Pirates Ahoy!
Short Story Competition
A just-for-fun writing contest for young creative writers, ages 9-14.
Write us a Pirate-Themed Short Story…
Win 1 of 3 amazing books!
Read on for the Rules… (Or shall we say, guidelines.)

Avast, me hearties!
Come aboard! It’s time to tell us a swashbucklingly fantastic tale based on the theme of “Pirates.”
Your story can be anything to do with pirates: sky pirates, space pirates, historically accurate (scary!) pirates, comical, or even lovable pirates. We’d love to hear them all! Just make sure your story is between 800-1,000 words.
And the bounty, ye ask? For the winner’s prize, it’s no doubloons or pieces of eight, but their choice of book from some of the finest tales ye ever did see.
So heave ho, ye clever scallywags! Sign up below to be notified when we launch, and before you can say “Thar She Blows!” we’ll be open for entries.
NOTE: In no way do The Storylights Team encourage pillaging, plundering, or the taking up of piracy. Savvy?
Cast Your Vote!
With Storylights’ competitions, we love giving the winner their choice of paperback book out of 3 awesome prize options. Which book would you most like us to include in the final three? (Click on any image to learn more about it.)
You can cast your vote below!
Entries open April 25th...
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“Yes, please! Notify me when entries are open!”
Sign up below and we’ll send you further details on what we’re looking for in a winning story, so you can start writing now!
If this is your first time joining us, your email address will be added to our mailing list (which we use to notify you of upcoming contests, or when we add new features/resources to our website). You can easily unsubscribe at any time.
The Storylights Team:

Amy Bryant
…who writes Middle Grade and YA Fantasy, has 3 novels in the works, and loves cheering on young writers.

Thor the Viking Sheep
…who acts as chief bodyguard and mascot of epicness, dauntlessly watching out for enemies and giving well-meaning (if unhelpful) advice.

Josh Bryant
…who raises 3 little munchkins with his lovely wife Summer, takes care of fancy website stuff, and gives much better advice. (Don’t tell Thor.)
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island.”
– Walt Disney

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
(The Wingfeather Saga, Book 1) by Andrew Peterson

The False Prince
(The Ascendance Series, Book 1) by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Keeper of the Lost Cities
by Shannon Messenger

The Green Ember
by S. D. Smith

The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Ruins of Gorlan
(Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 1) by Trenton Lee Stewart
Privacy Policy
The Storylights
Firstly, we'll never sell or share any of your personal information with anyone else unless we're required to by law, and we only collect the minimum personal data that we need to run our services. For example, we need your name and email address so we can notify you if your competition entry has been selected for a prize, or to send you details about our next competition.
Secondly, any original story material that you send to us, either as part of a competition or not, remains your own personal intellectual property. However, by submitting your story to us, you grant us the right to display it on on our website, and we agree to always credit it to you the author. You retain full rights to your story, including the right to reuse it or resubmit it to any other competition or publication.
Terms & Conditions
The Storylights
By using this website, (for example, by submitting a form, or entering a competition or giveaway), you agree to be bound by and follow these terms and conditions:
- You agree that you are either at least 13 years old, or you have the permission of a parent or guardian to use this website.
- We understand that the name you choose to use on our website or submit with a competition entry, may be an alias or pen name (for young authors, this can be a good way to help protect your privacy), but you understand that we will treat that name like your real name, including when we provide credit to the author of a winning story.
- You agree that any written work that you submit to us as part of a competition or giveaway, is your own original work, written by you and not copied from or written by another person. (No AI work permitted.)
- You agree to not submit any written work to us that promotes or encourages violence, racism, self-harm, or any other activity that is either illegal or potentially damaging to other people.
- You keep all intellectual property rights to any of your own written material that you submit to us, but you agree to give us the right to display your work on our website as part of the services we provide. (For example, displaying competition winners and honourable mentions.)
- We reserve the right to judge competition entries at our sole discretion, and will award the winning entry based on whatever criteria we think to be fair.
- We reserve the right to exclude from competition, any entry that we feel goes against the spirit of the competition, or breaches one of our other conditions, like plagiarism.