Prizes

Grand prize: $20,000

Second place: $5,000

Third place: $1,000

Plus, ten runner ups will receive a year of Vocal+ membership for free (a $120 value).

Dates to know

January 20, 2021: Submissions open

March 2, 2021 11:59pm EST: Submissions close

March 12, 2021: Winners announced

About this Challenge

We’re marking the one-year anniversary of Challenges on Vocal with something extra special. Over the past year, about 18,000 of you have participated in Vocal Challenges, and it’s incredible to see the impact the feature has had. So we’re celebrating with our biggest grand prize yet: a $20,000 grand prize, and a total of cash and prizes worth over $27,000.

It seems fitting, then, to have you daydream about all the possibilities that come along with a $20,000 prize. So, for this Challenge, we’d like you to create a fiction story about someone who unexpectedly comes into $20,000. Whether it involves a mysterious inheritance, a lotto win, or random circumstance, the details are entirely up to you—the only requirement is that at some point in your narrative, whether it’s a major plot point or a minor detail, your story must include a small black notebook.

We're partnering with Moleskine, our own trusted black notebook, for this Challenge. Their pages have inspired so many creators, fueling creativity and providing a way for creators to express themselves on extraordinary journeys. Together, we can't wait to see what you create!

Requirements

For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 2,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until March 2, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here. Our judges will be looking for submissions that are creative, original, well written, and consistent with Moleskine's brand.

The Little Black Book Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.