Deadline: September 30th, 2019
Payment: 2 Contributor’s copies

We are open till September 30 for submissions to the latest in our series of short story anthologies, featuring the best new writing from around the world.

You can find examples of what we like in our back issues and also in our Story of the Month features, as well as in the periodicals listed under Links. We’re generally looking for literary fiction not genre stories.

The only payment we can offer at this time is two copies of the book when it is published.  Full details are set out in the submission form area below.

“Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 11” will be published simultaneously in the US and UK in early 2020 and will be available from the main online booksellers by print on demand. We can also do print runs on favourable terms when bulk orders are requested.

See our New Short Stories blog and The Willesden Herald for updates and features that may be of interest.

What You Need to Know

• We’re seeking literary fiction. Please see our back issues for examples of what we like. Click Anthologies
• Language: English. Previously unpublished. Entirely your own original work.
• Word range: 1500 to 7000. Only one submission at a time please.
• 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: Two copies of the book will be awarded to the writer of each short story included.
• Simultaneous submissions are okay but please withdraw your story if accepted elsewhere by selecting “Withdraw” beside your entry in the Submittable system.
• Response time: Those whose stories are selected will be notified at latest in the month following the closing date. For New Short Stories 11, the closing date is 30 September 2019, so notification will be in October. The line-up will also be announced on social media.
• Publication date: There is no fixed date as yet but it is our intention that the book will be produced as soon as possible after the closing date, probably in early 2020, as has been the pattern for all previous issues.
• We can’t provide feedback on stories, or enter into discussion about selection criteria, technical issues etc.
• Permissions: We will assume only first serial publication rights for inclusion of your short story in the book “Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 11”, which will be published simultaneously in the UK and US. This means you retain the copyright.
• Publisher: Our publisher is Pretend Genius Press, which is a cooperative venture based in Maryland, USA issuing books mostly by p.o.d. through printers with production and distribution facilities in the US and the UK.
• Data Protection: We wish to communicate entirely 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.

Via: Willesden Herald’s Submittable.