Monday 28 October 2019

Shirley Blair is leaving The People's Friend

It's not happening yet, and somebody suitable will replace her and ... It's probably best if you read her blog, where Shirley explains that's she's leaving The People's Friend.

I've met Shirley and communicated with her via numerous emails and she's always been friendly and helpful. Many writing friends have said how nice she is and how she's encouraged them with their writing. She'll be greatly missed and a very hard act to follow.

(I'll have more to say later, once I've got over the surprise.)

Thursday 24 October 2019

Up to you!

I post information, on this blog in the hope that it will be of use or interest to others. I use information I've discovered, or am provided with, in good faith. That's it.

I'm not paid by the magazines (other than when they buy my stories – if they do). Making a post about a publication gains me no advantage with them (although it may do the opposite in some cases!). I'm not endorsing any publication, nor am I responsible for their policies, nor the opinions of those leaving comments.

Personally I don't give up all rights to my work and don't submit work to publications which receive money yet pass none of this to the fiction authors. If you wish to do either of those things yourself then it's entirely your decision. We're all different and write for different reasons and with different expectations.

As writers we can criticise each others choices, we can ostracise those who feel or act differently, and make them reluctant, even afraid, to express opinions in groups, blogs, social media etc and to write under pen names to avoid a possible backlash. Or we can accept that it's hard for all of us and offer support, advice and friendship. That's what I try to do. Again which route you take is entirely your decision.


Wednesday 23 October 2019

New market for womag fiction

I've had an email from the fiction editor at Yours magazine.

"I’m getting in touch from Yours, a national women’s magazine, to ask if you possibly might be able to share news with your readers that our new sister title, Yours Fiction, is actively looking for short story submissions from writers. As I’ve seen a few articles on your website about various places people can send short stories, I thought this might give another platform for writers to be paid and published for their work."

As any increase in opportunities to have short stories published is very welcome, I'm only too pleased to share this news. 

Yours Fiction is quite new – I believe the second issue is currently in the shops. It contains 26 stories per issue. Submission guidelines are here.

Note Yours take all rights for the stories they publish.

Update 14/12/19 – This market no longer take all rights.

Guidelines for Yours Special seem to have been removed. Here are the guidelines for the regular mag – https://www.yours.co.uk/life/home/yours-short-story-guidelines/ 


Monday 21 October 2019

Woman's Way

Woman's Way is an Irish magazine currently open to submissions of fiction. 

Bad news first – They're not currently in a position to pay.

Slightly better news – They don't claim any rights over submissions, other than those required to publish the story in the magazine. It's also possible that they may consider stories which have been previously published. If you want to send something in that category, for which you retain rights, I suggest stating when and where it was published.

All stories must be in the 800-850 word range as they don't have the space for anything else. If you require more information on submission requirements then please contact the publication directly – there's a form for this here.

Woman's Way are currently running a Christmas story competition. There are some very nice, literary themed, prizes on offer for this. More details and entry form can be found here.

Thursday 17 October 2019

Woman's Weekly to stop publishing serials.

I heard a rumour some time ago, and today have had it confirmed that Woman's Weekly are to stop publishing serials.

Over to you

This month's discussion topic – Where do you get your ideas from?

Here's another monthly random photo for use as a story prompt. 

Please share success (or otherwise!) report any womag news, tips, advice you may have, make womag related comments or observations and ask questions – and answer them too if you can help.


 (If you have news or a question relating to a particular magazine, it's also fine to add it as a comment to the latest post for that magazine.)

Wednesday 2 October 2019

Re-using short stories

After my stories have been published* or placed into competitions, I put them together in themed collections. The latest of these, Slightly Spooky Stories III is out now. As you may have guessed these are 24 ghost stories and the like – not too scary as they're mostly womag type stories.

I've also produced four collections each of garden and family related stories, three of romances, one concerning time and one about work. You can find them all, plus my other books, here, if you fancy a nose – or even want to buy one or download the freebies.

*I can because I retain the right to do so. For those who give up all rights, this isn't an option.

What do you do with your stories after they've been published? (If you'd like to put a link in your comment, I'll add it to this post, so everyone else can see.)




Fay Knowles has produced Sunbeams from the Heart - A Collection of 12 romantic short stories.