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PUBLICATIONS INFO & FAQ
The Writer's Workout is proud to produce six publications each year. We welcome work from writers around the world.
72 Hours of Insanity
This anthology features the 25+ winning pieces from our six-week competition, The Writer's Games.
Tales
This annual themed anthology invites short stories and poems through a six-month open call each year. Visit the Tales page.
WayWords
This quarterly literary journal features themed fiction and poetry collected through open calls each quarter, plus CNF for a separate tribute section. Visit the WayWords page.
Read our interview on Six Questions For...!
Find issues 17 and beyond on EBSCO.
The Writer's Workout publications welcome short stories and poetry for open calls. All publications are available in digital and print. Published writers receive a digital contributor copy.
Looking for Fiction Potluck? Check the Competitions tab.
The Writer's Workout is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit run by volunteers.
We provide accessible, free creative writing education through competitions, workshops, and publication opportunities. Check our donations page to learn more about how The Writer's Workout strengthens the global writing community.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Sending your work into the world is daunting, we get it. These answers can help alleviate some of the stress. If you still can't find what you're looking for, please contact us.
Information below does not apply to The Writer's Games or its anthology, 72 Hours, except in the case of Rights, AI, and EBSCO.
What to send: for information about types, genres, previously published or simultaneous submissions, formatting, and withdrawing a submitted work.
Avoid mistakes: tips when preparing your submission and a list of mistakes that lead to the decline letter.
How to submit: steps in the process for submitting your work; includes the services we use.
Contact: review and contact times for each publication and competition we run; includes some steps on when to recheck your submission and what to include when you contact us.
Editing: the steps in our editing process and why you make your own changes; includes some tips for writing your bio.
Rights, AI statement, EBSCO: info specific to The Writer's Workout for each of these.
We wish you knew: we're all volunteers here and we're so honored to be trusted with your work. Includes how we choose which pieces to publish and things that do not influence our decision.
What can I submit to open calls?
We're looking for fiction short stories and poems that fit the theme. We're also open to creative nonfiction tribute pieces for WayWords and sometimes other calls. Please see the call for details.
Include your Title Information inside your document body. This tells us who you are, how to contact you, and which team should read your work. We run simultaneous open calls, as many as five at a time. Each call has different readers. Your Title Information keeps us organized.
Previously published works are accepted if you own the publication rights; let us know where the piece was published in your Title Information when you submit.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted; let us know if someone else picks it up first.
Translated works are accepted; please understand we have our own editing process. If other than yourself, please credit your translator.
Whether we've published or declined your work before, you're welcome to submit a new work to another open call.
If you need to withdraw, contact us. Tell us the name of your piece and which call you submitted it to. We might have as many as five open calls at the same time so we need to know which team is reading your piece.
What should I avoid?
We will reject all political or religious topics for all opportunities.
The Writer's Workout is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. This is a fancy way of saying our federal government allows us to accept donations as long as we do not publicly side with any political or religious view. Maintaining this strict rule also helps prevent subjective bias.
If you're unsure whether your piece crosses the line, feel free to contact us.
We will reject fanfiction for most opportunities unless specifically requested.
Most of our challenges include publication.
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We will reject erotica for all opportunities.
Our publications are marked for all readers and some of our authors are minors in their country of origin.
We will reject uses of generative-AI for all* opportunities.
Our organization exists to help writers improve their craft. Generative-AI operates by copying and contorting existing fiction samples, usually without the original authors' consent.
*For Mock Events in The Writer's Games, receiving 1-2 pieces of gen-AI-copied content helps us train the judges how to spot this growing plague on our society. These pieces do not receive feedback.
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Avoid ignoring the Title Information. This is the first thing we check; if it's missing or incomplete, we have to reject the piece. Title Info should be inside your document body.
How do I submit my work?
We accept submissions via email, Dropbox, and Duosuma. Links vary per call and are available on each call page. Our email address for submissions is submissions [at] writersworkout.net. Be sure to include the Title Information listed in the specific call.
Don't worry about a cover letter or bio at the time of submission. These extras put a lot of pressure on you and don't affect our decision so it's okay to skip them here. We'll ask for a bio (below) when we accept your work.
