wildwood reader logo

an ocassional short fiction magazine & annual anthology

Writer's Guidelines

General Writer’s Guidelines (not regarding competition):

1. All of the short stories that appear in the Wildwood Reader have been selected from unsolicited manuscripts. That said, we are interested in short fiction that addresses social, political, economic, theological, community, or life in general (to mention a few) from a progressive and open healthy perspective. Length of stories should generally be 1,500 to 5,000 words.

2. Send stories to the attention of the publisher at the address below or by e-mail to publisher (at) wildwoodreader.com. Our preference is for writers to send manuscripts as an attached formatted text document or a Microsoft Word document. Do NOT send PDF files.

3. At some point - not now, each issue may also feature book reviews about wholesome subject matter. The length will vary from about 150 to 250 words and will be subject to editing for length. Send these reviews to the attention of the Book Watch editor at the same email address. The subject matter line should be clearly marked with "Review - " prior to the book title

4. We also encourage writers (or readers) to send in unpublished essays. Send these to the attention of the publisher as well. We look for essays inspired by life stories perspective on lifestyles issues, or that reflect simple celebrations of life and beauty. We are also interested in essaya geared toward particular seasons of a person's life (childhood, school, teenagers, couples, etc.) or significant cultural celebrations or events (Cinco de Mayo, the running of the bulls, etc., Kwanza, bar or bat mitzva, quinces, sweet 16). As part of our plans, we want to publish photography monographs that will have theme related essays for each photograph. Stay tuned for more news about this project. If you want to help, perhaps you know of a few photographers that want to split the cost of production. Drop the publisher a note for more information.

5. Unsolicited mailed in are discouraged for a number of reasons one of which we're 99% digital. Mailed-in submissions should be accompanied by a self-addressed envelope with the correct return postage. We attempt to respond as quickly as possible, but reading paper manuscripts sometimes takes up to eight weeks. We appreciate your patience while we review. If we like your work, we may ask to hold it for possible publication in a future issue. All submissions should have a cover letter with the writer's name, return address, title of story, page count (as 1 of 8) and email address.

6. Please include a two - or three - sentence bio with your manuscript or cover letter, along with your physical address, telephone number, and preferred e-mail address. We would also like (but will not publish unless requested) your year of birth. In order to market your work we need your facebook address, twitter address and website address. If all the social media addresses are unavailable, please indicate none for that social media's URL. We encourage all writers to establish social media accounts for their own marketing benefit as well as to help market The Wildwood Reader.

7. We reserve the right to edit and shorten articles or reviews as necessary. However, if we make changes in content, we will consult with the writer by email. Story submissions should "signed off" by an editor of your choice and be ready to publish.

8. Our goal is to publish four issues per year (January, April, July and October). Planning for each issue occurs four to six months in advance. Please keep this in mind when sending themed or seasonal-pieces.

9. Payment to authors varies depending on the type of story, writer's previous work and the quality of the article. At this time, we do not pay for essays. The range for compensation for stories is roughly $10 to $50.00. On occasion, and depending on budget; payment may be as high as $150.00 for exceptional work.

10. We assume that all stories, essays and reviews submitted are original and unpublished, and submitted exclusively to us. By virtue of creation, your work is automatically copyrighted. Filing a copyright for the work is not required but should be considered since it protects your writing and should be a habit once you become more well known. We assume, by your submission of work, that you are authorizing us to publish it; therefore, we also assume full reprint permission of any item we publish, unless otherwise indicated. North American serial rights to the story or article includes electronic rights, posting on our Web page (www.wildwoodreader.com) and posting excerpts or summaries on social media. We reserve the right to accept or reject any story or article submitted.

11. As a side note, if you wish, please include, with your submission, a paragraph with information on where you work, write and live and any interesting hobbies or past times. In addition, and at the risk of being redundant, please make sure you include a cover letter with your name, return address, story title, page count, email address, facebook address, twitter address and website address. If all the social media addresses are unavailable, please indicate none for that social media's URL.

In closing, our goal is two fold. First and foremost, we want to provide a good and reputable venue for readers of short fiction to explore the work of new and emerging writers. Secondly, we want to provide opportunities for new and emerging writers to submit work for publishing without the fear of automatic rejection simply because of their lack of network connections or, education. We believe that talent should not be judged on who one knows, where one went to school or even if one graduated.

To round out our offerings, some of the best stories will be compiled in a bi-annual "best" of edition at some point in the life of our press. Hopefully, this will happen sooner rather than later as I would like to print this compilation as a case-bound edition.

Stay with your work, read the work of the masters and take time away from your work to refresh your imagination. And always remember, if you do nothing, nothing will happen!

Thank you for your time and the opportunity to read and consider your work.

Alex Gonzalez
Founder & Publisher
Wildwood Reader
Rockville, MD
(904) 705-6806
wildwoodreader.com