle us. Please send us 750-words or less.
If the story feels squeezed at 750-words, don’t force it. There are plenty of journals where you can send your longer pieces. Go to the Contests & Markets page. You’ll find lots of places seeking longer submissions.
PRIZES? PUBLICATION? ABSOLUTELY! for the best 3 to 8 pieces. All can call themselves winners in Writer Advice's 2025 Flash MEMOIR Contest. We no longer rank as first, second, and third place. There are small cash prizes for everyone who is published.
You can find some samples in Prior Winners
How do you enter? Use this Submittable link or the one at the bottom of the page. The contest will close on March 2 at midnight ET.
JUDGES: Editor B. Lynn Goodwin consults with former Writer Advice winners as needed.
Submittable will ask for a $5 submission fee which goes towards prizes and an additional $10 if you’d like feedback on what’s working and what might trip readers up. Despite the price of gas, groceries, and everything else, I’m keeping my rates the same, which is my gift to those who enter.
If you prefer to send it directly to me, use the contact box on the home page. I’ll ask you to pay the fee through PayPal or by check, and as soon as I receive the payment, I’ll read your work.
Questions? Please ask.
- If your work is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately.
- We prefer unpublished work, though we do accept stand-alone excerpts from work seeking a publisher or agent.
- Please hit the contact button and ask questions if anything is unclear or missing. Thank you!
Names of all winners will be announced on WriterAdvice, www.writeradvice.com in early January or—worst case--later.
E-mail questions to editor B. Lynn Goodwin using the box at the bottom of the home page. We value your work and look forward to reading it.
We want to share your stories about your publishing journey and your writing life here. Write to entertain, to enlighten, and to advise (but not preach). Write to share your gratitude, amazement, and disbelief.
Share the good, the bad, and the silly, but don’t share them all in one submission. Think of a blog post or a short-short story. No epics.
No fiction here. These are real-life stories ranging from 250 to 750 words. Less is more. Make your point clearly and move on.
Who knows what your experience might inspire?
New submissions will be added quarterly. Send through Submittable, <!-- Link to the Writer Advice submission manager. --->
<a target = _blank href="https://writeradvice.submittable.com/submit"><img src="//manager.submittable.com/Public/Images/submittable-submit-button.png" alt="submit" border="0" /></a>
$6 submission fee covers our time, possible editing, and the
decision-making process.
You get a credit for your resume plus a brief bio and the satisfaction of sharing your experience Sorry that we do not have the income to pay you at this time.