Eligible books must be written in English and first published in the United States during a calendar year.
These authors participate in an award event, typically in March, at which they read from their work and have an on-stage discussion with Dark.
At the end of the event, Julie Lindsey announces the winner, who, in addition to the prize money, receives an engraved silver bowl.
From 2006 to 2020 the event was at the New School in New York City (co-sponsored with the Creative Writing Department).
In March 2019, Catapult published The Story Prize: 15 Years of Great Short Fiction, an anthology celebrating the award's fifteenth anniversary.