- Award Rules
Please read the rules on this page and feel free to reach out for any
clarifications via the contact form. We understand that life gets in
the way of deadlines, but no exceptions to the deadline will
be given!
Submission Deadline
July 31, of every year, Midnight Pacific Standard Time.
Results will be announced by September 30th, 2026.
Eligibility
- Participants must either be currently residing in Pakistan, or be of Pakistani birth/descent.
- Young and fledgling writers, irrespective of age and experience, are highly encouraged to submit – we want to read your work more!
- Original content must be written entirely by you – AI-generated content is not allowed, nor are co-authors.
- The story must be unpublished prior to this submission (not even on blogs) – simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please inform us if your submission is accepted elsewhere.
- Entries must be in English. You are allowed to use other languages in your world building as long as the primary story is entirely in English.
- World Limit: 10,000 words.
- Mutliple and simultaneous submissions are not allowed.
- By participating, you agree to publish your story on our website should it be selected to win.
NOTE: All participants should receive an automatic confirmation email upon submission. Please do not respond to that email, or DM/email us with your story details asking for confirmation as this may result in disqualification. We read the stories anonymously, thus, such emails and messages defeat the purpose of our rules in place.
- Participants must either be currently residing in Pakistan, or be of Pakistani birth/descent.
-   Young and fledgling writers, irrespective of age and experience, are highly encouraged to submit to the Salam Award – we want to read your work more!
- Original content must be written entirely by you – AI-generated content is not allowed, nor are co-authors.
- The story must be unpublished prior to this submission (not even on blogs) – simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please inform us if your submission is accepted elsewhere.
- Entries must be in English and the world limit is 10,000 words.
- Only one story per entrant is allowed.
Formatting Guidelines
- Your story should be formatted in the Shunn Manuscript Format but please remove your names, byline, address and email from the manuscript. No identification information should appear anywhere in the body of the story because we read and judge the stories blindly.
- IMPORTANT: Stories that do not follow proper formatting, have any of the author’s identification (including but not limited to name, byline, email, phone, etc.) present in the manuscript, or submit their story in any other format/file type other than the one advised will be immediately disqualified and the stories deleted without reading.
- File Format: doc/.docx/PDF
- Use the Modern Shunn Manuscript Format (link) but remove your name, address, email and byline from the body of the story because our stories are judged blindly.
- IMPORTANT: Stories that do not follow proper formatting, have any of the author's identification (including name, email, phone, etc.) present in the story, or are in any other format/file type other than the one advised will be disqualified and deleted without reading.
- PDF or Word Document file formats only.
What’s Acceptable?
- The Salam Award invites Pakistani writers to interpret imaginative fiction as loosely or precisely as they would like. Anything from alien invasions to fantasy universes, and comic science fiction to dark fantasies is valid. The aim is to encourage imaginative fiction so anything that falls under the vast category of science fiction and fantasy, will be accepted. The scope is broad, so enjoy it!
- We are not interested in sensationalist pieces, so it’s a no to excessive/graphic violence, animal cruelty, and/or pornography or hate speech against and community.
- Please don’t quote another author or poet whose work is not in the public domain unless you have explicit permission from said author or poet.