Awarding one of the richest purses among literary magazines—$1,000 for the winning story—the John Steinbeck Award recognizes exceptional works of fiction.  Aesthetically, we are open to most styles and approaches, including experimental and literary. All works should be stand-alone short stories, not chapters of a longer work. Please limit submissions to 5,000 words.

 Reed Magazine policies and guidelines:

• Submission cap: Please limit your submission to our free categories to two (2) per person during each open reading period. There is no limit to the paid categories.
• Use of AI: Reed Magazine honors the complexity and diversity of human creativity. Submissions that appear to be the product of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools will be declined. However, if you have a piece that interrogates the use of AI, we welcome it. Reach out if you have questions on this.
• Formal-play and genre-blending work: We love and encourage work that is both formally and generically playful. If this describes your work and you’re unsure which category to submit it to, submit to the one it more closely aligns to. You can add an explanatory note in your cover letter if the context would help us in our consideration. 
• Editorial process: Reed Magazine copy editors will review submissions accepted for publication to ensure consistency with our style conventions.
• We do not accept work that has been previously published (physically printed and distributed or digitally available to the public). We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us if your work is selected for publication elsewhere.

  Please be sure to: 

• provide a cover letter that includes your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address (but exclude this information from the works themselves)
• include a brief bio, up to 50 words
• save submissions as a Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) or Portable Document Format (.pdf) document
• double-space text, and use an easily readable 12-point typeface (such as Times New Roman)
• include word count (5,000-word limit)
• number pages
• check that your Submittable profile is up-to-date

The contest reading fee is $20 (accompanied by a digital journal) or $25 (accompanied by a print journal). Submitters with US addresses on file will receive print copies of the journal, whereas those with international addresses may only receive digital copies. Multiple submissions are accepted as separate entries. Contest submissions not selected for final judging may still be considered for publication in the journal and/or online. 

John Steinbeck Award for Fiction submitters can expect to hear back from Reed Magazine by the end of December 2026.