The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest / Submit Now!
The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2025: Submit Your Sharpest 250-Word Masterpieces
Flash writers and micro maestros, it’s time. The SmokeLong Quarterly annual SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2025—affectionately called The Mikey—is officially open, spotlighting the very best micro fiction and nonfiction being written today. With generous prizes, global eligibility, and publication opportunities, this competition remains one of the most exciting calls for ultra-short narratives.
DEADLINE IS TOMORROW
What The Mikey Offers
The contest celebrates stories told in 250 words or fewer, rewarding precision, emotional force, and boundary-pushing craft. The stakes are high:
- Grand Prize: $1,000 + automatic nomination for Best Small Fictions and other prizes
- Second Place: $500
- Third Place: $300
- Finalists: $100 each
- All winners and finalists will be published in the December 2025 issue of SmokeLong Quarterly
Writers can submit:
- Up to 2 micros
- Up to 4 micros
through two separate entry portals.
Contest Guidelines at a Glance
Before sending your work, here’s what you need to know:
- Submissions open: August 1, 2025
- Deadline: November 15, 2025
- Word count: 250 words or fewer per micro (title excluded)
- Languages: Any language with an English translation (the English text will be judged)
- Eligibility: Open worldwide to writers 18+ who can receive funds via PayPal or Zelle
- Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid narratives
- Previously published work: Allowed—just don’t list where it appeared
- Simultaneous submissions: Allowed; withdraw accepted pieces immediately
- Formatting: Clean, legible font; single or double spacing
If you’re a translator, the contest welcomes translated micros—with the author’s permission. The author and translator will split the prize money equally.
Tips to Strengthen Your Micros
Micro narratives demand intensity, clarity, rhythm, and emotional resonance. To polish your entries, explore these helpful craft resources:
- How TV Series Achieve Satisfying Closure — an unexpected but invaluable guide to shaping micro endings with impact.
- 5 Tips on Holding Attention in a Short Story — ideal for tightening micro fiction and ensuring every line earns its place.
These guides will help refine pacing, deepen character moments, and craft endings that resonate long after the final line.
Anonymous Judging
A global team of SmokeLong editors reads all entries anonymously. Remove all identifying information from your document—this includes headers, footers, and filenames. Your name will remain hidden until judging concludes.
Response times work like this:
- If your entry is declined early, you will usually hear back within two weeks.
- If it takes longer, that’s good news—your micro may have moved forward in the judging process.
Why You Should Submit to The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest
SmokeLong Quarterly is one of the most respected homes for short-form storytelling. Being shortlisted, placed, or published puts your work in front of editors who understand and champion the micro form at the highest level.
If your story thrives on brevity—if it grips in a single breath, if it cuts or astonishes—then The Mikey is your arena.
Ready to submit?
Sharpen your prose. Charge your imagery. Let every word strike. The 2025 Mikey awaits your fiercest tiny stories.
