Maggie Swinburne has kindly supplied not only the guidelines for the My Weekly Pocket Novels, which she edits, but also some very useful tips about what she does and doesn't like.
What makes me happy is having lots of thrills and drama; turmoil and emotional adventures, having a great heroine and an attractive hero. Cake!
I really hate:
Bad weather
Pesky kids
Old people being depicted as past it
Would like a change from: Heroines with red hair and green eyes as so many of them have these desirable attributes.
The word count of 50,000 words is flexible either way, but no more than 55,000 or less than 48,000 please.
I am so pleased when there is interest in the Pocket Novels.
Happy Writing!
27 comments:
"Avoid heroines with red hair" - that's me out as a role model then. (In my youth, I hasten to add, before nature added silver threads amongst the gold.)
Me too, but I knew that already!
(Maggie assures me she has absolutely nothing against red-headed authors )
Aaaaargh! My heroine with Maggie right now has... aaaaaaargh red hair.
Very useful, thank you.
Very useful, thank you.
Thanks for the info., Patsy. I wouldn't mind having a go at this. Is there a deadline or is it ongoing?
Ongoing, Fay. They publish at least one every month (might be more than that)
Oh! That's very good. Thanks, Patsy. I have something in my "ideas" folder that I might be able to create a pocket book out of. I'll dig it out and get started on it!
Hi Patsy, do you know what the payment is for a pocket novel if it's accepted by My Weekly? Thanks!
Hi Patsy. Can you tell me what rights My Weekly buy? If I was lucky enough to sell one, could I still publish it as an eBook? Thanks.
@Fay - sorry I'm not sure. I believe it's a flat fee paid on acceptance rather than royalties - anyone ekse know?
@Gail - I think you can - and sell large print versions too, but I've not seen the contract so can't be sure.
I've had confirmation about the rights – and I was right!
(but please always read any contract yourself and check you understand and are happy before signing)
Thanks, Patsy. Flat fee sounds okay.
I think I read somewhere that the pay rate is £300 for 50,000 words (?)
(Anon1)
Thanks Patsy.
Just wondering why a post I made to this discussion has been removed... did I offend or upset someone in some way? (In fact, have several people's comments been removed too?)
Yes, anon, my comment has also been removed. All we did was express our opinions in a wholly benign and robust way, as I believe free speech allows us to do. I'm mystified as to how anyone could be so thin-skinned as to resort to censorship (though also amused by the patent silliness).
Pravda lives!
Yes, I did remove some comments.
I continue to run this blog in the hope of helping fellow writers. I allow anonymous comments in order that as many people as possible can contribute. This facility was not intended to create a platform for people to air personal grievances, belittle the achievements of others or to insult me. If any further anonymous comments do this, I will remove them. If, in my thin-skinned way, I dislike anonymous comments for some other reasons then I'll probably remove those too.
Re. complaints from various anonymous members - Patsy does a fantastic job running this blog. I am most grateful to her for all the helpful information that she posts. I don't know how she manages to get her own writing done and be such a successful writer! The administrator of any blog has the right to monitor posts and it is their prerogative whether to allow a post or not. Remember, Patsy doesn't get paid to do this. She does it out of the goodness of her heart, wanting other writers to get ahead.
I rest my case.
Good for you, Patsy.
What I don't understand is when anonymous contributors fail to add their names to comments they make on other people's blogs. Is it because they are ashamed of themselves for some reason? It's not really too difficult to identify one self in these comment boxes. Hey ho. Guess we will never know.
Getting back to the subject of your blog post, I would LOVE to write a pocket novel but have never felt confident enough in my ability to give one a go.
Kind regards,
Debbie Wilkinson
Well, here's the thing Debbie. I think I've posted no more than a handful of comments on any blog in my life. When I added a comment to this blog, saying that I thought the payment rates for pocket novels seemed particularly low, it didn't really occur to me to put my name to it. When I saw my comment had been removed I had to pinch myself. Had I aired a 'personal grievance'? No - I have no grievances. Had I belittled others? No - I would never do that. Had I insulted Patsy Collins? No - I would not do that either. In fact, I felt really upset at being made to feel so unwelcome. Meanwhile, it is apparently perfectly OK for another poster to label the Sharon Boothroyd guest blog as negative and resentful-sounding!
Debbie, people post anonymously for a variety of reasons. Some perfectly valid, others less so. I chose to allow anonymous comments here because I wanted to allow as many people as possible to contribute. It seemed like a good idea at the time – I may change my mind!
Anonymous, more than one anonymous comment was left and as I don't know which one(s) were yours. The reason I ask people to add some kind of identification to comments is so that I, and others can reply to them and discussions make sense.
I did not remove any comments which said 'I think the payment rates are particularly low'. I did remove some which I felt were sarcastic and inflammatory. I then, with the permission of the posters where they could be identified, removed the responses which then made no sense.
For the record, I do find it insulting that I'm called thin-skinned and acussed of undermining a person's right to free speech, because I've moderated this blog in an attempt to make it a pleasant place to be, for visitors, editors who kindly take the time and trouble to answer questions and myself. You are entitled to say what you like as far as I'm concerned – just not anonymously on my blog.
Hello Patsy,
Do you know if My Weekly pocket novels accept simultaneous submissions?
Thanks in advance,
The Aspiring Writer
Sorry, I don't know, AW - although most places don't seem keen on this. AS it seems MW reply quite quickly, I'd be inclined to wait for the response before trying elsewhere but if you'd rather not it might be fairest to say you're also trying other places, so the editor knows the position.
Thank you for your reply, Patsy. I'd already submitted to several other places before finding out about this option.I have another idea for a novel. Maybe I should write it and reverse the order this time - first to MW and then, if that doesn't work, to the other publishers. I'm a newbie without an agent and keen to get published. Also work at a day job which I very much appreciate as it pays some of the bills. Writing is a hobby but I'd like to see my work in print:)
In any case, thanks for taking the time to reply.
Best,
AW
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