Frequently Asked Questions

Am I eligible to submit to you?

If you are an undergraduate attending any college or university other than Widener University, then yes, you are eligible to submit.

When is your next submission period?

Check our Submission Guidelines page for our latest submission period dates. We list them at the top of that page as soon as they are decided. We also post them on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so if you’d like to see those updates on your social media site(s), feel free to like our Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

What if I’m a senior, and will have graduated when your next issue comes out?

You must be an undergraduate at the time of your submission, not necessarily at the time of publication. If you submit to us in March and graduate in May, and our issue comes out in June, then you are still eligible.

Can I get a contributor’s copy or copies?

We are not a print journal; we publish exclusively online. We feel this allows for a larger readership than doing a traditional print run. While this does mean you will not have a physical journal to hold in your hand, it also means that anyone with access to the internet should be able to read your work. Everything we’ve published can be found at widenerblueroute.org and can be accessed for free.

How do I submit?

We accept submissions via e-mail. See our Submission Guidelines page for specific instructions. When submitting, be sure to follow those instructions. We also recommend that you check out past issues to see what we typically publish. This is generally a good practice whenever you consider submitting to a journal since it can help you decide whether your writing is a good fit.

Do you publish academic essays?

No, we do not. We are currently only interested in creative work in the genres of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

What is creative nonfiction?

Creative nonfiction is a genre that involves writing a true story using many of the techniques of fiction writing. Ever read a memoir? If so, you’ve read one type of creative nonfiction. The Wikipedia page about that genre gives a pretty solid definition.

How do you feel about genre fiction?

We tend to be more interested in literary fiction; however, we are willing to consider genre fiction so long as it is well written and does not fall into the traps and clichés of its genre. Generally speaking, we want to read something fresh– something that isn’t like everything we’ve read before.

What if my prose submission is longer than your word count limit?

We accept up to 3,000 words of prose per submission. If your submission is a few words over and it’s well written, we’ll consider it. However, if it’s a hundred or more words over that word count, we will not consider it. This is mainly in order to ensure that our staff has enough time to read every submission closely. We love to read your creative work, but we are also busy undergraduates with limited time. The word count limit allows us to give each submission serious consideration, so it is very important.