Imagine Mars Short Story Competition, sponsored by Missouri Mars Mavens — Contest Rules

Contestant Eligibility

The contest is open only to amateur authors who are not employees of The Mars Society. In this contest, amateur author is defined as anyone who has never received payment for a work of fiction. Contestants must be at least thirteen years of age, as of July 20, 2026.

Divisions

Contestants will be assigned to the Junior or Senior Division based on their age. Contestants who are less than eighteen years old as of July 20, 2026, will comprise the Junior Division.

Submission requirements

By submitting an entry, the contestant represents that the work does not infringe the copyright or other legal rights of any person or entity. Entries will be accepted until the earlier of:

• 200 qualified entries, or
• 11:59 PM Central Time on September 7, 2026.

Each contestant may submit only one entry. Each entry must be the contestant’s original work and must not have won a previous literary competition. Entries may be previously unpublished or previously self-published by the author on a personal website or blog. However, the contestant must own all rights to the work and must not have assigned exclusive publication rights to another party. The entrant must retain copyright to the story and be able to grant The Mars Society a non-exclusive license to publish their story if it wins or is selected for publication.

Prizes

Separate prizes will be awarded for each division, based on judges’ scores, as follows.

• Grand Prize (1 award) — $500
• First Prize (1 award) — $200
• Second Prize (2 awards) — $100
• Third Prize (3 awards) — $50

Winners are expected to be announced in October 2026. Awards will be paid via check from The Mars Society. Checks for Junior Division winners will be presented to an entrant’s parent or guardian. Winners under the age of eighteen may be required to provide written consent from a parent or legal guardian before prizes are awarded or stories are published.

Rules for Submissions

All submissions must be written in English. All submissions must be in DOCX format. Entries submitted in any format other than DOCX will be rejected. All submissions must conform to these word counts

• Senior Division — 2000 to 6000 words
• Junior Division — 1250 to 4000 words

The official word count will be determined by the contest administrator. The title is not included in the official word count. Submissions outside those word counts will be rejected as unqualified. Submissions must use 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins, 1.5-spaced lines, and include page numbers beginning on the first page. The story title must appear at the top of the first page. The manuscript must contain no author name, address, email address, acknowledgments, biographies, or other identifying information. All entries must be text-only; no images are permitted. The story must take place primarily on Mars or in its immediate vicinity and must make meaningful use of the Martian environment.

Submit your entry via email at [email protected]. Your message should include your name, age, and the title of your story.

Use of artificial intelligence (AI)

Entries must represent the contestant’s own creative work. Authors may use spelling and grammar correction tools, or use AI to review their work and suggest revisions or improvements. However, the story’s plot, characters, narrative, and prose must be the work of the contestant. AI has become an important tool. It can speed up your work, but it cannot replace you. Whether you accept or reject its suggestions, you are responsible for the work.

Copyright

Authors retain copyright to their work. By entering, contestants grant The Mars Society a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish winning or otherwise selected entries on its website and in promotional materials, with appropriate credit to the author.

Judging

Each qualified entry will be evaluated independently by multiple judges using the published scoring criteria. Senior Division stories and Junior Division stories will be separately judged. Prize winners will be determined by the combined scores. The following criteria will be used to judge each qualified entry:

Originality and Creativity (15 points) — Does the story present a fresh or imaginative idea? How effectively does the author use creativity in developing the story and engaging the reader?

Character Development (15 points) — Are the characters well-defined, interesting, and believable? Are their motivations, strengths, and weaknesses clear?

Plot and Story Structure (20 points) — Does the story have a clear, engaging, and well-paced narrative?

Integration of the Martian Environment (10 points) — Is the Martian environment necessary to the story, or could it just as well be set somewhere else? Are technical factors correct, or at least plausible?

Opening (10 points) — Does the opening engage the reader and establish the story effectively? Does it provide enough context to orient the reader while creating interest in what follows?

Ending (10 points) — Does the ending provide a satisfying conclusion to the story? Are the major conflicts resolved, or, if left unresolved, is the ambiguity intentional and effective?

Theme and Emotional Impact (10 points) — Does the story communicate a meaningful theme or message? Does it evoke an emotional or intellectual response that remains with the reader after the story ends?

Voice and Style (5 points) — Is the writing clear, engaging, and appropriate for the story? Does the author have a distinctive narrative voice and use language effectively?

Grammar and Mechanics (5 points) — Is the story free of significant grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors? Is the writing clear and free of awkward or distracting sentence structure?

The contest administrator may reject any submission that does not comply with these rules. The contest administrator reserves the right to interpret these rules and resolve questions concerning eligibility or compliance. All such administrative decisions are final. Judges’ scoring decisions are final. No correspondence concerning judging or awards will be entered into.