Anthology Submissions
General Instructions
Submission Guide | Style Guide | Sending Files
Contact Form
Submission window opens Dec 1.
This page provides details and procedures for submitting articles for publication in MWSA’s 2025 Anthology.
Instructions
What and how to contribute to an Anthology
Theme
The theme for the MWSA 2025 Anthology is "Reflections: Service to our Country." As the term implies, submissions are short pieces. The format is wide-ranging: from articles and short stories (maximum 3,000 words, please), to art and photo essays, poetry, and music lyrics (if a contributor has recorded a song based on the lyrics, then please add the URL so that we editors—and obviously readers—can listen to it). All submissions have to be related in some way to the military and military life. In other words, we want this anthology to be as inclusive as possible with regards to the military experience, ranging from that of what veterans themselves experienced to experiences of veteran family members, and to civilian outsiders who have their perspective. We hope that many of you may have military, military family, or military-related stories to share. Your stories can be fiction, non-fiction, humorous, or serious. This is your opportunity to bring that story from the back of your mind onto the pages of this collection of stories from fellow MWSA authors.
Requirements
Stories and poems must be written by active MWSA members and not previously published. Authors will grant a one-time right to publish in the anthology with all rights other than the anthology publication remaining with each author. The maximum word count is 3000 words, and each member is limited to one submission. Black and white graphics, maps, and photographs to which you have the permission may be included with your work with proper attribution and within the publisher’s specifications. You can submit color images, but they will appear in the final version in black and white.
In accordance with the MWSA Ethics Policy, MWSA cannot accept submissions that include politically, religiously, or racially biased or anti-U.S./U.S. military material. As we anticipate these anthologies will be read by family members of the submitter, let’s try to keep these submissions to a PG-14 level.
Submissions need to be in Word, New Times Roman, 12 pt, and double-spaced. Submissions need to be well edited before being submitted. Submissions that are poorly edited will be sent back to be fixed. We will open the submission window on December 1, 2024, and close it March 30, 2025. Submissions should be emailed to Bob Doerr at anthology@mwsa.co with the story attached. Please also include a photo (headshot) of yourself and a brief bio of no more than 75 words.
Submission Deadline
Window Opens: 1 December
Closes: March 30, 2025
Instructions
All Submissions — the basics
Please read our submission guidelines and style guide before submitting an article or ad.
Email us at anthology@mwsa.co to submit an article or an ad.
See the Documents and Images section below for more details about our requirements for formatting, image resolution, etc.
Although we accept email attachments of your files (formatted documents, digital photos, and images, etc.), you may find it easier to drag and drop your files using the Send File(s) section below.
Articles
Please refer to the submission and style guides below to familiarize yourself with our requirements.
Advertisements—Not currently offered
We may add the capability to include ads in our anthology—perhaps in the form of a corporate sponsor list at the end of the book. If your company or organization is interested in contributing to our upcoming anthology, please contact us at anthology@mwsa.co
Documents and Images
Formatting requirements for articles and ads.
Includes a "drag-and-drop" file transfer capability.
Formatting Requirements
Documents
Microsoft Word document or PDF
High-resolution for the author's photo and all support images
Other images
Ensure all files submitted include the author's name (i.e., author’s last name followed by a number for each file: Smith1.docx, Smith2.jpg, etc.)
How to send us document and/or image files
Option 1 — include files as email attachments
Option 2 — use the drag-and-drop button to upload your files directly to our Dropbox account
Once you click on the button below, a new browser window will appear
On that page, you can drag and drop the required files and transmit them