Fiction Ed Lucy answers your questions.
“When will the winning competition story be published?”
The winning story in our Bursary Competition will be published in our May 4 issue, on sale May 1.
‘Friend’ artist, Ged Fay, has already been working on a beautiful, bespoke artwork to accompany the story.
The runner-up stories will be published throughout this 155th Anniversary year, in our weekly and specials.
“I’ve got five stories with you but want to send more. Can I withdraw stories I’ve sent in, and send new ones?”
No problem – just get in touch with your assigned editor.
“When will I hear if my bookazine story has been successful?”
We had a brilliant response to our call-out for stories for our bookazine and are still reading through submissions.
I’m planning for early summer issues now, so there’s still plenty of opportunity for stories to be successful.
Successful submissions will be split between the bookazine, weekly, and specials.
“Why are you asking for more stories on Twitter, when you haven’t read the ones I’ve sent in yet?”
The most usual reason for stories not yet having been read, is that they are not the word count or season we’re looking for at the moment.
Your assigned editor may also not yet have had an opportunity to look at your work, in which case your stories won’t yet have been passed over to me for consideration.
We prioritise stories with the word counts and genres we need now. You can find out what they are through your assigned editor, or on our website and Twitter.
“What stories are you looking for?”
I’m looking for 3000- and 2000-word stories for the weekly magazine, suitable for summer issues.
Late-summer stories in suitable lengths are needed for the Special.
Traditional summer stories for our Annual 2026 are welcome now.
Lucy Crichton Better known as “Fiction Editor Lucy”, I am always on the look-out for the very best short stories, poems and pocket novels. As well as sourcing enjoyable content, I enjoy working with our established contributors, encouraging new talent, and celebrating 155 years of “Friend” fiction!
