WestWord

Submissions are open on a rolling basis for flash fiction stories to appear in our twice-monthly Flash Focus feature. All writers selected will also have an interview about the story that will run alongside it.

There is no theme but our usual submission guidelines apply. Please read the kinds of stories we publish to get a feel for what we like. 

Words: Up to 750 (excluding the title)

Submission fee: £7 submission only / £22 with feedback

Author payment: £20

ENTRY RULES

• Submit stories written in English through Submittable. Please use a clear font of at least size 12 so that we can read it easily!
• Please use the name of your story as your Submission title and the document you upload.
• Please include the word count at the start or end of the story document.
• Stories must be your own original work and not have been published online or in print, or have won any other competitions (longlisted and shortlisted in other competitions is fine if the story remains unpublished).
• Simultaneous submissions are allowed but if your story wins a prize or is published prior to the winner’s announcement your submission will become ineligible. No refunds of submission fees will be paid.
• By entering the competition you agree to your story being published in WestWord.
• Stories can be in any genre apart from children’s fiction.
• You can enter as many times as you like but all entries must be made separately and the entry fee paid each time.
• The judge’s decision is final.
• Cash prize payments will be made through PayPal or via BACS.
• There are no alternative prizes.

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.

Authors will retain all rights and copyright to their works. WestWord requests one-time, non-exclusive rights to publish your work.

Competition Info

• Open to: Original short fiction and flash fiction (unpublished works only)
  Word Limits: 50-2,000 words
  Genres: Literary fiction, genre fiction, experimental work, and cross-genre pieces welcome
  Entry Fee: £15 per submission (submit as many times as you like but each story must be submitted separately)

Prizes: Personalised Craft Development Programmes

First Place: The Complete Writer's Journey

• 6-month intensive mentorship program
• Submit 2,000 words monthly for detailed written feedback
• Three 1-hour live mentoring sessions via Zoom
• Guidance on craft, revision techniques, and publication strategies
• Personalized reading recommendations to develop your unique voice

Second Place: The Focused Development Track

• 3-month targeted mentorship program
• Submit 1,500 words monthly for comprehensive written feedback
• Two 1-hour live mentoring sessions via Zoom
• Concentrated work on specific craft elements and story development

Third Place: The Story Intensive

• One-time deep dive into your writing
• Submit 1,000 words for detailed analysis and feedback
• One-hour personalized mentoring session via Zoom
• Actionable next steps for your continued development

What Makes This Competition Different

Professional Mentorship: Work directly with an experienced fiction writer and editor who understands both craft and the contemporary publishing landscape.

Ongoing Development: Rather than a single critique, the mentorship program provides sustained support as you grow as a writer.

Craft-Focused: Feedback covers all elements of fiction writing - character development, dialogue, narrative structure, voice, pacing, and the subtle art of showing vs. telling, but also focuses on finding the hidden truths and layers in your work to make it truly stand out.

Your Mentor

Amanda Saint is the author of two novels, As If I Were A River (2016) and Remember Tomorrow (2019) and a novella-in-flash, Pressure Drop (2024). Her short stories, flash and micro fictions have been widely published in journals and anthologies, and placed and listed in many international prizes, including the Mslexia Flash Fiction Prize and the Fish Flash Fiction Prize, nominated for Best Small Fictions 2023, and selected for Top in Fiction four times in 2024. Amanda founded Retreat West, providing an online writing community, competitions and courses in 2012. From 2018-2023 Retreat West published 24 books and was named Most Innovative Publisher at the 2020 Saboteur Awards (shortlisted 2019). She also writesThe Mindful Writer on Substack and in 2024, launched a new creative venture inspired by it. Find out more about that here.

Submission Categories

Flash Fiction: 50-1000 words
Short Stories: 1,001-2,000 words

Stories will be judged within their categories, ensuring flash fiction competes with flash fiction, and longer pieces with works of similar scope.

Timeline

Submissions Open: Now
Submission Deadline: 30th June 2025
Winners Announced: August 2025
Mentorship Programs Begin: September 2025

Judging Criteria

Stories will be evaluated on:

• Originality and distinctive voice
• Narrative craft and structure
• Character development and dialogue
• Emotional resonance and impact
• Technical execution and prose quality

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 2025

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: 20%
• 2nd: £15%
• 3rd: £10%
• Shortlisted stories (max 7): 3% each

All winning and shortlisted stories will be published in WestWord in November 2025.

Get more info here: https://westword.substack.com/p/past-times-prize

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.

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.

Authors will retain all rights and copyright to their works. WestWord requests one-time, non-exclusive rights to publish your work.

November 2025 Edition

THEME: THRESHOLD

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.