Submissions
Submissions
We have 9 submissions opportunities a year and publish 9 issues a year.
We publish 3 themed editions a year and submissions are open for one month for each edition.
Themed Editions
April (submissions closed)
August - deadline 31st May
December - submissions open in June
We aim to respond within 5 weeks of the submission period closing.
August Edition Submissions
THEME: CIRCUS
SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL 31ST MAY.
We charge a small submission fee (£5) in order to pay writers and cover our production, design and admin costs. We understand that this will be unaffordable for some people so we have 4 free submissions available in each period. Contact us to get one. No need to provide any explanation or evidence, just ask. They are first come, first served so if you do need one, best to get in touch as soon as the submission period opens.
If you would like to sponsor a submission so we can increase the number of free submissions available, then you can do that here.
WORD COUNTS
Short Stories: up to 3000 words
Flash Fictions: up to 1000 words
Micro Fictions: up to 350 words
Author Payment
For each edition, the writers we publish will share 50% of the submission fees received (after Submittable fees are deducted). All stories selected for an edition will receive the same payment no matter the length of the story.
We will also nominate stories for prizes (Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfictions, etc.).
Submission Guidelines
All submissions must be sent through Submittable and we cannot accept email submissions. Anything sent via email will not be read.
Please submit no more than one story per category in each submission period. If you are submitting to more than one category then each submission must be made separately and the submission fee paid each time.
Please use a legible, easy-to-read font of 12pt or 14pt.
All submissions must be previously unpublished (never published in print or online, including a personal blog) and in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format ONLY.
Simultaneous submissions are fine but please withdraw your submission via Submittable if it is accepted elsewhere.
Our submissions are open to all adult writers worldwide. All work must be written in English.
Please do not send us stories with racism, sexism, homophobia, religious hatred or any other kind of bigotry and hate. Any sex must be relevant to the story. Do not send us graphic stories of rape, incest, child abuse, bestiality, or gratuitous violence. We won’t publish it and we do not want to read it.
To find out what kind of stories we like, read our previous editions.
Authors will retain all rights and copyright to their works. WestWord requests one-time, non-exclusive rights to publish your work.
