SEND US THE OPENING LINES OF YOUR NOVEL TO WIN AN EDITORIAL REPORT
Do you have a complete draft of a novel and not sure what to do with it next?
In our Opening Lines contest you can win a review from a professional editor to help you take it to the next level. You’ll get a full report telling you what’s working well and what needs developing that will cover structure, pace, prose, plot, characters and more.

• 1st Prize: An editorial report on a full MS up to 80K words
• 2nd Prize: An editorial report on first 10K words
• 3rd Prize: Feedback on your opening chapter

ENTRY FEE: £10


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Send the first 350 words of your opening chapter.

MAX WORD COUNT FOR OPENING LINES SUBMISSION: 350

DEADLINE: 30th April 2024


COMPETITION T&CS

• Submit your opening lines only through Submittable using the button below by 23.59 GMT on the deadline date (sorry – any entries that have included prologues, more than 350 words and/or a synopsis will be disqualified and fees will not be returned).
• International entries are welcome but all entries must be written in English and can be up to 350 words (no minimum word count) and on any theme and subject (except children’s fiction). Email entries are not accepted.
• Name the document you upload with your novel title.
• Please use a 12pt or 14pt easy-to-read font and double spacing.
• Do not include your name on the document, the title of your entry or the document you upload as it is judged anonymously. Any entries that have the author’s name on them will be automatically disqualified.
• The novel should be unpublished and not have been accepted by an agent or publisher – if it is accepted by an agent or publisher after submission but before the judging takes place then it will no longer be eligible and entry fees will not be refunded.
• You can enter as many times as you like but each entry must be made separately and the entry fee paid each time.
• The judge’s decision is final.
• There are no alternative prizes.

Visit our website for more competitions, courses and to join our vibrant online community

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.

August 2024 Editions

THEME: CIRCUS

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.