Jill Finlay, fiction editor at The Weekly News, is lovely - and I'm not saying that just because she was the first editor to send me an acceptance. Clearly she's also very brave as she's agreed to come onto this blog to answer some of our questions!She says, "There have been so many changes recently what with the contracts and the way I’ve set things up, so it’ll be a good opportunity to clarify any fuzzy areas."
If you have any questions for Jill, please leave them in the comments and she'll answer as many as she can in a later post.
Other feedback, comments and suggestions will be welcome too. "It’d be good to hear from writers/readers to get a feel for what everyone thinks and how I can improve things!"
16 comments:
I'm going to be greedy and ask two questions.
How many submissions do you get in an average month, Jill?
Also, is there any chance of repeating the fiction supplement you ran a few weeks ago?
That`ll be great - The Weekly News has a very particular and special feel - it`ll be terrific to delve deeper (and try again!). Many thanks, Patsy and Jill.
Great to have Jill on the blog, Patsy - well done! I'd like to ask: I know that you only have a very limited amount of time to deal with fiction for TWN, Jill, so how can writers make your life easier and also, of course, give themselves a better chance of acceptance?! thank you! Helen Yendall
Great stuff Patsy! MY questions for Jill - is it still light- hearted family stories you are looking for? If not, what kind of story is your favourite - cosy crime, ghost, twist in tale ect?
How can I get hold of a copy? I'm on a small island in the Canaries.
Great to have Jill here Patsy, and thank you for this Jill.
Can we email stories to TWN and what is the word count requirement please?
I don't have any questions, but I just want to say how lovely it is that you've arranged to have Jill here, Patsy, and how good it is to see what Jill looks like!
Oh, and I'd also like to say that your new 12 week rule is an excellent system, Jill. It's so good to know that I can send a story elsewhere if I haven't heard from you within 12 weeks.
Sue Wright
I don't have a specific question but I haven't had an acceptance from Jill for a while so it'll be interesting to see what she has to say.
Thanks for arranging this, Patsy! Like Sheila from the Canary Islands, I also live on an island (Nassau, Bahamas). Is it possible to buy a digital copy of The Weekly News? Many thanks.
Hi Patsy, looking forward to reading this interview. Jill was the first person who published me to and I don't think I'll ever forget seeing my first ever story in print.
Linda
What a great opportunity to hear from such a busy person. I have sent a few stories in the distant past but they didn't make the grade and I wonder if it may be because I find dialogue a problem so tend not to use much. Might it be worth trying rewrites of the stories with more dialogue?
Ann
Hi, Patsy. What a wonderful opportunity to 'speak' to Jill and find out more about fiction in TWN.
My question is, how often are the guidelines updated, and are they available online? The most recent I have seen are May 2015 on this blog.
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for all the questions so far. I'll start posting the answers tomorrow, so feel free to ask me anything, make any suggestions, or air any grumbles or gripes!
Jill.
Hi, Jill. I know you said a while back you'd received rather too many ghost stories in the past - is this still the case? Are realistic stories definitely preferred to ones with a supernatural element? Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.
Just thought of another one, Jill. In view of your readership, do you prefer stories with a mix of male/female, young/old characters? Would a story with only female characters be less likely to be accepted, for instance? Thanks again.
Thanks, everyone for your questions!
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