Final Monthly Micro of 2024!
Plus the Online Short Story Festival is soon!
Hi, hope you are finding time for your writing. Our last Monthly Micro competition of 2024 has gone live today. We have a break in December and will be back in January 2025 with the new year’s competition.
This month, we’re looking for stories in a specific genre:
November 2024 Competition
Opens: 04th November 2024
Deadline: 23.59 UK time 10th November 2024
Longlist published: 14th November 2024
Shortlist published and voting begins: 18th November 2024
Voting closes: 25th November 2024
Winners announced: 26th November 2024
Word count: Up to 150 (not including the title)
See the full competition info here.
Online Short Story Festival
Over at Retreat West, we’re running a one-day short story festival this Sunday (10th November). It’s going to be a fun-filled day featuring workshops with Alison Moore, and , and a keynote with Nicholas Royle, who as well as being a prolific short story writer is the editor of the long-running anthology series, Best British Short Stories. It’s going to be a lot of fun! You can get tickets for the individual workshops, for the whole day, or Recordings Only if you can’t make it live.
Open Submissions
Submissions are open ongoing for our new feature spots: the weekly Story Sunday for stories up to 1000 words; the monthly Short Story Spotlight for stories up to 5,000 words with author interview; and Flash Focus for stories up to 750 words that will publish twice a month and include an author interview too.
The deadline for the 1000 Word Photo Competition is 31st December. All info here.
Send us your light-filled stories!
This is the final category in the 2024 WestWord Prize. The competition has been revamped for 2025. Get all the info on that here.
Deadline: 30th November 2024
Max word count: 2500
Entry fee: £12 submission only / £40 with feedback
Online anthology publication: January 2025
Theme: Light
PRIZES:
1st: £250
2nd: £150
3rd: £75
Shortlisted: £20
Judge: Nod Ghosh
Nod Ghosh is the author of The Two-Tailed Snake, which publishing with Fairlight Books in September 2023. Nod was born in Birmingham, UK, and currently lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she works as a medical laboratory scientist specialising in the diagnosis of cancers. Her short stories and flash fiction have been widely published in journals and anthologies, and her work has been listed for awards including the Bath Novella-in-Flash Award and the New Zealand National Flash Fiction Day competition. She has had four previous novellas published: The Crazed Wind (2018), Filthy Sucre (2020), Toy Train (2021) and Throw a Seven (2023).
Join me for a workshop
Each month, I run a Zoom workshop about short fiction writing. Included with the WestWord membership or just pay to come along to whichever ones you fancy.
Schedule
Creating Complex Characters in Short Stories / 30th November - 11.00-13.00 GMT
Weaving Sensuous Spells / 07th December - 11.00 - 12.00
All info and booking links here.
Become a member of WestWord
Get submissions, workshops and lots of great craft posts to help you develop your writing. You can access the full archive of workshops and posts, as well as get all the new ones to help make your short fiction writing shine. See what’s included here.
Memberships start at just £6 a month.
I hope to write with you and read your work soon!
With love,
Amanda