Story of the Week - Guidelines

We accept fiction and nonfiction manuscripts up to 10,000 words in length, from both published and unpublished writers. We would love to see your stories.

Visibility: Each week an email announcement of the new Story of the Week goes out to our 40,000 readers and attracts attention to the writer’s work. Additionally, all Stories of the Week remain available in our online Archive and are listed on the Story of the Week page. When the annual Top Five stories are selected at the end of each year, an announcement goes out to our readers and to the literary press, and the stories are prominently published as an award group in Narrative.

Author Payment: Authors are paid $150 for a story published as a Story of the Week, and authors of any story chosen as one of the Top Five Stories of the week will receive $500. And, all the Stories of the Week written by new and emerging writers are eligible for our annual $4,000 Narrative Prize.

Submission Fee: There is a $20 submission fee for each entry.

Selection: The focus of the Story of the Week feature is on new works; however, on some weeks we will select a classic story or a notable story from our Archive as the Story of the Week as a way of indicating a level of quality and interest that we seek in Stories of the Week and as a mark of continuity with long-standing literary values.

Submission Guidelines: Please read our Submission Guidelines for manuscript formatting and other information.

Other Submission Categories: In addition to Story of the Week, please review our other Submission Categories for areas that may interest you.