The Writing Contest That Doesn’t Exist: Equipment & Magic Items
We are holding a writing contest for The Lands Remaining, a game that doesn’t exist (but will someday—it’s in development)! It’s called The Writing Contest That Doesn’t Exist: Equipment & Magic Items.
Submission Guidelines
Resources Folder
A collection of resources can be found here. The resources folder includes:
Discord
You are invited to discuss the contest and solicit feedback on your entry on The Gauntlet Publishing Discord server, via the #writing-contest channel. The contest is not being judged blind, so feel free to discuss your entries wherever (and with whomever) you like. The server can be found here.
Writer’s Workshop
The creator of The Lands Remaining, Jason Cordova, will be holding a special writer’s workshop for contest participants. The workshop will be via Zoom on December 21st, 2025 from 12 PM - 2 PM Eastern. Anyone participating in the contest is welcome to attend; a Zoom link will be sent out via Discord. The workshop will be recorded so it can be viewed later.
Public Viewing Folder
After the deadline for submissions has passed, entries will be made available for public viewing. If you don’t want your entry included in the public viewing folder, you can opt out by telling us so when you send your submission email.
Judging Criteria and Announcement of Winners
The entries will be judged on writing quality, creativity, and playability. The judging will not be blind. The judging panel will be announced at a later time. The winner and runners-up will be announced in late January during a special episode of The Lands Remaining Podcast.
Prizes
While the primary aim of the contest is to have fun and engage in a creative process with like-minded writers—and to get hype for The Lands Remaining--there are also some prizes available.
Publication and Text Ownership
Entrants own their text and are free to publish it wherever they wish after the announcement of winners. We are not actively seeking to publish any entries (again, the contest is mostly for fun) but if something catches our eye that would be a good fit for our publishing plans, we will make a formal publishing offer to the entrant. If the winner or a runner-up receives such an offer, we will pay our publishing rate in addition to their prize money.
We are holding a writing contest for The Lands Remaining, a game that doesn’t exist (but will someday—it’s in development)! It’s called The Writing Contest That Doesn’t Exist: Equipment & Magic Items.
Submission Guidelines
- To enter the contest, you must write and submit a themed collection of 5 pieces of equipment and/or magic items for The Lands Remaining. The submission must be no more than 700 words total, including a short introduction explaining your theme.
- Submissions must be in a Google Doc, 11 pt. Arial, with no special formatting (bold and italics are fine). Your name should not be included anywhere on the Google Doc.
- Send a link to your Google Doc to Amanda, who will be organizing the entries for the judges, via email: [email protected]. Subject line: “A SUBMISSION THAT DOESN’T EXIST.” By submitting, you are representing your entry is work of your own creation.
- When you send your submission email, indicate if you wish to opt-out of the public viewing folder (see Public Viewing Folder section, below).
- The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM Eastern on January 2nd, 2026.
Resources Folder
A collection of resources can be found here. The resources folder includes:
- Contest Submissions, which explains a bit more about what The Lands Remaining is, what your submission should include, and examples.
- The Lands Remaining, a folder of the game as it currently exists, in case you want to know more.
Discord
You are invited to discuss the contest and solicit feedback on your entry on The Gauntlet Publishing Discord server, via the #writing-contest channel. The contest is not being judged blind, so feel free to discuss your entries wherever (and with whomever) you like. The server can be found here.
Writer’s Workshop
The creator of The Lands Remaining, Jason Cordova, will be holding a special writer’s workshop for contest participants. The workshop will be via Zoom on December 21st, 2025 from 12 PM - 2 PM Eastern. Anyone participating in the contest is welcome to attend; a Zoom link will be sent out via Discord. The workshop will be recorded so it can be viewed later.
Public Viewing Folder
After the deadline for submissions has passed, entries will be made available for public viewing. If you don’t want your entry included in the public viewing folder, you can opt out by telling us so when you send your submission email.
Judging Criteria and Announcement of Winners
The entries will be judged on writing quality, creativity, and playability. The judging will not be blind. The judging panel will be announced at a later time. The winner and runners-up will be announced in late January during a special episode of The Lands Remaining Podcast.
Prizes
While the primary aim of the contest is to have fun and engage in a creative process with like-minded writers—and to get hype for The Lands Remaining--there are also some prizes available.
- 1 winner will receive $100 USD.
- 3 runners-up will receive $50 USD each.
Publication and Text Ownership
Entrants own their text and are free to publish it wherever they wish after the announcement of winners. We are not actively seeking to publish any entries (again, the contest is mostly for fun) but if something catches our eye that would be a good fit for our publishing plans, we will make a formal publishing offer to the entrant. If the winner or a runner-up receives such an offer, we will pay our publishing rate in addition to their prize money.
