Grab your keyboard. Or a pen. The prompt is simple, but the execution is where the magic happens.
The theme for the third wissen.de literature competition is Unterwegs.
German for “on the way” or “in transit.” It’s a deceptively broad bucket. You could write about the last train ride you took. Maybe that weekend getaway that went sideways. Or perhaps the metaphorical transition into a new chapter of life. Whatever association clicks in your head, you have free rein to explore it. The only hard rule is that the story must center on being Unterwegs.
We want to see what you’ve got. Really.
How to Submit Your Entry
Keep it tight. We aren’t looking for a novel here.
Your submission needs to be a short story. The limit is roughly 10,000 characters, which translates to about five DIN A4 pages. Don’t overthink the word count, just don’t exceed the boundary.
The deadline is rigid. October 18, 2009.
Missing this date means missing the bus entirely. You submit via the contact form on their site. No emails, no postal mail. Just the form.
The Prize: Seeing Your Words in Print
Here is the twist that makes this contest actually interesting. Most writing competitions offer a cash prize or a certificate. This one offers physical reality.
All entries received by the deadline go through a jury review. They read them all. They argue over them. They pick the top five.
Then, 1buch.com steps in.
This partner publisher takes those five winning stories and prints them as a collection. You don’t just get a digital file or a mention on a website. You get your name in print. You get a real book in your hands.
Why This Matters
It’s not just about the prize. It’s about the medium.
In an era where everything is transient, fleeting, digital—writing for a physical anthology is a statement. It suggests your story has weight. It has permanence.
If you have a story about movement, transition, or the liminal space between “here” and “there,” this is your chance to stop it from disappearing into the void.
The deadline is approaching. The page is blank.
What’s your angle?
The stakes here aren’t measured in cash. They are measured in print.
If you take first place, your story doesn’t just get published. It gets bound together with the runners-up. Places two through five join your narrative in a single anthology. You get ten copies of that physical book. Plus, you get your story turned into a podcast episode for download. And then, there is the annual subscription to Magazin Bücher. You win the platform. You win the audience. You win the archive.
Second and third place aren’t far behind. Your story also lands in that collective volume. You receive five copies instead of ten. You still get the yearly magazine subscription. It is a strong showing. You are part of the canon, just one rung down the ladder.
Places four and five are modest but respectable. One copy of the anthology. One year of the magazine. It is an entry fee reversed. You pay nothing. You submit. You hope.
Places six through ten get the digital treatment essentially. No book. No podcast. Just the annual subscription to the magazine. It is a consolation prize, really. A way to keep you engaged with the publication even if your prose didn’t make the physical cut.
how to submit your work
The process is archaic in its simplicity. They do not want a query letter. They do not want a synopsis.
They want the raw text.
You must send your short story as a Word file. No PDFs. No Google Docs links that expire. The submission must go through their specific contact form. There is no email address floating around on the web. It is a closed loop.
The length constraint is strict. You have 10,000 characters.
That is roughly five pages of standard DIN A4 paper.
It is not a novel. It is not even a novella. It is a short story. If you drag this out for twenty pages, it will be discarded. The editors have limited shelf space. They have limited budgets for the podcast production. They have limited budgets for the physical printing of those anthologies.
the deadline
The clock stops on October 18, 2009.
This is not a rolling submission. It is a deadline. If you miss it by an hour, you are out. The editors are likely tired by this point. The compilation process begins immediately after the cutoff. They need to format the files. They need to record the audio for the winner. They need to coordinate with the printer.
Time is a resource they do not have.
the unspoken rules
The participation conditions are listed as a separate entity. They are the fine print. They govern who can enter. They govern who owns the copyright once the story is published. They govern whether you can submit the same story twice.
You need to read them.
Most writers skip the fine print. They see “free publication” and “prizes” and they click submit. But this is a magazine with a brand. Magazin Bücher cares about its reputation. They care about the quality of the anthology. They care about the legalities of distribution.
If your story is plagiarized, you are disqualified. If you have already sold the rights to this story to another outlet, you are disqualified. If you are a minor and
