The basic fiction guidelines are unchanged from those posted here a while back, so I won't repeat them. But there's lots more in the main article - here are the main points.
- They receive about 200 submissions a week, of which 25% will be completely unsuitable. Their readers get to know which writers don't bother with market research, and those stories are likely to get less attention. (See, it's worth researching your market, like I always say!)
- They use a 700-word story every week in the weekly mag, plus about 24 stories in each seasonal special (4 a year). That's quite a lot of stories, so it's a good market to break into.
- Stories should be contemporary, positive and humourous. No sci-fi, nothing violent. Dialogue important, 4 characters maximum, tell the story chronologically.
- Emailed submissions are welcome. Don't expect a response within 3 months. And then your story might be accepted, rejected or shortlisted. Shortlisted stories are held indefinitely, and will not get rejections. For this reason Mary is happy for writers to send shortlisted stories elsewhere, as long as they let That's Life know if the story is accepted elsewhere. This is an unusual way of doing things, but seems pretty fair to me.
- Mary is happy to use stories previously published in UK women's magazines, including those published in Woman's Weekly. But do state if and where your story has been published. Payment is a little less for reprints, but still pretty good. They will send details of what to include on an invoice. Payment is after publication.
Check out their website and especially the readers' forums to get an idea of what the readers are interested in.
Email submissions to fastfiction@pacificmags.com.au
Oh, and I'd recommend buying your own copy of Writers' Forum this month. If only to see how they got top authors such as Salman Rushdie, Jilly Cooper and JK Rowling to demonstrate how to keep fit while sitting at your writing desk.
