WestWord is a literary magazine from Retreat West.
We launched in 2022 and publish micro fictions, flash fictions and short stories.
Get all the info on how to get published with us on our Submissions page.
We are publishing a special edition of WestWord in October 2024 for previously unpublished writers.
- Max word count: 1000
- Deadline: 8th September 2024
- Submission fee: £5
- Writer compensation: All writers selected will share 50% of the submission fees received (after Submittable and payment processing fees are deducted)
- Publication date: 26th October 2024
- Eligibility: You must not have had any fictional stories previously published. If after submitting you have a story accepted and it will be published before 26th October 2024, then you must withdraw your story.
- Theme: There is no theme and we accept stories in all genres, apart from children’s fiction. Our usual guidelines apply, which you can see our submissions page. Please pay extra attention to this one:
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.
Submissions are now open on a rolling basis for stories that will be published once a week in our new Story Sunday feature.
The first story will go live on Sunday 1st September 2024.
No theme and the same guidelines apply for our general submissions.
- Max word count: 1000
- Submission fee: £5
- Writer compensation: All writers selected will receive a £15 payment on publication of their story.
SHORT STORY PRIZE
Deadline: 30th November 2024
Max word count: 2500
Entry fee: £12 submission only / £40 with feedback
PRIZES:
- 1st: £250
- 2nd: £150
- 3rd: £75
- Shortlisted: £20
Theme: Light
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).
Anthology publication: February 2025
See more info on our website: https://westword.uk/westword-prize
FLASH FICTION PRIZE
Deadline: 31st July 2024
Max word count: 1000
Entry fee: £9 submission only / £30 with feedback
PRIZES:
- 1st: £200
- 2nd: £100
- 3rd: £50
- Shortlisted: £15
Theme: Dream
Judge: Amy Barnes
Amy is the Co-Editor at Gone Lawn, an Associate Editor at Fractured Lit and was a reader at Retreat West for several years. She is also the author of three collections: Mother Figures (ELJ Editions, 2021), Ambrotypes (Word West LLC, 2022), and Child Craft, (Belle Point Press, 2023). Her writing has been nominated for Best of the Net, the Pushcart Prize, Best Microfiction, longlisted for the Wigleaf Top 50 in 2021 and 2022, and included in The Best Small Fictions 2022. Read our interview with Amy here.
Anthology publication: September 2024
More info and other categories here: https://westword.uk/westword-prize
WestWord Past Times Prize
This annual competition is for historical fiction stories. Each year we will reveal which time the stories should be set in.
Deadline: 31st August 2024
Words: Up to 500 (excluding the title)
Entry fee: £6 submission only / £21 with feedback
PRIZES:
The winning and shortlisted stories will share 61% of the entry fees (after Submittable fees are deducted) .
- 1st: 35%
- 2nd: £30%
- 3rd: £25%
- 7 shortlisted stories: 3% each
All winning and shortlisted stories will be published in WestWord in November 2024.
Get more info here: https://westword.substack.com/p/past-times-prize
WestWord 1000 Word Picture Competition
A picture paints a thousand words and this annual edition of WestWord we want stories of 1000 words exactly inspired by the image prompt.
Deadline: 31st December 2024
Word count: 1000 words exactly (excluding title)
Entry fee: £6 submission only / £23 with feedback
PRIZES:
The winning and shortlisted stories will share 66% of the submission fees (after Submittable fees are deducted) .
1st: 20%
2nd: £15%
3rd: £10%
Shortlisted stories (7 max): 3% each
All winning and shortlisted stories will be published in WestWord in February 2025.
See the picture prompt here: https://westword.substack.com/p/1000-word-photo
You can submit as many stories as you like but each submission must be made separately. All stories are read anonymously so please don't include your name in the document you upload or in the submission title.
December 2024 Edition
THEME: Identity
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 allocated on a first come, first served basis.
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.
Short Story Spotlight publishes one short story a month along with an interview with the author about their craft.
- Word count: Up to 5,000
- Submission fee: £8
- Author payment: £35
There is no theme but please read the stories we have previously published to get a feel for what we like.
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.