MEMBERS ONLY PAGE

This page is for paid members to the Story Unlikely monthly magazine, where you can access and read the latest stories hiding behind our obnoxious paywall, back issues, articles on improving your writing, and more! Not a member? Click the "Create Account" button below to sign up for only $24.99 a year! Already a member? Log in below.

Once you've created an account, you'll have one more step to complete your Membership! Click the "YOUR ACCOUNT" button in the bottom right corner and then click "JOIN NEW PLAN".
Trouble logging in? Email us at storyunlikely@mailbox.org

Why become a member?

Because all the cool kids are doing it...

Ok, here are the real reasons to become a paying Member:

Perks for Writers

All members submitting to us, either in our annual contest or general submissions period, receive the following perks:

      - Longer stories: Members submitting to our contest can submit stories up to 5,000 words instead of 4,000, and 12,500 words instead of 3,500 for the general submission period.
      -Faster responses times: Submissions are reviewed within ONE month instead of THREE.
      -More submissions: Submit up to THREE stories instead of one during our contest, and we DO allow Members to simultaneously submit.
      -Personal feedback: All members submitting to our annual contest whose stories receive Honorable Mention or higher will also receive personal feedback from our very own editor-in-chief.
      -Longer Submission Period: Members can submit to our general submission period until October 14th (instead of September 29th).
      -FREE illustrations: We're giving away two FREE illustrations from our freelance team of professional illustrators; one to the member who places highest (aside from top 3), and another will be a random drawing from all members submitting stories - enter three stories, get three chances for a free illustration! Winners will be notified along with contest results.
      -Simple submission form: -Forget the complicated email and submit via our hassle-free/grain-free/humanely built submission form HERE.
      -Access to The Writer's Gym: We have numerous articles on how to improve your writing, written by some of the best writers in the business.
      - 50% off the cost of our community message board. That alone pays the cost of this membership!

Perks for readers

- Access to Members only stories. These stories release every two or three months and are usually much longer than our typical monthly story, while maintaining (or exceeding) our rigorous standards of quality.- Access to all recent issues. Like Sauron forging the rings of power, we've labored over each and every issue, only replace pouring all of his "malice and contempt" into their creation with "heart and soul" and you've got us nailed down. Besides the featured story on our home page, we don't offer public access to all our past issues. If your inbox is struggling to accept our monthly emails, this is an easy solution to gorge yourself on all that beautiful content.

- Immense feelings of superiority and do-goodery. If for some ungodly reason you're not yet compelled to subscribe, just remember, your dollars are supporting us instead of the cough corrupt cough industry. Are you not tired of all the stale, formulaic drivel that gets passed for prose these days? We are. That's why we only publish one story a month instead of flooding the market with mediocrity. Think of us as literary Giordano's; there's a reason why their pizza costs four times that of a hot-n-ready down the road - because it's better. It's worth it.

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welcome, dear member

AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

No really, we can't say it enough - THANK YOU for becoming a member! Every dollar goes to help paying our (ever inflating) bills, and to our talented writers. We couldn't do this without your generous support. Seriously, you da' man!...or da' woman...or da' whatever.New stories will be added once every three or four months (these will be sent out in our monthly magazine issue via email), but you're welcome to stop by anytime and make yourself comfortable. Oh, you want that spot? Well, here, let me at least flip over the cushion before you sit down. No, no, no, that's not cat pee. Probably just water. Or maybe a craft-brewed IPA - you know how the hipsters are with their craft-brewed IPAs.

One last thing! If you're new around here and have (obviously) signed up for our membership, you still need to subscribe to our magazine to receive our monthly issue. It's fast and easy, and you can do it by clicking the button below!

• Subscribe to the monthly magazine!

MEMBERS ONLY CONTENT

For readers:

For writers:

short story contest submission page for members only - That's you!

Our contest submission period is currently OPEN through January 31st.As a valued member, you get a few perks the rest of the schmoes don't, listed below. For the full list of contest details, see our contest page HERE.

Perks for being a member:
1. Members can submit up to THREE stories instead of one.
2. Stories can be up to 5,000 words instead of 4,000.
3. All member stories that receive honorable mention (or higher) get personal feedback from our editor-in-chief.
4. Two FREE illustrations from our freelance team of professional illustrators! One will go the the member who places highest (aside from top 3), and another will be a random drawing from all members submitting stories - enter three stories, get three chances for a free illustration! Winners will be notified along with contest results.
5. Simultaneous submissions ARE allowed for our members - in other words, you can send your entry/s out to other venues while also entering it into our contest (any story withdrawal from non-members we automatically consider to be a simultaneous submission that was accepted elsewhere, which lands you on the excrement list, and none of us want that).
6. 50% off the cost of our community message board (and in the words of Hollywood Hulk Hogan, "For liiiiife!"). That alone pays the cost of this membership! Plus, we'll be drawing several names each month from Members who submit stories for FREE message board accounts!

Now get pumped up with our contest submission song...

This page is for paid members to the Story Unlikely monthly magazine, where you can access and read the latest stories hiding behind our obnoxious paywall, back issues, articles on improving your writing, and more! Not a member? Click the "Create Account" button below to sign up! Already a member? Log in below.

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short story magazine submission page for Members - that's you!

Our magazine submission period is currently CLOSED and will reopen February 2nd throughOctober 14th. In the mean time, check out our CONTEST SUBMISSION PAGE.As a valued member, you get a few perks the rest of the schmoes don't, listed below. For the full list of submission guidelines, see our magazine submission page HERE.

