You enter the competition for Best Travel Story of the Year by choosing one or more categories. All stories entered in a category are automatically submitted for the Grand Prize at no additional charge.

How do I enter a story in the competition and make my payment?

The process is simple, and goes like this:

1. Click the link below (Submit your story for the Solas Awards here) to go to the page where you enter your contact information and bio.

2. Be sure to choose “Solas” in the dropdown menu “Submission Type.” Click the “Continue” button to go to the page where you will enter your story information and select the category or categories you want to enter. You may also select the optional country and city tags. Enter your story into the text editor box and upload the story file name from your desktop into the box provided. Agree to the “Official Rules,” then click “Continue.”

3. Add your contact information for billing and choose your payment method, then proceed to checkout by clicking “Proceed to PayPal.” Once you’ve completed payment, you will receive confirmation.

4. Click “Submit Another Story” if you’d like to enter any additional stories. Each submission will appear separately on your PayPal or credit card bill.

Submit your story for the Solas Awards here.

Entry fees: $35 for the Best Travel Story of the Year category (the Grand Prize) plus one category of your choice. Additional categories for the same story cost $5 each. If we choose to publish a story in one of our books, we will pay our usual honorarium of $100 for non-exclusive world rights (that means you can sell it again whenever and wherever you want). To see a description of each category please use the drop down menu on the left side of this page.

All stories receive equal consideration from the judges. Your confirmation of fee paid will constitute the sole notification that your entry was received, and we will contact you if you are a winner.

Deadline: The Solas Awards is an annual competition, so you can submit year-round. Winners of the First Annual Competition were announced on our web site March 1, 2007. Winners of the Second Annual Competition were announced on our web site March 1, 2008. Winners of the Third Annual Competition were announced on our web site March 1, 2009. Winners of the Fourth Annual Competition were announced on our web site March 1, 2010. Winners of the Fifth Annual Competition were announced on our web site March 1, 2011. Winners of the Sixth Annual Competition were announced on March 1, 2012. Winners of the Seventh Annual Competition were announced on March 7, 2013. Winners of the Eighth Annual Competition were announced on March 1, 2014. Winners of the Ninth Annual Competition were announced on March 1, 2015. Winners of the Tenth Annual Competition were announced on February 29, 2016. Winners of the Eleventh Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 1, 2017. Winners of the Twelfth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 1, 2018. Winners of the Thirteenth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 1, 2019. Winners of the Fourteenth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 2, 2020. Winners of the Fifteenth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 1, 2021. Winners of the Sixteenth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 30, 2022. Winners of the Seventeenth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 15, 2023. Winners of the Eighteenth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 1, 2024. Winners of the Nineteenth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 1, 2025. Winners of the Twentieth Annual Solas Awards were announced on March 2, 2026. Winners of the Twentieth-First Annual Solas Awards will be announced on or about March 1, 2027. The current competition runs from September 22, 2026 to September 21, 2027.

Rules: Be sure to read the official rules before entering the competition.

Should you wish to submit a story for one of our books without competing for an award, please go to our story submission site (submissions.besttravelwriting.com) and follow the instructions. Your work will be given the same careful consideration we give all stories for inclusion in upcoming anthologies.