Willesden Herald New Short Stories

Overview

This is an occasional feature, online only. Apart from permission to display it on our website, you retain all rights in your story. There is no reading fee. Payment is a copy of one of our past anthologies. Please read Terms and Conditions below for details in full before submitting. 

Terms and Conditions

• We’re seeking literary fiction. Please see our back issues for examples of what we like.
• Language: English. Previously unpublished. Entirely your own original work.
• Stories created in whole or in part by generative A.I. are excluded and must not be submitted.
• Word range: 1000 to 6500. Only one submission at a time please.
• Story of the Month is an occasional feature. A month may be missed out for any number of reasons.
• Submission is for online publication only, there is no suggestion of publication in book form.
• We are seeking to publish stories by writers not previously featured in Story of the Month or not featured for more than a year.
• Please do not include quotes for which copyright permission would have to be obtained, e.g. song lyrics or other excerpts, including epigraphs, unless the quoted text is in the public domain.
• Times New Roman, 12 point font, double-spaced is good but it’s not the be all and end all.
• Document formats accepted: .doc, .docx, or .RTF. Unfortunately we cannot accept PDF format. If you don’t know what any of that means don’t worry, it’s the file you upload, and it should be fine.
• Consideration: Each Story of the Month author will receive a copy of one of our past anthologies.
• Simultaneous submissions are okay but please withdraw your story if accepted elsewhere by selecting “Withdraw” beside your entry in the Submittable system.
• Response time: Submissions are read in sequence by date received. When a story of the month is chosen, we try to “release” all prior submissions. If you have not heard back it means your story is still under consideration for a subsequent month.
• In addition to stories submitted via Submittable.com, some months may feature stories acquired or commissioned directly.
• We can’t provide feedback on stories or enter into discussion about selection criteria, technical issues etc.
• When a story is accepted, it will be published as Willesden Herald Story of the Month and will remain online indefinitely or at the editor’s discretion. You can view and read the previous Stories of the Month.
• Note: We understand that due to subsequent publication or for personal reasons, it might be advisable to remove a story. Therefore, if subsequently requested by the author, we will endeavour to remove the text of the story as soon as feasible but will retain the listing of it for that month. We can’t guarantee removal by any specified time or date or in the event of circumstances beyond our control.
• Permissions: Except for permission to display your submitted story online on our website when your story is published as Willesden Herald Story of the Month, all copyright reverts to you, the author.
• There is no requirement to mention Willesden Herald nor any other constraints on subsequent publication although we do appreciate such acknowledgements.
• The text of stories will remain online indefinitely unless removed later on request from the author or at the discretion of the editor.
• Data Protection: We wish to communicate through Submittable.com‘s message system, not collecting any of your data outside of that. We won’t pass your information to anyone else, unless compelled to do so by law.
• Submission shall be taken as acceptance of these terms.