JOIN THE DASH HERE

The jam runs from April 13 – July 15 2026

Welcome to the Golden Spring Showers Dash. We’re trying something a little different with this DASH!. This is Monster Manor’s second ever writing dash, a dash encouraging you to GET THAT IDEA OUT THERE. You have three months to create and publish your book. Myself, and Jun, the creators of Monster Manor, aim to bring our community something new and different and maybe a bit kinky, or maybe not! It’s all up to you.

What makes this dash different is this dash is hosted specifically with indie authors and readers in mind.

Previously we hosted the writing challenge through itchio, this year they’ll be hosted on the Monster Manor forums. You can’t sell your books through the forums, but we can provide is a directory of where to find everyone’s dash books, resources for writing, and a hub to chat, plan, and meet new people.

This is a themed dash meaning all submissions will be required to fit within the theme. 
THE THEME IS GOLDEN SPRING SHOWERS.

What does that mean? Well, the interpretation is up to you! The theme… to put it simply… is spring… and pee. Interpret that how you will!

This dash is for everyone and anyone who fits under the lgbtqi2s+ umbrella. You do not have to specify whether you as an author or just the characters in your story are queer. We also do not require your work to have romance in it, or explicitly state a gender identity or sexuality. This will work on the honor system! All your story has to be is golden and springy — that can mean whatever you want it too. Maybe there’s a haunted toilet, maybe there’s a piss kink, maybe you’ll go Paradise Rot with it. Get creative! if you can pitch it, we’ll take it. 

Some further guidelines
♡ This dash is for eBooks specifically. Comics and other written material are also acceptable, but this dash is not intended for game submissions including visual novels. 
♡ Original works only, please do not submit fanfiction
♡ Submitted works can be any length, from short stories to full novels. There are no word count minimums or maximums.
♡ This dash officially runs from April 15 to July 15 submissions must be created during this time. You can outline, plan, character create or draft however you need to prior to the dash but the final product should be made during this time period. This isn’t something I will be strict about but it’s more fun if you play along, it’s supposed to be a challenge.
♡ There are no genre or content requirements outside of the theme. All submissions will be accepted, I don’t control what sites require what terms of service, so however you want to go about that is your decision, all submissions are just required to be your own original work, and fit the theme, but we do ask that you properly tag your work with content warnings. 
♡ Absolutely no AI may be used for any part of your work. I will know, and I will be a nightmare about it. 
♡ You MUST credit anyone who worked on your book with you in the front matter, including cover artist and editor. Ideally these would also be listed on your project page. 

This section is still be updated! If you’d like to provide a service at a discount for the dash such as editing, cover art, formatting, or anything else, please reach out to H.S. Wolfe, or you can post your services directly on the dash page at monstermanor.org/dashes under the resources tab in the dash category.

A quick FAQ rundown. If you have a question not answered here please e-mail me at hswolfewriting@gmail.com

Is there a min/max word count? 
No.

Can I submit late? 
This will be case by case, please reach out to an organizer. The answer is usually yes.

If I participate in this Dash will my submission still be my property? 
Yes! We do not own anything you submit. This is merely a summer challenge we’re hosting to bring community together, encourage authors to write something, and bring more awareness to itch.io as a platform for self published authors. The focus is building community and providing opportunities to folks! Your story will always be yours and we will not own any of the rights. 

I write taboo content, is that okay? 
Yes! Any censorship is bad censorship, as exemplified by the reason we decided to independently host it.

Can I charge for my submission?
Yes! Your submission will be viewable to the public, prior to submission you will first upload it to your itch page like any other project. Scroll up for info on how to make an itchio page and upload your book! You can upload it for free or slap a price on it. Follow your heart.

Contact H.S. Wolfe
E-Mail: hswolfewriting@gmail.com
Discord: werewolfpresident
IG & bsky: wolfehorror

Contact Jun T.N.
E-Mail: isjunreading@gmail.com
Discord: skyentist_
IG & bsky: advalentinus