Uncharted Magazine Novel Excerpt Prize
April 14 – June 15, 2025
We’re looking for the best 5,000 words or fewer of your novel in progress! Have a favorite chapter? An exciting and noteworthy prologue? A section where the dialogue crackles and the characters loom larger than life on the page? Give us a chance to read the most captivating section of your novel—and make us want to read more! The three cowinners of this prize will each receive $1,000 and publication. All entries will be considered for publication. Judge Cynthia Pelayo.
Refractions: Genre Flash Fiction Contest
July 01– July 31, 2025
It’s time to write short at Uncharted Magazine! We want your stories of 1,500 words or fewer in all of our genres for the Refractions: Genre Flash Fiction Prize. So sharpen those pens and flex those fingers. We’re excited to offer the winner of this prize $1,000 and publication, while the second- and third-place winners will receive publication and $300 and $200, respectively. The Uncharted editors and team will decide the winners.
Horror Challenge
October 02– October 12, 2025
For this challenge, we’re pleased to offer the grand-prize winner $500 and publication. All entries will be considered for general publication at our regular rate of $200.
We’re seeking stories that speak to and challenge conventional horror tropes to frighten and thrill our avid twenty-first-century readers. We hope this challenge will inspire you to create new monsters, make the shadows tremble, and communicate a wave of innovative phobias—things we didn’t even know we should be afraid of. We encourage genre-blending and writing stories with dynamic characters and fresh language.