Tuesday 23 June 2020

Couple of things...

Lucy at The People's Friend thought this post, on writers' rights, might be of interest.

I'm the latest guest on the Healthy Happy Writer Show. You can listen or watch here. I talk (and talk and talk!) about different writing related topics, including Womag and copyright.

Update. Three things now! I've just had an acceptance (from YOU) for a story which was sent three days short of two years ago!

17 comments:

lionsshare said...

Thanks for the post and well done on the acceptance from You. Can anyone beat this for longest wait? I have recently sent a story to this mag - maybe I'll have to be patient for a response.
Also couldn't find any info about what they require re layout ie do they use double or single speech marks ? Thanks. Linda

Patsy said...

@ Linda – The editor had said she liked it and asked if she could hang on to it for possible use later, and I'd agreed. I had thought several that had happened with weren't going to be used, but now I'm more hopeful about the others.

As far as I'm aware they don't produce guidelines which specify how they'd like work formatted.

ados123 said...

Congratulations on the sale, Patsy. It's a long time to wait! Do you know how many stories they publish per week/month? Interested to know how you'd describe the story - romance, upbeat, fun, friendships? Just trying to get a feel for what they might want...
Thanx as ever
Alyson

Jenny Worstall said...

Would love to listen to this but think my computer must be playing up as sound is too soft for me to hear properly. I can hear the interviewer, but not you, Patsy. Anyone else had this problem?

Patsy said...

@ Alyson – upbeat and fun, is how I'd describe those I've sold them. No, not sure how many stories they use per issue.

@ Jenny – I am quieter in the video as I'm so shy and retiring. Well, it's either that or the fact I don't have a proper microphone!

Jenny Worstall said...

No problem Patsy! Have managed to fiddle around and now listening to with volume up...

Jenny Worstall said...

Interesting discussion about Amazon...they can be so useful to authors, particularly for self-publishing and yet we all know they are not perfect, in many ways (not least the way they sometimes treat their self-published authors!).

Well done Patsy! A great interview. Really enjoyed listening to it. Lovely to discover the Healthy Happy Writer Show too.

Julie Day said...

Great post. Interesting about the acceptance from You. I've recently sent one too, and got an autoreply (I think) asking me to wait for 3 weeks for feedback. Shall wait and see.

ados123 said...

@Patsy. Thanx. I may give You a go.

This post from TPF fiction editor Lucy might also be of interest to womag readers. It lists the lengths of stories for the special edition of the magazine which are quite varied!
https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/2020/06/20/writing-for-the-peoples-friend-special/

Alyson

Anonymous said...

Well done on the sale, Patsy. I think I waited a similar length of time for one they'd asked to keep. then they asked could they publish in their other mag, too. I got the sale price for the first in You, and then just over half the price when they published the story in their other mag. Good wishes KH

carrie said...

Really good and interesting interview, Patsy. And nice to know about the Healthy Happy Writer Show too. Congrats on the sale to YOU after such a long period of time. That happened to me too on one occasion, after they asked to hang onto it. Just proves we should never give up!

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed listening to your interview on the Healthy, Happy Writer Show, Patsy. Good luck with your new novel. Once again, the 'All Rights' topic came up and, once again, I was reminded what a difficult issue it is. I would like to welcome the comments made by Chris Sutton, in response to the previous post. Like Chris, I have reflected and deliberated at length on this matter. The first time I became aware of the 'All Rights' situation was on this blog, and I decided not to submit to publications that made such a demand. However, I have since come to think that it is perfectly possible to work in a variety of ways on different kinds of writing, and accept different selling of rights. Sometimes I write with my artisan's hat on, and I feel like a potter, perhaps, who brings all their skill, experience, effort and care to a piece of work, but does not expect it to bear their signature or for them to be personally remembered for creating it. In this mode, the work is attentively carried out, but is ultimately commercial - nothing wrong with that. At other times, I write with my artist's hat on, and this is the sort of deeply personal writing, from the soul, for which I would never sign away all rights, even if this meant it never being published. I regret that any publisher requires all rights, but the options for an artisan writer are limited. Della is absolutely right to say that we all have a choice, but choosing to be an artisan, even some of the time, is a legitimate one, too. Best wishes to you and all your correspondents from Eirin Thompson

Marguerite said...

Two years! It blows away the idea of preparing for seasonal stories ;) But well done, Patsy!
I haven't listened to the interview yet but will - and yes, a new show to watch out for that I didn't know existed. Thank you for that.

Celia said...

Jenny, similar problem only I can't get it to play at all, stuck at 8.0 6minutes in, even before I'd started trying to listen!
Incidentally on the 'delayed' subject, I once had a story accepted (and paid for) by My Weekly which wasn't published until SEVEN YEARS later.
Good job THAT wasn't 'payment on publication'

Patsy said...

@ Celia – If you trying clicking on where it names the show in the text it should work OK.

Linda CASPER said...

Just got round to listening to your interesting interview on the Healthy Happy Writers Show. I've seen photos of you and read your words but really enjoyed this extra dimension!

New girl on the block said...

I enjoyed the interview too.
I like Eirin Thompson's comments above.