WestWord

Submissions are always open for our Folktale Flash series. 

We want flash fiction stories inspired by folktales, myths, legends, fables and fairytales. Send us your modern, surreal, ancient and brilliant takes on the ones that have captured your mind.

What’s the Difference Between a Myth, a Legend, a Folktale, and a Fairytale?

This article by International Storyteller has some definitions that can guide you.

• Max word count: 400 (not including title)
• Submission fee: £5
• Author payment: £25

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or have won any other competitions (longlisted and shortlisted in other competitions is fine if the story remains unpublished).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.

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.

March 2026 Edition

THEME: BLOOM

 Send us your short fiction inspired by the theme. How you interpret it is entirely up to you!
 

WORD COUNTS

• Short Stories: up to 3000 words
• Flash Fictions: up to 1000 words
• Micro Fictions: up to 350 words

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.

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.
• Do not include any images with the story.
• All submissions must be previously unpublished (never published in print or online, including a personal blog) and in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format ONLY. WestWord requires first publication rights but copyright remains with the author.
• 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 overt 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 journal.

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

Send us your stories to raise money for St. Mungo's homelessness charity

What we're looking for:

Flash fiction and creative non-fiction up to 1,000 words that explores what home means – the longing for it, the loss of it, the creation of it, the complicated feelings we carry about it. Home as a physical place, a state of mind, a person, a memory. Home as safety or trap. The homes we're born into and the ones we build for ourselves.

Submission Guidelines:

• Word count: Up to 1,000 words
• Theme: Home
• Submission fee: FREE for all submissions
• Deadline: 21st December 2025

All submissions are free because this is about raising money for St Mungo's. However, if you'd like to help cover the cost of the ISBNs we need to get this book listed with online retailers and real-life bookshops (£174 total), there's an optional donation when you submit. Any donations received will go towards these costs and if what we receive exceeds the amount needed, it will be donated to St Mungo's.

This will be the first of what we hope will become an annual tradition – one charity anthology each year, using the power of storytelling to support causes that matter.

Send the opening chapter of your novel to win feedback from top publishing industry professionals.

2026 Judge

Louise Buckley is a literary agent at The Ampersand Agency, where she represents a diverse list of commercial and upmarket fiction across adult and young adult categories. With a keen eye for compelling narratives and fresh voices, Louise has built a reputation for championing authors who bring emotional depth and originality to their work. She is particularly drawn to psychological thrillers, contemporary women’s fiction, book club reads, and YA that tackles complex themes with authenticity.

Before joining The Ampersand Agency, Louise honed her editorial expertise working in publishing, giving her a comprehensive understanding of what makes a manuscript stand out in today’s competitive market. Her passion for discovering new talent and nurturing writers through their publishing journey makes her an invaluable judge for this competition.

Prizes

First Prize

Submission package review and feedback from Louise Buckley in a Zoom meeting. Louise will provide detailed guidance on your cover letter, synopsis, and first three chapters—essential elements of any submission to agents and publishers.

Second Prize

Feedback on your first three chapters from Amanda Saint, author, publisher, creative writing teacher and founder of WestWord and The Mindful Writer.

Shortlisted Entries

All shortlisted writers will receive short feedback from Louise Buckley on the first chapter submitted during the judging process. This feedback will be provided in the blog post announcing the competition results.

Entry Details

Deadline: 28th February 2026

Max word count: 3500

Entry Fee:

• Standard entry: £15
• Entry with detailed feedback on your first chapter: £75

Eligibility and T&Cs

Please note: This competition is for YA and adult fiction novels only. We do not accept submissions of children’s novels.

• Submit stories written in English through Submittable using the button above by 23.59 GMT on the deadline date (sorry late entries will not be included). 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.
• Do not include your name on the story document or submission title but provide a short bio as requested in the submission form. All stories are read anonymously so any showing the author’s name will be disqualified.
• 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 entry will become ineligible. No refunds of entry fees will be paid.
• By entering the competition you agree to your story being published in the winners’ online anthology.
• 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.
• There are no alternative prizes.

2026 WestWord Prize

Our annual WestWord Prize wants your best flash fictions up to 1000 words. Join our community membership to receive one submission to this contest and all our themed editions, plus access to weekly flash fiction writing sessions, monthly writing workshops, and craft posts.

Deadline: 31st March 2026

Max word count: 1000

Entry fee: £10 submission only / £30 with feedback

Online anthology publication: June 2026

Theme: No theme

Prizes:

• First prize: £400
• Second prize: £250
• Third prize: £100
• Shortlisted: £25

Judge: Kathryn Aldridge-Morris

Kathryn Aldridge-Morris is a Bristol-based writer whose work has been widely published in anthologies and literary journals including Pithead Chapel, Aesthetica, The Four Faced Liar, Fractured Lit, Retreat West, Stanchion Magazine, Flash Frog, Fictive Dream, Bending Genres, New Flash Fiction Review and elsewhere. She has won the Bath Flash Fiction Award, The Forge’s Flash Nonfiction competition, Lucent Dreaming’s flash fiction contest, and Manchester Writing School’s QuietManDave Prize, and her work has been selected for the Wigleaf Top 50. She was recently awarded an Arts Council England grant to write a novella-in-flash. Her debut collection Cold Toast came out with Dahlia Books in May 2025.