We’re after short fiction with something to say for our print magazine, free from bookshops across the U.K., and available for subscription. We publish three times a year and thus it can take up to four months for us to read your submission. Everyone reading your story is a volunteer. It’s important that we all read submissions at the same time, and that more than one set of eyes reads each submissions

One thing we’d suggest, before you submit, is that you take a look at some of the stories we’ve published at Open Pen over on our website. It’s always good to know the sort of fiction a publication enjoys. However, it’s important to remember that we are not confining submissions to a theme or specific type or style of prose. As long as it's between 1 and 3,000 words, it’s suitable for submission. But what do we like? We like fiction with something to say for itself, writers in revolt, writing with cheek.

Please note, it is free to submit from within the U.K.. But we now charge a $5 fee to submissions from outside of the U.K.. Submissions are accepted from anywhere in the world, but in order to ensure we continue to attract U.K. based writers, who are largely largely responsibly for keeping Open Pen in circulation for almost ten years now, we have applied a $5 reading fee to writers submitting from outside the U.K.. Alternatively, a subscription to our print magazine can be purchased, in which case there is no need to select a reading fee.