Cast of Wonders, the speculative fiction podcast, is currently hosting a free writing contest. The prize is just $30, but they’re a great publisher, and the stories need to be just 500 words or fewer.

So, this contest is a good excuse to write a very, very short story — and have the chance to get paid a small amount of money, join a community, and get recognized for your writing.

The contest is open to writers from around the world.

According to the contest page:

The story must adhere to the general Cast of Wonders Submission Guidelines. Most importantly, it needs to evoke a sense of wonder and be appropriate for a YA audience. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without explicit sex, violence or pervasive obscene language.

If you have a longer story that you’d like to publish, they pay 6 cents per word via their regular submissions, up to 6,000 words. That works out to a maximum of $360

To learn more, read the contest guidelines.