When will I hear from you?
Review time and acceptance rates vary by call.
For WayWords, our contact goal is 45 days from call closure. Acceptance rate: 42%
For Tales, our contact goal is rolling, no more than 60 days from call closure. Acceptance rate: 32%
For Fiction Potluck, finalist and decline notifications are the end of the closing month (ten-ish days). Winner notifications are the second-to-last Friday of the quarter. Potluck pieces are published as received.
For Write Track, we deliver feedback and announce the challenge winner before the end of the following month.
We contact every writer who includes the required Title Information in their submission. If we decline your work for a publication, we try to provide a reason. If we accept your work, we include a link to view the editors' notes so you can revise before publication. We cannot change your work for you.
We keep each call page updated with the current stage of the process. If the call page indicates we contacted everyone and you haven't heard from us, check your spam folder. If you still haven't heard from us, check your original submission's Title Information to make sure your email address is correct, then contact us.
How does editing work?
The Writer's Workout values education and focuses on providing tools for self-growth and improvement. If we accept your piece for publication, our editors will add line notes to your document, housed on our company's Google Drive. We'll link your document in your acceptance email and give you time to revise.
We cannot change your work for you and editors will not respond to replies on comments. If you agree with a suggestion, make the change. If you disagree with a suggestion, resolve the comment without a change. You control how your work is represented.
Bios: When you're finished, add your name to the top of your document, under your piece's title. This should be exactly as you wish to see it in print. Add your author bio to the end of your document—around 50-75 words, first or third person. Include links if you'd like.
If you have questions about an editor's comment, please contact us.
Rights
The Writer's Workout requests one-time, non-exclusive serial rights with worldwide distribution. We do not retain the right to republish a work in an additional compilation.
We accept simultaneous submissions, previously published works, and you retain the right to submit your published work elsewhere after we publish it. You retain the right to withdraw until your piece is published (just let us know by email).
Learn how to add a publication to your Amazon Author page here.
AI Statement
Works published by The Writer's Workout are for entertainment purposes. These publications should not be used in whole or part for content mills, reproduced without written approval, or for training Artificial Intelligence. Humans work very hard to produce the creative works featured in our publications; they deserve our respect.
EBSCO Statement
In February, 2025, we signed with EBSCO to make some works available to their users. Starting with Issue 17 of WayWords, users can find the poems and stories in this database. There's a lot to know about how this works so we made this popup for you.
For now, this service starts with issue 17 of WayWords and includes future issues. Issues 1-16 are not currently included. However, we are working toward adding all Tales and 72 Hours titles, as well as back issues of WayWords.
It's important to note this is not a "sale". YOU own the rights to your work. This is more like a literary streaming service for publishers, colleges, libraries, etc. You may also choose to opt out of the service while remaining published in the issue. Just let us know.
We wish you knew...
Our organization is 100% volunteer. We donate thousands of hours annually and pay out of pocket to keep the lights on. We have full time jobs and families outside of this organization. We do everything we can to provide the very best resources and opportunities for writers around the world and work as quickly as possible. We know you're excited about your submission—we're excited for you!—but please be patient. Our guidelines help things move faster and easier so we can respond to you quicker. When a submission doesn't follow the guidelines, the process takes longer. In some cases, like with missing or incomplete Title Information, we're forced to reject it.
We're honored to read your work. We volunteer to be here and we love reading your interpretations of the themes. If we reject your piece, it's likely because it doesn't fit the theme. This doesn't mean your work is bad and it's definitely not personal. Rejections sting and we don't like it; we try to explain our reasons to help you improve.
How we choose: we look at each submission individually without any identifying information. We examine how and how well it conveys the theme of the call. We study the strengths and weaknesses of the piece, look for areas of improvement, and assess the overall quality of the writing.
Things we don't consider: the piece's length (except call limits), the author's first language, the author's publication history, any identifying or demographic data.
Your submission to any Writer's Workout open call is a charitable donation. Royalties cover less than 15% of our annual operating cost. The rest comes out of our own pockets and we are not paid for our time. We provide a digital contributor copy for each accepted submission.