Thursday 23 April 2020

A real shame (updated)

Don't click this link, unless you're prepared for bad news.

If you'd be disappointed by this news, you may want to consider taking out a subscription to a magazine you'd like to continue in business.

Updated 24/4/20 Lucy Chricton has asked me to include this link, to help explain the situation to The Weekly News writers.

32 comments:

ados123 said...

Such a shame...
Alyson

Jenny Worstall said...

Must have been a heart breaking decision. Such a shame.

Elizabeth McGinty said...

This is sad news indeed. I feel for all the staff involved. It was a great wee newspaper which I can remember being around the house when I was a child and I still loved as an adult.

Sharon Haston said...

Sad news. Good advice to take out a subscription to those magazines we want to keep going.

Liz said...

Very sad news. I haven't seen a copy for years, but my nan always used to buy it back in the 1970s and 1980s. I used to read it when I visited her. It must have been such a hard decision to make.

Lindsay said...

Such a shame that yet another market for short stories is disappearing.

Rosemary Gemmell said...

That's so sad after all that time in publication. Although I had a few stories published in it, it was sometimes difficult to find in shops so perhaps people weren't always aware of it.

carrie said...

I'm so sad about this; I loved writing stories for them, and the word limit of 1,200-1,500 was just right. I feel lucky that I had as many stories published in The Weekly News as I did. I ordered it from my newsagent so was fortunate enough to read it every week. A sad loss indeed for us all.

Unknown said...

Very sad news. Was it more easily available in Scotland than in England? You really have to search for it locally, so unless you already know it exists you're not going to chance upon it. Not sure DCT really helped it to continue being successful from that POV.

Patsy said...

I don't think it's fair to blame the publishers for the fact it wasn't readily available in shops – I'm sure they'd have loved every newsagent and supermarket to have it prominently on display. The shops only stock what they think will sell, and if we don't buy it, or ask for it when we can't find it, then they'll use the space for something people are buying.

Niddy said...

Sad news indeed, used to read it all the time unfortunately there came a point when it was unavailable in my area.

Anonymous said...

Oh no, my best market last year! This is heart-breaking news. I loved this paper - the 'news' was always good and up-lifting. (I still couldn't do the crosswords though - but enjoyed trying!)

AngieM

Sharon Boothroyd said...

Very sad news and another blow for womag writers.
Jill took quite a lot of mine, but when she left, I didn't manage to repeat the success there.
I just hope that the TWN submitted stories will be considered by TPF for the weekly and their fiction special.

lionsshare said...

I also sold lots of stories when Jill was there. I enjoyed writing for TWN because you could go slightly off grid with the subject matter - which suited my style. Not surprised by the news though as it got more difficult to find.
Linda

Marguerite said...

So sad yet another magazine disappearing. As mentioned above, not easily available in shops but it worries me that the "celebrity" ones are all there in abundance! Can anyone tell me why? (It's probably an age thing!)

cannycat said...

That's such a shame - my Dad used to get it every week (north east of England) and we knew it was always safe reading for the family. With the honourable exception of The People's Friend and a couple of others, just about all the magazines aimed at women are now pretty identikit (thank you Bauer, for giving us such a homogenised world, if that's the word...), and so are all the vacuous celebrity advertisements....

Penny A said...

Very sad, and especially for all their workers. The only positive seems to be that the decision to close was theirs, and not one forced upon them by the coronavirus.

Maria Perry Mohan said...

That's very sad. So sorry to learn about this.

Chris Sutton said...

Sadly, I felt the writing was on the wall for Weekly News when Tesco stopped stocking it last year. You're right, Patsy, I'm sure DCT would have loved to have more outlets for WN. Instead, they were shrinking. Jill took many of my stories over the years and I always found it an interesting read. I agree with lionsshare, it was good to have a market that was prepared to take the type of stories other womags don't. I'm so glad I got one in this year before its demise - a little murder mystery that wouldn't have stood a chance anywhere else. This is a sad loss.

Charlie said...

That’s sad to hear patsy - do you know what magazines left that we can submit stories to? I know PF and Yours F, is there anymore that accept new writers? Thanks.

Linda said...

Such a shame. The Weekly News published my first ever short story and I will never forget the thrill of being accepted for publication and seeing a story of mine in print for the first time. Its so sad that the WOMAG market is shrinking into invisibility.
Linda

Chris Sutton said...

Charlie, as far as I know Woman's Weekly do still consider work from new writers, although it would have to be a postal sub, not email. They use 1,000 or 2,000 word stories for the weekly mag, those for the Specials can be longer. I suggest you read a few of their stories first to get a feel for what they like.

Maggie, who edits the My Weekly Annuals and the Pocket Novels, also takes work from writers new to the mag, I think, but you could email them first to check. Their most recent guidelines (March and April) contained the following info...

We are still gathering stories for Annual 2022, which goes on sale August 2021. We’ll welcome stories of all lengths - 2500, 1800, 1700 and 850 – on a variety of themes. Maggie likes a bit of sci-fi in the Annual and there’s also space there for cosy crime. And of course, Maggie will welcome your Pocket Novel ideas.

Please send story submissions as a word document on an email to MWFictionSubmissions@dctmedia.co.uk
Please send general story enquiries to swatson@dctmedia.co.uk

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Charlie said...

Thank you so much Chris, this does help a lot.

Patsy said...

@ Chris. Thanks.

Pocket novels will be considered by new writers, but I don't think the same applies to short stories for the annual. It definitely doesn't for the weekly magazine.

@ Charlie, I thought I'd already answered your question, but the internet seems to have eaten it!

Allas, Spirit and Destiny, Ireland's Own, Woman's Weekly, Your Cat and Woman's World still consider unsolicited sub. You can also try the Prima competition, which is really just another way to sub fiction. Check on the rights taken though, unless you're happy to give them all up – which I don't advise.

Chris Sutton said...

Patsy, as far as I know Maggie doesn't apply the same rule as the weekly mag to subs for the Annual... that was my understanding anyway. It would be worth Charlie emailing that question to Susan on the general enquiries email address, just to clarify the situation.

I emailed you earlier, by the way, Patsy, to ask if you knew anything about a short story comp being run by Best. I was told of it yesterday by a friend, but I can't find details anywhere. Anyone know whether it is still running?

One other mag that does take work from new writers, Charlie, is You magazine in South Africa. They are closed to subs until 1st June but that gives you time to sort something out. 1,500 word stories of the sort you'd see in our womags here. It seemed like ages when Lynn first announced that closure but now it's only a month away!

Patsy said...

No harm in asking. If you get a reply, would you let us know please, Charlie?

I believe there is a competition for Best, but haven't seen a copy of the magazine – I've only been shopping once since lockdown began.

Charlie said...

This is perfect Patsy, thank you so much 😊

Charlie said...

Will do patsy 😀

Liz said...

Patsy, is Yours/Yours Fiction Special not open to new writers?

Patsy said...

@ Liz – Yes, they are. As are The People's Friend. I didn't put them on my list as Cjharlie had already mentioned them.

Liz said...

Of course she did. Doh! Sorry, Patsy. I think all the isolation is making me dumber! :)

Patsy said...

It's removed my ability to spell!

I'm not just saying that because of my typo above, I do seem to be making more smistakes than usual, and I always did make a fair few.