Short Fiction
Submit original short stories up to 3,000 words centering male emotional coming-of-age. Any genre welcome — contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi, or beyond.
Writing & Submissions
Share your voice. Fallboys supports emerging writers exploring male emotional complexity in coming-of-age fiction and creative nonfiction.
Your Voice Matters
Write Your Own Fall
Fallboys is a platform for emerging voices telling stories about boys in emotional transition. Submit short fiction, creative essays, or personal narratives centered on vulnerability, growth, and the messy beauty of becoming.
Creative Essays
Personal narratives, reflective essays, and moderated creative nonfiction exploring the emotional architecture of adolescence.
Falling Forward Contest
Our seasonal writing contest held each autumn. Submit your best coming-of-age piece for a chance to be featured on the platform.
Before You Submit
Submission Guidelines
What We Accept
Fallboys accepts short fiction (up to 3,000 words), creative essays, personal narratives, and seasonal themed pieces. All submissions should center male emotional coming-of-age themes and align with at least one of our Fall Archetype categories.
Content Standards
All writing must align with the Fallboys ethical framework. We do not accept content that glorifies harm, promotes toxic masculinity, or lacks emotional depth. Trigger warnings should be noted where applicable. Content is carefully moderated for safety and age appropriateness.
Archetype Alignment
Select the archetype theme that best fits your piece:
- Falling in Love — First love, queer awakening, heartbreak
- Falling Apart — Grief, family breakdown, mental health
- Falling Away — Leaving religion, tradition, hometown
- Falling Into Identity — Orientation, gender, culture, neurodivergence
- Falling & Failing — Academic collapse, injury, redemption
Review Process
All submissions are reviewed by our moderation team. We aim to respond within 4–6 weeks. Selected pieces are published on the platform with author credit. We provide constructive feedback when possible.
Submit Your Work
Submission Form
Ready to share your story? Fill out the form below. All fields marked with * are required.
Get Inspired
Writing Prompts
Need a starting point? Try one of these prompts inspired by the Fall Archetype Library.
The Unsent Letter
Write a letter your character will never send — to a parent, a friend, a version of themselves they're leaving behind. What do they say when no one is listening?
Falling ApartThe Last Game
A boy plays his final game — sports, video games, or something else entirely. What ends, and what begins after the final whistle?
Falling & FailingTwo Truths and a Lie
Your character tells three things about themselves at a new school. Two are true. One is a lie. The lie is the most important.
Falling Into IdentityThe Drive Home
A boy sits in the passenger seat on a long drive home from somewhere that changed him. Write the silence between radio songs.
Falling Away
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
You can submit short fiction, creative essays, or personal narratives through our online submission form above. Fill in your name, email, select a submission type and archetype theme, paste your work, and submit. All submissions are reviewed by our moderation team for safety and quality.
Fallboys accepts short fiction (up to 3,000 words), creative essays, personal narratives, and seasonal themed pieces. All submissions should center male emotional coming-of-age themes and align with our Fall Archetype categories.
Falling Forward is Fallboys' seasonal writing contest held each autumn. Writers submit original short fiction centered on transformation and emotional growth. Selected works are featured on the platform and winners receive recognition within the Fallboys community.
Yes. All submissions are carefully moderated for safety and age appropriateness. Fallboys maintains an ethical framework that avoids glorifying harm, promotes emotional literacy, and centers vulnerability. We provide feedback when possible.