Australian That's Life - Guidelines

I haven't seen a copy of Australian That's Life, but my friend describes it as being like Take A Break. There's a weekly magazine and a bi-monthly fiction special. They like a mixture of stories.

Note they cannot take stories published by Woman's Weekly, as WW also publish in Australia.

Here are their guidelines:

THAT’S LIFE! FAST FICTION GUIDELINES

Basic Requirements: That’s Life! Fast Fiction is looking for humorous, positive contemporary stories of 100 - 2800 words with a strong plot. If the story has a twist it should arise from the story, rather than from a detail kept from the reader. To check your twist, imagine your story were being made into a film - would the surprise still work?

Payment:
Your story is classified as First Australian Rights. Then it will fall into either of the following categories: Published elsewhere in the world or never been published before.

If it’s First Australian rights and HASN’T been published anywhere else in the world, then you will receive $400 for one page, $500 for 1.5 pages, $600 for 2 pages, $700 for 3 pages, $800 for 4 pages.

If it’s First Australian Rights and HAS been published once, somewhere else in the world, then you will receive: $50 for a 100 word story, $300 for one page, $400 for 1.5 pages, $500 for 2 pages, $600 for 3 pages and $700 for 4 pages.

Fiction Fix is a one page feature in the magazine and includes 5-6, 100-word stories. These stories are normally tales with a twist, but please avoid writing anything that sounds like a joke.

1 page - 900 words
1.5 pp - 1,200 words
2pp - 1,400 words
3pp - 2,100 words
4pp - 2,800 words


If you have one, please provide your ABN number on your covering letter or manuscript. If not we will explain how to obtain one should your story be selected. (This only applies if you are based in Australia). If you do not, you could lose up to 48% of your payment in tax.

Subject Matter: Read several issues of the magazines to get the flavour of the type of fiction we publish. Many writers waste a lot of time and effort because they haven’t done this. Please avoid straightforward romance ie. boy meets girl and they live happily ever after. Also avoid science fiction and stories narrated by animals or babies. That’s Life! is a family magazine so graphic murders, sex crimes and domestic violence are not acceptable.
We normally write in chronological order, so please keep events in sequence and avoid “jumping” around time slots, as this can be confusing.
Also, please bear in mind that if your story is themed then it needs to be sent to us about 3 months in advance of the magazine in which it needs to appear. For example a Christmas story would need to reach us no later than September.

Common twists to avoid:
• The heroine/narrator is revealed to be a cat, dog, car, possum, tree or ghost!
• A partner’s mysterious arrangements turn out to be for a surprise party
• The perpetrator’s murder plan backfires and s/he eats the poison
• A woman meets up with a handsome “stranger” for a steamy rendezvous and it turns out to be her husband
• Someone nervous about a first day at school turns out to be the teacher; or about a wedding, the vicar; or an interview, the interviewer.
• A woman spots her boyfriend/man of her dreams with a beautiful blonde lady – who turns out to be his sister
• Anything involving twins
• A murder/death actually turns out to be part of a play rehearsal

Common plots to avoid:
• Woman gets her revenge on bullying husband, mother-in-law or boss.
• Widowed woman finds new love in her autumn years
• The heroine is a writer
• Anything involving winning money/the lotto
• Con artist tries to fleece little old lady – but the old lady ends up conning him

It’s not that we would never use a story with these plot lines, but bear in mind we do get a lot of them. So your story would need a fresh angle to stand out.


Characters: It can be confusing if you have too many characters. A maximum of four is usually best.

Originality: Stories must be your own idea and original work, previously unpublished, and not on offer to any other magazine or publisher at the time sent to us. Should your story be accepted we may have to edit it to conform to page length, style, and the photos available to illustrate it. We may also send it back to you with suggestions.

Presentation: We are more than happy to receive submissions via email. Submissions need to be either as a WORD attachment or as text in the body of the email. E-Submissions should be sent to fastfiction@pacificmags.com.au. We request that the word count be included in the subject line of the email.
If sending by post, manuscripts should be presented in a typed format. Please ensure your name, address and telephone number are on the manuscript. An accompanying letter is not necessary. Please include a stamped addressed envelope for a reply. If you wish to have your work returned, make sure you send an envelope large enough to hold your story.
Please keep a copy of your story as manuscripts occasionally go missing in the post. PLEASE ensure you send it with a word count and let me know if it is 1st or 2nd rights.
Also, we prefer not to receive bulk submissions, so please don’t send any more than 4 stories at a time.

Address: Manuscripts should be addressed to Anthony Lambert, Editor - That’s Life! Fast Fiction magazine, 35-51 Mitchell St, McMahons Point, NSW 2060.

Replies: It can take 8-12 weeks before a decision is made concerning your manuscript, so please be patient. If your story has not been returned after 10 weeks, please send another copy with a letter explaining that it has been sent before. Please be aware that due to the large volume of stories we receive we cannot offer individual guidance or assessment.

Rejection: If your story is rejected it can be for any number of reasons. Sometimes we have already published, or have in stock, a similar story, or we may feel it will not appeal to our readers. This does not mean we will not like another of your stories, so don’t lose heart.



Interesting how the plots/twists to avoid are the same old, same old, isn't it? Either they nicked this list off a UK magazine, or those plots really have been done to death!


Edited 3rd February 2009
The guidelines have changed recently to confirm they are happy to accept submissions by email which is good for us non-Australian writers. Updated guidelines above, & send submissions to fastfiction@pacificmags.com.au
You can also use the email address fictionguidelines@pacificmags.com.au if requesting guidelines - you get an automated response.

Edited 4th August 2009 to update the editor's name.
Edited 25th february 2011 to amend editor's name rather belatedly.