SUBMIT

The Westchester Review considers previously unpublished stories, creative nonfiction, and poems by established and emerging writers wherever they reside. We are an exclusively online journal, publishing quarterly issues.

We welcome submissions from a diverse range of writers, including voices and perspectives that have historically been underrepresented in the literary sphere. Past contributors are welcome to submit again. All submissions must come through Submittable.

We receive thousands of submissions every year and do our best to respond within five months. Please do not query the status of your submission until at least six months have elapsed.

FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS

Thank you for considering The Westchester Review as a possible home for your work. General submissions are free. We consider simultaneous submissions, but kindly notify us as soon as possible if a piece has been accepted elsewhere. Please include a cover letter that lists word count (for fiction and creative nonfiction) along with your name, address, phone number, and email address. If you have a connection to Westchester County, please note it in the applicable field in Submittable. Westchester authors are acknowledged, but a connection to Westchester is not required in order to submit, and will not affect submissions status.

Please be sure to submit your work through the appropriate portal. Submissions sent through the wrong portal cannot be read. Please submit work only once during a submission period. Multiple submissions cannot be read.

The Westchester Review is not currently a paying market. Our editors and readers are all volunteers. We do our best to promote the work of our contributors via social media.

We do not accept submissions of AI-generated work. We reserve the right to withdraw acceptances of any work found to be AI-generated, even after publication.

We do not accept translations in any of our categories.

Please do not submit revisions of previously declined work unless specifically requested to do so.

FICTION AND CREATIVE NONFICTION

The best way to get a sense of what we like to publish is to read past issues. While we are open to all genres, we are not huge fans of science fiction or horror stories.

Please adhere to the following guidelines:

• Fiction and creative nonfiction submissions must be double-spaced.

• Submissions should be no longer than 5,000 words.

• Do not send work in a PDF format.

• Please submit work only once during a submission period. Multiple submissions cannot be read.

• We do not publish excerpts from novels unless they are self-standing.

POETRY

We like to publish an eclectic mix of poems in each issue, and we look for carefully crafted poems that use language in unexpected ways. We publish both free verse and poems that adhere to forms. Please note that we do not accept translations. To get a good idea of what we like to publish, be sure to read our online quarterly issues.

Please submit 3-5 poems that represent your best work in one Word .doc or .docx file. Please do not submit in a PDF format. Use Times New Roman size 12 font and begin each poem on a new page. Do not underline titles or put them in bold.

Please submit work only once during a submission period. Multiple submissions cannot be read.

Remember to proofread your work carefully so that it looks the way you would like it to appear. If your poem(s) require special formatting, we may not be able to accommodate them in our online issues, but we will try our best! Poems that are accepted will be published as is; we cannot consider revisions.

We look forward to reading your work!

PLAYS

We consider 10-minute previously unpublished plays which must be double-spaced and sent as word documents. Anything longer will not be considered. Please do not send work in PDF formats.

Currently

Our fiction, creative nonfiction, play and poetry portals are now closed but will reopen in March, 2025. We look forward to your reading your submissions then.

There is no fee for submitting work to The Westchester Review, but do consider donating something to our Tip Jar to help support us so we can continue publishing our journal. It’s entirely optional but would be so appreciated!