About
Fiction on the Web is a labour of love. Every single story on here is hand-picked and carefully copyedited by me. Any money I make from donations is ploughed back into the site and related projects. I do this because I want to give authors a chance to get their work out there, and I love sharing great stories with the world.
Fiction on the Web has been online and continuously publishing since July 1996, which makes it the longest-running short stories website on the Internet. Thousands of stories have been enjoyed by millions of readers. It will always remain free to read, free to submit.
I also publish the FISH List of lively indie literary magazines, and it’s awesome.
Click on this link to find out how to become a patron of Fiction on the Web and get some exclusive content in return. For example, this post shows how the money from Patreon donations gets spent, and this post includes a 45-minute video about how to get your short stories published.
Please take the time to leave comments on other people's stories, and I hope you enjoy the site.
Charlie Fish, Editor-in-Chief
I am Charlie Fish - you can contact me at charlie@fictionontheweb.co.uk, and you can follow me on Twitter/X @fishcharlie. I once got stung by a lionfish. I've worked in a prison. I've travelled faster than the speed of sound. I have three passports. My name is mentioned in the Wikipedia entries for Gabe Newell and Sologamy. I have delusions of exceptionality. I write films, and once hung out with the guy who wrote Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek. I'm a professional board gamer. I lost a bet with my wife over a game of Scrabble and had to get a tattoo. Those are my bookshelves in the banner above. I hold doors open for people, and always stop at red lights when cycling. OK, almost always.
Mitzi Dorton, Associate Editor
Mitzi Dorton is a multi-genre writer and a finalist in the Literary Global Book Awards, 2023, for her book, "Chief Corn Tassel," Finishing Line Press, 2022. Originally from the foothills of the mountain south in the US, she can’t seem to leave the mountains and now lives with her schnoodle rescue, Dolly, in upstate New York. She is currently working on a fiction novel.
Jarick Weldon, Associate Editor
Jarick lives alternately between Knaresborough, England and Galloway, Scotland. His main reading and writing interests are science fiction, the paranormal, historical myths, and humorous encounters. He has had various short fiction works published and competition-listed, for example in the HG Wells Short Story Competition 2023. He is also a reader for the Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction. He has a wife, cats, a medical background, and an interest in Buddhism.
Halima Hagi-Mohamed, Reader
Halima Hagi-Mohamed is a Somali-American writer born in Kenya. She was raised in Central and Southern California. Her writing deals with themes of mental health, identity, relationships, culture, and religion. Her work has been published in Hiram Poetry Review, Hargeisa Magazine, Muslim Fiction Space, Press Pause Press, The Courtships of the Winds and more. She is the author of Amilah, Warda Means Rose, Skin and more. In her free time she likes to volunteer in her community, read, write, and watch films.
Katerina Sutton, Reader
Katerina Sutton is a writer who enjoys spending evenings with her laptop and a steaming mug of Earl Grey. Her work can be found in literary journals such as Free Verse Revolution, Bristol Noir, Word for Word, and Just Poetry. This year, she completed a third draft of her work-in-progress novel and attended a writers' workshop at Brown University. When she's not writing, you can find her immersed in a book or watching sci-fi.
Gretchen Cowell, Reader
Gretchen Cowell is a former English teacher (who also worked at several law firms for many years), who loves historical fiction, mysteries, and many other genres. Now a retiree, she spends her time having coffee with friends, taking classes for seniors, writing fiction, and reading, reading, reading. Oh, and she is also a published author (mostly nonfiction under the name Gretchen Mertz).
Hamna Binte Amir, Reader
Hamna Binte Amir is an architecture student at the National College of Arts in Pakistan. When not drowning in architecture projects she is seen doing lots of papermaking, paper mache and drawing on her art insta page @hamna.creativity.
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Jessica Cairoli hails from the beautiful mountains of Bozeman, Montana, where she is currently finishing her freshman year at Montana State University. Studying Secondary English Education, Jessica is passionate about supporting writers in achieving their goals. Recently, she was accepted into UC Berkeley's online Journalism program, where she will pursue her love for journalistic writing. In her free time, Jessica is usually writing for the local Bozeman Magazine or MSU's branch of Her Campus magazine.
Myrto Stylou is and has always been submerged in books, she loves them so much in fact that you can rarely see her without one. She speaks four languages and spends her time surrounded by people she loves. She has graduated in English and German Literature and is pursuing a Masters in Book and Media Studies. Her greatest belief in life is that love is love and everyone should have the right to experience it.
Rick Taliaferro, Former Associate Editor
Fiction on the Web has been online and continuously publishing since July 1996, which makes it the longest-running short stories website on the Internet. Thousands of stories have been enjoyed by millions of readers. It will always remain free to read, free to submit.
I also publish the FISH List of lively indie literary magazines, and it’s awesome.
Click on this link to find out how to become a patron of Fiction on the Web and get some exclusive content in return. For example, this post shows how the money from Patreon donations gets spent, and this post includes a 45-minute video about how to get your short stories published.
