West Branch is a famous, established, and respected print journal that publishes short stories, and poetry twice a year. West Branch is associated with Bucknell University and has been around since 1977.

West Branch just re-opened to submissions on the first of August. They pay all the writers they publish. They pay $40 per accepted poem. For short stories they pay $10/page of printed prose with a maximum payment of $100, and .$.05/word for online prose with a maximum payment of $100.

They also provide each contributor with two copies of the issue in which their work appears and a one-year subscription to West Branch.

Because they are so established, well known, and respected, the competition to be published by them is rather steep. They accept less than 1% of all submissions.

Many famous poets and authors regularly submit to West Branch, so you are competing against their work as well. Although that means that if your work is accepted it may be published next to a famous authors work. Even though the acceptance rates are low, it is worth submitting to West Branch if you take your craft seriously.

When you submit to West Branch your manuscript should be paginated, with the author’s name on each page. Prose should be double-spaced and include a word count. Submit no more then six poems or thirty pages of prose. Poems should be saved and uploaded as a single file. They prefer .DOC formatting.

One can submit up to three times a year, but no more than that. They accept simultaneous submissions but you must indicate that it is being submitted elsewhere in the comments section of their submissions manager.

In conclusion West Branch is a great, supporting publication, that is very hard to get into. However if your work is accepted that is a significant accomplishment. You will also get paid, which is relatively rare when it comes to academically affiliated journals.  To learn more visit their website at http://www.bucknell.edu/WestBranch.xml