We’re an indie writing competition with a lot of moxie.

WYRM’s Gauntlet is an underground, independently run writing competition. We welcome professional writers, published authors, undiscovered talent & anyone with a love for speculative fiction.

“Why do we do what we do? Well, we guess it’s because there’s nothing like running a Gauntlet. Come be a part of something exciting, and totally different. It’s fun, it’s fearless, and it’s cool. Because it’s better than spending your days scrolling though drama on Facebook.”

 

sign up for the gauntlet

Our Gauntlet works in four rounds of action, and is a mixture of critique and fiction-writing to challenge our esteemed Gauntleteers. The rounds are all different, and designed to bring out your best–your best review, your best short story, or something you didn’t see coming.

 

find out more

Deadlines & Timeline

Want to check out when we’ve set our deadlines/timeline or what your new challenge will be? Point your mouse to:

 

our deadlines/challenges

The Forums

Are you already a Gauntleteer or Spectator and want to chat it up with fellow competitors? We have just the place for you:

 

the gauntlet forums

We welcome everyone who can write, read and critique speculative fiction. Do you think you have what it takes?

Registering for the Gauntlet is mandatory. You will be given a temporary account to grant you access to the contest’s forum where you can check up on challenges, announcements and talk to other Gauntleteers as well as the Judges.

As a registered Gauntleteer, you will receive emails from the Gauntlet. The emails will contain important information about things like the openings of new rounds and who’s left in the contest. We will never sell or misuse your email address.

Need more information? We’ve set up some handy FAQ pages and information pages for you.

GUIDELINES
Everything you need to know about WYRM’s Gauntlet will be in our Guidelines, from how to sign up, to how the rounds work, to what color socks to wear.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A more streamlined version of the Guidelines to answer some questions we’ve received in the past.

PRIZES
Information about the goods. We are adamant about awarding excellent competitors.

CHAMPIONS
Check out our hall of fame filled with previous years’ winners. Since 2007, we have had champions from all over the world, and all walks of life. Think you can add your name?

GAUNTLET FORUM
The forum is opened every year and is the number one way to get in touch with fellow Gauntleteers and Judges.

CONTACT US
Our contact us form is for technical support and asking questions about the contest itself.

We don’t like to hold hands. Our annual competition challenges Gauntleteers to four rounds of critical review & creative writing. Here’s the breakdown:

Our Gauntleteers enter into the competition and are registered to access the Gauntleteers section. Round One is where most of our competitors have to show that they really want it in either a reviewing round or writing round.

Having survived our first round, our remaining Gauntleteers will be treated to a challenge opposite of what they faced in Round One. Some years we like to mix it up a little. Nothing is guaranteed. We’ll let you know.

Round Three are the semi-finals where our top  Gauntleteers will face off against each other to see who will go on to the finals and have a chance at becoming the Gauntlet Champion. The stakes are sky high.

Our finalists enter the toughest stage. Our remaining Gauntleteers will battle it out for supremacy and the honor of calling themselves the Gauntlet Champion. Making it this far takes skill, dedication and verve.

Know someone who might be interested? Want to be a spectator? Good at spreading the word?

Hey, did you know you can kick back and watch the Gauntlet unfold rather than participate? If you want to spread the word about our annual indie competition, that's cool with us, too. You can size up the competition for next year, or, if you know someone who’d be right at home being a Gauntleteer, we’ve set up some convenient ways to signal boost WYRM’s Gauntlet.

If you want to register as just a Spectator, you can do so using the same form. Just make sure to select “Spectator” from the options. Spectators are granted access to post in the smackdown arena known as the Gauntlet forums.

TWITTER
Tell the world about us in a tweet.

FACEBOOK
Post about the Gauntlet on your Facebook page.

EMAIL
Send your friends an email about us.

GAUNTLETEERS SIGN UP
Get in the ring or become a Spectator.