Submission reference guide

Once you’ve read all the information in our magazine (and you need to, to understand our procedures and why we do them), then feel free to glance at the reference guide below.- SUBMISSION PERIOD – February 2nd through October 14th, central standard time.
- WORD LENGTH – 12,500.
- PAY – 8 cents a word capped at $500.
- REPRINTS – Yes, we accept reprints at 2 cents a word.
- GENRE – No restrictions. Go crazy if you want.
- RESPONSE TIME – WE DO NOT respond to rejections. If you do not hear from us within 30 days, it was rejected. Do not email us about the status of your submission, unless we have previously reached out and put your story on ‘hold’.
-FORMATTING – We’re not concerned with manuscript formatting as long as it’s not obnoxious.
- HOW/WHERE TO SEND – Use our easy submission portal below.

This page is for paid members to the Story Unlikely monthly magazine, where you can access and read the latest stories hiding behind our obnoxious paywall, back issues, articles on improving your writing, and more! Not a member? Click the "Create Account" button below to sign up! Already a member? Log in below.

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Full Stories

Click the images below to read the full (members only) stories.

This page is for paid members to the Story Unlikely monthly magazine, where you can access and read the latest stories hiding behind our obnoxious paywall, back issues, articles on improving your writing, and more! Not a member? Click the "Create Account" button below to sign up! Already a member? Log in below.

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Back issues

Click the images below to read back issues of Story Unlikely.

All issues of Story Unlikely 2025:

2024:

2023

2022

2021

We don't have these rebooted. Maybe never will. Or perhaps we'll just cheap out and republish them in a future issue? "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you," right?

This page is for paid members to the Story Unlikely monthly magazine, where you can access and read the latest stories hiding behind our obnoxious paywall, back issues, articles on improving your writing, and more! Not a member? Click the "Create Account" button below to sign up! Already a member? Log in below.

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Community message board

For a limited time, sign up now for free!

Interested in joining a community of like-minded writers who are serious about their craft, but not so serious about themselves? Then you've come to the right place. Stop in and chat with our editors, volunteers, previously published writers, and of course fellow Members! Did we mention our Troll Free Guarantee?

Why join a writing message board?
Writing communities are where we learn, grow, and become better writers, where we find like-minded friends, pull our collective hairs out at the difficulty of this literary publishing game, and laugh together at everything thrown our way. In short, if you want to become the best writer you can be, you need to join a group. And not all groups are created equal. We know - we've been a part of many over the years, and with our decades of experience, we're creating an oasis for writers thirsting for good community.

Since we won't have the critique forum set up until later this year, we're offering a FREE TRIAL for the remainder of 2024! Sign up before this offer is gone! And don't forget to use the coupon code below to garner even more savings!

ALL past contributors to Story Unlikely get free access to our message board for life, which means there's a lot of experience to glean from. This is a great group of people, and you have an opportunity to join (seriously, most writers don't realize the immense value of being part of a group like this, so try it for free and see for yourself!)

Use coupon code "HALF-LIFE" at checkout to get 50% off for life, you valued Member you!

CLICK HERE to join our community message board and start your free trial today!

This page is for paid members to the Story Unlikely monthly magazine, where you can access and read the latest stories hiding behind our obnoxious paywall, back issues, articles on improving your writing, and more! Not a member? Click the "Create Account" button below to sign up! Already a member? Log in below.

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The Writer's Gym

Hone your craft. Improve your writing. Learn from the best in the biz with these monthly articles.

Articles: 2025

Articles: 2024

MEET THE COACHES

Wulf Moon wrote his first science fiction story when he was 15, winning the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. He then sold the story to Science World, his first professional sale (circulation 1 million per issue). He has won over 50 awards in fiction and nonfiction. Moon's stories have appeared in numerous publications including Writers of the Future, Best of Deep Magic 2, Galaxy’s Edge, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2—a borg love story, what could be sweeter?Moon teaches the award-winning Super Secrets of Writing Workshops and is the author of The Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing and the runaway bestseller, How To Write a Howling Good Story. [He invites you to join his free Wulf Pack Club today!

Lynne Golodner is the author of nine books including the novel WOMAN OF VALOR. She is a Detroit-based writing coach who leads writers retreats around the world and teaches creative writing techniques and author career building. An entrepreneur and marketing expert, Lynne also hosts the Make Meaning Podcast, where she interviews authors and people in publishing. Learn more about Lynne by clicking the links below.Lynne offers a host of personal training opportunities for writers, such as editing, coaching, writing retreats, marketing, and so much more! She invites you to learn more about these opportunities HERE!

Danny Hankner began penning stories about himself and his idiot friends as a teenager. Now, masquerading as an adult, he lives in Davenport, Iowa with his wife and three children, working as a master electrician for his own company. In his spare time, Dan rides and builds mountain bike trails, scrapes infinitely spawning cat hurl off the basement floor, and runs Story Unlikely, an award-winning literary magazine where he floats around self-important titles like 'Editor-in-chief'.Although Dan is currently too busy cleaning up all the cat vomit in the basement, he's happy to refer you to the other coaches for personal training, and also encourages you to get connected with other authors Story Unlikely's Community Message Board.

That's right, dear writer. Lay your skepticism aside and hear us out. It's Brett Favre. The real Brett Favre! And perhaps this is a joke - or at least, it started out that way with a cheeky little video, but maybe, just maybe there's more on the horizon. We'll see...

This page is for paid members to the Story Unlikely monthly magazine, where you can access and read the latest stories hiding behind our obnoxious paywall, back issues, articles on improving your writing, and more! Not a member? Click the "Create Account" button below to sign up! Already a member? Log in below.

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