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Thursday, 17 August 2017

A message from Clare at Woman's Weekly

I've just been asked, by Clare at Woman's Weekly, to post this message here ...

'In light of the restructuring at Woman's Weekly, it has been decided to suspend the acceptance of unsolicited stories for the time being.  We hope to reinstate them at some point in the future.

Any that have already arrived in this office or that are in transit will be returned to the sender with a note saying the above.

We thank everyone for their interest and wish them good luck with their writing.


Many thanks, Patsy.

Best wishes.

Clare X'

UPDATE Clare has sent a clarification ... 

'When we say "unsolicited" we mean the people whose stories we haven't published before, not our regular writers.'

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them here and I will do my best to get you answers.

Please don't contact me directly about this (I'm so swamped with queries I'm feeling very sympathetic towards fiction editors!) – I will pass on anything I learn via this blog.
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26 comments:

  1. John D17 August 2017 at 11:11

    By "unsolicited" does she mean writers who've not had a story accepted yet?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Patsy17 August 2017 at 11:15

    'Unsolicted' means no stories at all, from anyone, unless they request them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jo17 August 2017 at 11:16

    Nooooo.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Francesca Capaldi17 August 2017 at 11:40

    Thank you for posting this, Patsy. A very sad day. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  5. Natalie Kleinman17 August 2017 at 11:49

    How sad.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous17 August 2017 at 11:50

    Think it's quitting time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Julie P17 August 2017 at 12:10

    Thank you, Patsy. Ah well, another subscription to cancel, sadly.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Julie P17 August 2017 at 12:10

    Thank you, Patsy. Ah well, another subscription to cancel, sadly.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sherri17 August 2017 at 12:24

    Oh dear.
    That doesn't bode well.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Patsy17 August 2017 at 12:26

    @ John D, please see the update to my original post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John D17 August 2017 at 14:13

      Thanks Patsy, have seen. Don't know whether I come under a regular writer. I regularly send stories in but have only had two published

      Delete
  11. Sharon17 August 2017 at 12:43

    This is so sad. I wonder what has caused this happen at WW.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Tassie Devil17 August 2017 at 12:51

    Thanks for letting us know Patsy. It's good to have someone like you keeping us up to date, even when the news is bad.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sherri17 August 2017 at 13:07

    Thanks for the clarification, Clare and Patsy.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Frances Garrood17 August 2017 at 13:14

    This is all so sad. I think Clare and I go back for pretty well all of her 29 years at WW, though I've only met her once. They were a great team to work for. I'm sure we'll all miss them.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Rosemary Johnson17 August 2017 at 13:17

    Another avenue closed! It's a great shame.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous17 August 2017 at 13:32

    Could you try and find out what is meant by a 'regular writer', please, Patsy?

    I don't receive the emails that are sent out to regular writers, but I've been able to submit stories to Clare by email since I sold one to WW this time last year.

    Not sure now whether I can continue to submit or not.

    Thanks

    Sue Wright

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lindsay17 August 2017 at 13:40

    This news came a few days too late - would have saved myself a couple of large stamps!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous17 August 2017 at 16:52

    A regular writer is anybody who is entitled to sub via email (anybody already published by them.) I asked Clare and that was her reply. JS.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jenny Worstall17 August 2017 at 18:32

    Thanks for the update Patsy.
    I am attending a writing course at Woman's Weekly tomorrow...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous17 August 2017 at 20:25

    Thanks for passing on Clare's reply, JS.
    Very helpful
    Sue Wright

    ReplyDelete
  21. Patsy18 August 2017 at 07:06

    @ JS, thanks for clarifying that - you beat me to it!

    @Jenny Worstall - I hope you enjoy the course, and that you'll let us know if you find out anything more regarding the changes.

    @ Lindsay - that's frustrating.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous18 August 2017 at 09:54

    The continued fall in magazine sales makes depressing reading. Sales of Woman's Weekly are down 6% on last year, Take a Break down 8% and The People's Friend down 7%. I guess readers still enjoy fiction, but they don't necessarily need to buy magazines to do so. I know quite a few people who simply download free or very inexpensive fiction onto their e-readers, for instance. I do think that those who feel driven to write, should look for other outlets for their writing talents. I hate to say it but I don't think the womag fiction market will ever pick up. Jan Mc.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Jenny Worstall18 August 2017 at 17:06

    Great course on serials today at Woman's Weekly. Nothing to report that isn't included in your most recent post today.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Patsy18 August 2017 at 17:59

    Thanks, Jenny - glad you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Celia18 August 2017 at 20:00

    Dear Patsy,
    I didn't get an e-mail from Clare or Gaynor so this came as a horrible shock to me as they've been so supportive and helpful over the years.
    If you have any contact with either, please can you pass on my best wishes to them, as never had the chance to say goodbye.
    Celia

    ReplyDelete

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