Welcome to Works Progress

We publish short fiction about anything bigger than yourself: stories about astronauts, ICU nurses, politics, protests, alternate histories, weird celebrities, big-world calamities, juicy personal dramas and the people who experience them. Fiction with dynamic characters who do interesting things. We don’t think stories should be slogs. We do not publish quiet stories about divorce.

Subscribe to get…

At least one piece of short fiction a month direct to your inbox, plus full access to the archive of past stories.

How do I submit?

Send stories to worksprogress.submissions@gmail.com. Under 4,000 words, and the shorter the better. First serial rights, and we'll keep the story displayed on our website.
You’ll be shocked to learn this isn’t a federally subsidized project. But we pay writers.

Edited by

Mark Chiusano is the author of the George Santos biography, “The Fabulist.” His short story collection “Marine Park” was a PEN/Hemingway Award honorable mention. His stories and essays have appeared in places like The Paris Review, McSweeney's, Guernica, The New York Times, and New York Magazine.


Scott Chiusano is a writer/editor, currently at MLB.com and formerly at the New York Daily News, with fiction published in Toasted Cheese Literary Journal and The Twin Bill. He is a fan of slow rollers and Jacob deGrom sliders.


Charlotte Alter is a correspondent at TIME and author of “The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For: How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America.” She likes drama and true crime, and stories about people who make drama and do crimes.

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A little Substack for big fiction

People

A little Substack for big fiction