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/ 


32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay, so it's All Rights but it's just nice to know there are obviously people out there who still want to read short stories.
No mention of how much they pay, Patsy?
Jacqui

Julia Thorley said...

I've just rung them: £60 to £100.

Bubble said...

At least there is a new market, despite the downsides!

Patsy said...

@ Jacqui – The all rights thing means I won't be submitting to this market, but it is good news that at least one publisher is so convinced the reading public want short stories that they're investing in a new magazine to supply that. Wouldn't it be great if those magazines which had dropped fiction in recent years were to 'see sense' and bring it back?

@ Julia – thanks for that. I'd guessed the rate would be the same as for Yours. It appears they'll take the length into account.

@ Bubble – That's how I feel. I'd far, far rather they didn't take all rights and I could therefore submit to them, but I'm pleased to have news which is at all positive to report.

carrie said...

That's great another fiction market opened up - thanks for letting us know about it, Patsy. And nice that the Fiction Editor got in touch. Thanks to Julia for finding out what they pay too! Shame it's an all rights thing, but as you say, maybe that's a sign that other magazines will follow suit and increase their fiction.

Helen Yendall said...

I don't submit to magazines that want All Rights for my work, which is a shame. But good luck to those that do submit to them.

Anonymous said...

Are there any guidelines on length etc.?

Patsy said...

@ Carrie – I'm attempting to think positively!

@ Helen – That's pretty much how I feel.

@ Anonymous – Yes. If you click on where it says 'submission guidelines are here' at the end of the penultimate paragraph, you'll be taken to them.

Carolb said...

While it's positive that another fiction market has opened, it's not good that it's another all rights contract. :(

Susan Jones said...

For me this is great news. I already like Yours magazine and I don't have a problem with someone taking all rights if I've been paid. If our plumber fixed the boiler and we pay him, then it's job done, same as if we sell our words. Will pick up a copy and see what's in there. Thanks for the information, Patsy.

Anonymous said...

If we got the same money as a plumber it'd be a much better deal.

Patsy said...

@ Carol – agreed.

@ Susan – If your plumber fixes your boiler, he can then go next door and fix theirs and get paid again, even though he's using exactly the same skills in exactly the same way ... but of course it's absolutely up to you what rights you decide to give up ad it is good news that more short stories will be published.

@ Anoymous – Maybe, but I'd still say no.

Anonymous said...

Appreciate the recommendation. Will try it out.

ados123 said...

Interesting. Very happy to hear there is a new fiction mag on the block.
Alyson

Patsy said...

@ Anonymous – I'm not recommending this market. I'm just passing on information I hope will be interesting or useful. It's up to each writer to study the terms, consider their own situation, and decide for themselves.

@ Alyson – it is better news than we've been getting of late.

New girl on the block said...

I've sold two stories to Yours Fiction. I submitted both of them to the main Yours Magazine, and they were passed across by the editorial team. I was paid £100 for the first and £50 for the second, although they were the same length. As a new writer I am resigned to selling all rights, as my options are limited by magazines which won't take submissions from new writers.

Patsy said...

@ New Girl – Congratulations on the sales, but what a shame you feel you must accept terms you're not entirely happy with in order to do so.

niddy said...

I have looked in the shops in my local area and cannot find a copy of this magazine. I did buy a copy of the 1st edition but would be interested to buy a few more copies to find out what their style is before thinking about submitting. 'would be interested to find out if the 2nd edition is late out.
As many have said the rights issue is a problem and I'm still unsure which way I would go but with such a shrinking market it's a difficult decision to make.

Anonymous said...

New Girl - Have you tried submitting to the People's Friend? They don't take 'All Rights' pay more than Yours Fiction and will often offer good feedback. They are open to new writers, and have in fact taken on three new writers this week. Good wishes Kate Hogan

New girl on the block said...

Thanks, Kate. Yes, I've submitted several stories to the People's Friend. No luck so far, but they do send useful feedback. They've got two of my stories now, so fingers crossed!They've also published one of my poems. Hope things don't change there with the editor retiring.

Niddy - The first Yours Fiction appeared in January, and the second in July this year.

DOROTHY SNELSON said...

Any idea as to word limit for Yours Fiction Special?

Patsy said...

@ Niddy – I've not seen it in the shops either.

@ Kate and New Girl – Thankfully the taking of all rights is no longer an issue for this market.

@ Dorothy – If you click on where it says 'submission guidelines are here' you'll be taken to apge which gives all the guidelines including word limits.

Jane Ayres said...

Hello everyone. Interested to read about the various rates of pay for the new Yours Fiction, which seem to vary from £50 - £100. I was pleased to find out today that they want to publish one of my stories and no longer take all rights, but surprised to have been offered just £25. The story is 935 words, so is short, but still seems a rather low fee and I wonder if it is because they no longer take all rights? Not sure how to proceed on this. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

Patsy said...

@ Jane – I did ask about pay rates and although I was told they would vary according to length, I wasn't given any figures.

I can't see why this particular change in rights taken should result in a reduction to payment rates. As I understand it, the story will still have the same value to the publisher. (I've not seen either the old or new contract, so there may be something I'm unaware of.)

Jane Ayres said...

Hi Patsy - update on pay rates which might be useful for other writers. I just spoke to Katherine on the phone and she kindly explained that the pay rates for Fiction Yours are different from the main mag and are paid on the basis of the space the story occupies in the mag, as follows:

1 page - £25
2 pages - £40
3 pages - £55
4 pages - £70
5 pages - £85
6 pages - £100

The next issue is out in February and then May 2020. Hope this is helpful for everyone, Best wishes, Jane.

Patsy said...

Thanks for the update, Jane.

Meg Stokes said...

Is it me? It may well be. I can't find the submission information through the link. I just get pages full of articles which were in the magazine. Any advice, please?

Patsy said...

@ Meg – the guidelines were there, but you're right that they've gone. Here are the ones for the regular mag – https://www.yours.co.uk/life/home/yours-short-story-guidelines/

Meg Stokes said...

Thanks Patsy. I haven't submitted to Yours before so am going to peruse some magazines. I'll send them an email and ask about the Yours Fiction Special guidelines..

Patsy said...

@ Meg – I'd be grateful if you could pass on any useful info you discover.

Meg Stokes said...

Will do, Patsy.

Meg Stokes said...

I didn't hear anything back from my email, so I phoned. I was told that the guidelines were the same as for Yours magazine. Even though the stories in Yours Fiction are slightly shorter - the print is larger than usual - stories are edited by them to the correct word count. She also suggested that I could send any stories to the editor: katherinewootten@bauermedia.co.uk