The Analog — A Writing Competition by Mail

Issue No. 1 · Sign-ups close May 22, 2026

A Writing Competition

We are accepting letters.
Real ones. With stamps.

The Analog is a writing competition held every two months. There is no online submission portal. There is no upload button. There is, instead, a post office box, and we encourage you to use it.

The prompt is delivered immediately, on this very website and by email. Is it hypocritical for an analog competition to begin with a screen? Yes. Glad we’ve cleared that up.

Enter — $10Read the Rules
Issue No. 1 · Sign-up deadline · May 22, 2026
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Sign up by May 22. Letters must be postmarked by June 5. Winners announced June 26.

The prizes

First
$100

For the letter we cannot stop rereading.

Second
$50

For the one we read twice.

Third
$25

For the one we’d quote at a dinner party.

Winners and honorable mentions all receive letters in the mail. Yes, by mail. We are committed to the bit. A response is not guaranteed for every entry — sorry. You know what they say: if at first you don’t succeed…

How it works

  1. Sign up and pay the $10 entry fee. Yes, online. We are not monsters.
  2. Receive the prompt — a prompt in the form of a letter, made available upon payment via the site and in your inbox.
  3. Compose your reply by hand. Or by typewriter, if you must.
  4. Mail it to our P.O. box before the deadline. Postmarks are scrutinized.
  5. Wait. The mail is slow. So are we. Winners are announced three weeks after the deadline.

The schedule

Issue No. 1
  • →Sign-up deadlineMay 22, 2026
  • Postmark deadlineJune 5, 2026
  • Winners announcedJune 26, 2026

Mail entries to

The Analog Post
PO Box 141
Brookeville, MD 20833

Do not send anything you would like back. We are not a museum.