Submit Your Work
Submissions of fiction for our fall issue are closed as of this notice and will open again on August 15th.
The increasing volume of submissions has overwhelmed our readers to the point that it is proving very difficult to provide the level of evaluation we have established for our standard. We apologize for any inconvenience to the writers who may have planned to send their work for our review over the next few weeks. We look forward to seeing your stories during the fall reading period. We will continue to accept submissions in other categories through June 15th.
We accept electronic submissions in the categories of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, and black-and-white photography. All submissions to Fifth Wednesday Journal must be original, unpublished work in English. We welcome simultaneous submissions with the understanding that you will inform us if your work is accepted elsewhere. We recommend that writers familiarize themselves with FWJ before submitting their work. Selections from previous issues are available for guidance at the “Selections” section on this website. E-mail us for information about discounted copies of back issues for writers and students.
Formatting
Manuscripts must be sent as Microsoft Word .doc or .docx files, or in Rich Text Format. Prose should be double-spaced, and poetry should be formatted as the poet wants it to appear in print. All submissions should be paginated, in 12-point type, and with at least a one-inch margin on all sides. Please do not place name or other contact information anywhere on the manuscript. This information should be placed only in the space marked for a cover letter on the submission form and should include name, e-mail address, mailing address, and telephone number.
Submitting
Manuscripts must be submitted electronically via the form below.
DO NOT SEND PRINT MANUSCRIPTS WITHOUT FIRST NOTIFYING US.
DO NOT SEND E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS.
THESE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACKNOWLEDGED OR RETURNED.
Response Time, Rejections, and Withdrawals
You may log in to your account through our submission manager at any time to check the status of your submission. We will notify you by e-mail within six months if we do not accept your work for publication. If you have not heard from us within this time, e-mail us. Include your name, the title of your work, and the date you sent it. If you need to withdraw a submission, please log in to your account through the submission manager. However, if you have sent multiple poems and wish to withdraw only one or some of those poems, please e-mail us.
Rights
By submitting your work to FWJ, you indicate your consent for us to publish your work in our print journal. FWJ acquires first North American serial rights. After publication, all rights revert to the author. If we’d like to use your work in any other manner, we will contact you for permission.
Compensation & Awards
Effective Fall 2010, Issue 7, each contributor will receive two copies of the issue in which the work appears, PLUS a one-year subscription beginning with the issue following. FWJ awards an annual Editor’s Prize in fiction, photography, and poetry in the amount of $100. These prizes are awarded for a work chosen from those published in FWJ in the previous two issues. Winners are announced in the fall issue and posted on the FWJ website.
Submission Guidelines
Click here to read the guidelines for each category of work.
Submit your work now by clicking on the submission manager link below.