Romantasy short story competition by Archetype
Calling all lovers of the romantic and fantastic…
We invite you to join us for the Archetype Romantasy Short Story Competition, kicking off July 15, 2025! Each story will be within the Romantasy genre, but must incorporate two additional prompt elements that will be sent to participants at the kick-off of the competition. Participants will have seven days to write and submit their story of no more than 2,500 words. Stories can be any length the writer chooses as long as it is under 2,500 words.
A prompt with an event and an object that must appear in the story will be emailed to all participants at the start of the contest.
Participants will have exactly seven days from the time the prompt is sent at 11:59pm eastern time on Tuesday, July 15, 2025 to write and submit their story via a link provided in the prompt email. Finished stories will be due at 11:59pm eastern time on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.
The author of the first-place story will receive a cash prize of $1,000. Author of the second-place story will receive a cash prize of $300 and author of the third-place story will receive a cash prize of $100. In addition to cash prizes, winning authors will receive editing vouchers through Archetype, and publication on the ARCHE/TYPED digital magazine.
How to write Romantasy & what to expect
The genre… 🥀
“Romantasy” focuses on a romantic story in a fantasy setting.
Fantasy settings are characterized by imaginary worlds that incorporate elements of magic, mythology, and the supernatural. Common themes in fantasy include heroism, myth, mythical creatures, sacrifice and good vs evil.
Romance stories typically focus on the relationship and romantic love between characters. Romance stories can be set in a wide variety of genres. Romance stories are often characterized by common themes and tropes like:
Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, second chances, opposites attract, and more.
Put these elements together and you get Romantasy, a specific subgenre of both fantasy and romance that tells a romantic story within a fantasy setting. Romantasy has taken the reading world by storm in recent years with hit novels like the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros, and the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. While Romantasy can (and often does) include spice and smut scenes, it doesn’t have to to still be considered Romantasy.
While Romantasy is certainly having a moment, it’s a genre that has captured hearts throughout time. Whether you love Romantasy already or it’s new to you, we invite you to let your writerly imagination run wild in a genre where anything’s possible and it’s okay to let your heart flutter.
The contest…
During the Archetype Romantasy Short Story Competition, writers will have seven days to write and submit their Romantasy short story based on a prompt that will be emailed to all registered participants at the start of the competition. The prompt will include an event and an object that must appear in the story.
Word count: all stories submitted for consideration must be 2,500 words or less. Stories over the 2,500 word count limit will be disqualified.
Spice level: all judges/readers for the Romantasy short story competition are adults and therefore the story can be however spicy the writer would like. While spice is a common element in Romantasy, it is not required. If you prefer to “fade to black” on your romantic scenes, or keep it to a slow-burn, that is completely fine!
Judging: After the deadline, all submissions will be judged in two rounds by two anonymous panels of writers and editors chosen by Archetype as competition judges to select the winners. Feedback will be provided to every participant on their story after results are announced. Judges and their credentials will be announced on the website and social media shortly, so stay tuned!
Entry fee: all participants will pay a $15 non-refundable entry fee to participate in the Romantasy challenge at registration. If you do not complete your story by the deadline, or do not place among the winners of the competition, you will not be issued a refund. This fee helps us pay our judges for their time and expertise! One form/registration fee = one participant. Please submit separate forms for separate participants!
Deadline: working on a deadline is an important part of the challenge. We will not accept late submissions—anything sent in after the deadline will be disqualified.
Please note, Archetype does not work with AI-generated content. We will not use AI to judge stories and we do not accept submissions generated by AI. If you submit an AI-generated story, it will be disqualified from consideration.
Prizes
🥀 FIRST PLACE
$1,000 cash.
A voucher for free manuscript development (including developmental editing, copyediting/proofreading, and marketing coaching) with Archetype.
Publication on ARCHE/TYPED, the Archetype digital magazine.
🥀 SECOND PLACE
$300 cash.
A voucher for free manuscript development (including developmental editing, copyediting/proofreading, and marketing coaching) with Archetype.
Publication on ARCHE/TYPED, the Archetype digital magazine.
🥀 THIRD PLACE
$100 cash.
A voucher for free manuscript development (including developmental editing, copyediting/proofreading, and marketing coaching) with Archetype.
Publication on ARCHE/TYPED, the Archetype digital magazine.