Fiction on the Web is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.
I'm always looking for ways to boost authors who submit great stories to the site. I nominate for awards each year, including the Pushcart Prize.
Please take the time to leave comments on other people's stories, and I hope you enjoy the site.
Masthead
I am Charlie Fish - you can contact me at charlie@fictionontheweb.co.uk, and you can follow me on Twitter/X @fishcharlie. I once got stung by a lionfish. I've worked in a prison. I've travelled faster than the speed of sound. I have three passports. My name is mentioned in the Wikipedia entries for Gabe Newell and Sologamy. I have delusions of exceptionality. I write films, and once hung out with the guy who wrote Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek. I'm a professional board gamer. I lost a bet with my wife over a game of Scrabble and had to get a tattoo. Those are my bookshelves in the banner above. I hold doors open for people, and always stop at red lights when cycling. OK, almost always.
Mitzi Dorton, Associate Editor
Mitzi Dorton is a multi-genre writer and a finalist in the Literary Global Book Awards, 2023, for her book, "Chief Corn Tassel," Finishing Line Press, 2022. Originally from the foothills of the mountain south in the US, she can’t seem to leave the mountains and now lives with her schnoodle rescue, Dolly, in upstate New York. She is currently working on a fiction novel.
Jarick Weldon, Associate Editor
Jarick lives alternately between Knaresborough, England and Galloway, Scotland. His main reading and writing interests are science fiction, the paranormal, historical myths, and humorous encounters. He has had various short fiction works published and competition-listed, for example in the HG Wells Short Story Competition 2023. He is also a reader for the Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction. He has a wife, cats, a medical background, and an interest in Buddhism.
Halima Hagi-Mohamed, Reader
Halima Hagi-Mohamed is a Somali-American writer born in Kenya. She was raised in Central and Southern California. Her writing deals with themes of mental health, identity, relationships, culture, and religion. Her work has been published in Hiram Poetry Review, Hargeisa Magazine, Muslim Fiction Space, Press Pause Press, The Courtships of the Winds and more. She is the author of Amilah, Warda Means Rose, Skin and more. In her free time she likes to volunteer in her community, read, write, and watch films.
Katerina Sutton, Reader
Katerina Sutton is a writer who enjoys spending evenings with her laptop and a steaming mug of Earl Grey. Her work can be found in literary journals such as Free Verse Revolution, Bristol Noir, Word for Word, and Just Poetry. This year, she completed a third draft of her work-in-progress novel and attended a writers' workshop at Brown University. When she's not writing, you can find her immersed in a book or watching sci-fi.
Gretchen Cowell, Reader
Gretchen Cowell is a former English teacher (who also worked at several law firms for many years), who loves historical fiction, mysteries, and many other genres. Now a retiree, she spends her time having coffee with friends, taking classes for seniors, writing fiction, and reading, reading, reading. Oh, and she is also a published author (mostly nonfiction under the name Gretchen Mertz).
Hamna Binte Amir, Reader
Hamna Binte Amir is an architecture student at the National College of Arts in Pakistan. When not drowning in architecture projects she is seen doing lots of papermaking, paper mache and drawing on her art insta page @hamna.creativity.
.jpg)
Jessica Cairoli, Reader
Jessica Cairoli hails from the beautiful mountains of Bozeman, Montana, where she is currently finishing her freshman year at Montana State University. Studying Secondary English Education, Jessica is passionate about supporting writers in achieving their goals. Recently, she was accepted into UC Berkeley's online Journalism program, where she will pursue her love for journalistic writing. In her free time, Jessica is usually writing for the local Bozeman Magazine or MSU's branch of Her Campus magazine.
Myrto Stylou, Reader
Myrto Stylou is and has always been submerged in books, she loves them so much in fact that you can rarely see her without one. She speaks four languages and spends her time surrounded by people she loves. She has graduated in English and German Literature and is pursuing a Masters in Book and Media Studies. Her greatest belief in life is that love is love and everyone should have the right to experience it.
Rick Taliaferro, Former Associate Editor
Rick Taliaferro was an associate editor at Fiction on the Web from December 2023 to March 2025, and still occasionally helps out. He is a full-time technical writer and editor. In his spare time, he spends one hour, or one page, or 200 words per day on fiction. In addition to short story publications, his e-novel, Cascades, was published in 2013, and he is currently seeking an agent for his most recent novel. Previous journal experience before Fiction on the Web includes eight years as an associate editor at Bartleby Snopes.
If you would like to volunteer as a reader for Fiction on the Web, apply here.
Hall of Fame
There are a few individuals whose support for Fiction on the Web deserves special recognition, either because of their incredibly generous and long-standing financial support on Patreon, or because they have taken the time to leave thoughtful comments on an enormous number of stories. Or both.You have helped make Fiction on the Web what it is, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Theresa Amarilio
Orion D Hegre
Bill Tope
Adam Strassberg
Rozanne Charbonneau
June Wolfman
