Do you have any womag news?
Are you researching, writing, subbing? Had any acceptances or rejections? Any other news?
Feel free to use the as a picture prompt. If you'd like other writing prompts, short exercises and story/scene suggestions then you might find this book useful.
I'd love to hear your competition news.
Have you entered any writing comps? Had any luck? Heard about interesting contests? Got any tips to pass on? (Although I only feature free to enter competitions in my posts it's fine to share news about other competitions too.)
Do you have writing tips to share, questions to ask, or suggestions for this blog?
21 comments:
YOU magazine in South Africa was supposed to open the fiction subbing period at the start of Jan.
A writer subbed a story via email, but received an auto message, saying the ficin submission period will now be opened on the 18th Jan.
They tried again yesterday, but still received this 'open on the 18th Jan' message, so we don't know what's going on.
Can anyone shed any light on this, please?
Thanks for keeping us on our toes, Patsy! Is it too early to start submitting a Christmas story?
No news - but thanks for the great picture, Patsy.
Busy working on edits suggested by my critique partners right now. And preparing for #IWSGPit on Wednesday!
I have yet to hear about a story I posted to People's Friend back in August (I haven't yet had one accepted by them). They've been very good in the past at quickly sending an encouraging email when I've been turned down, so I guess this story is still in the office while staff are working from home.
On the plus side, another story I planned to send them after I'd heard about the current submission was sent instead to Writers' Forum and won third prize in a monthly competition (which actually pays more than People's Friend). I heard in December that it had been successful, but it wasn't real until I saw it in print in February's issue. :)
No news, atm, Patsy. But still writing...
Alyson
Great photo, Patsy.
I've had a couple of acceptances from People's Friend over the past few days - one for a short story and the other for a feature.
I've had a few distractions the past couple of weeks, so haven't been able to focus on writing. Hopefully can start settling into it again over the next week or so.
Liz: could I ask how long you had to wait before hearing back from TPF please?
@ Sharon – They just said fiction would open 'in the New Year' rather than giving a date. I tried subbing today and didn't get any kind of auto response.
@ Fay – Maybe just a smidge!
@ Kate – It's of a lovely local garden, which opens for the yellow book scheme.
@ Alex – hope both go well.
@ Cathy – Well done with the competition! I expect you're right about the PF story and they've not got to it yet.
@ Alyson – That's the main thing!
@ Liz – well done for the acceptances.
@ XchrisC – The length of time isn't the only thing which plays a part, length of story does too. 3,000 worders are far more likely to get a speedy response.
Thanks for visiting me. My blog is pretty much my writing outlet right now. I'm on the computer at work all day and tired of thinking when I get home. That's being lazy - and yes, I am! Stay well and happy writing
I've been plugging away writing new words on two different projects that are approaching completion of the first drafts and I got back my line edit for a third. Good thing they're all very different genres! lol
@ XchrisC - both of those acceptances were for October 2020 submissions. However, I have several other stories in their system, some dating from December 2019 and January 2020. As Patsy said, length comes into it too.
Still keeping on with a few competitions. Just completed and edited one for W&A https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/competitions due February 12th - free to enter - sure I've seen it on here sometime. Like Cathy, usually get a helpful 'rejection' but nothing from the People's Friend from a similar time. Thank you for keeping us all in the loop, Patsy.
If it makes people feel better, I'm still waiting on a decision from The People's Friend on a story I submitted (via email) in April 2020. *flopsweat* ;) I'm sure they must be busy, but I'll keep submitting (I have a summer one to send) and keep my fingers crossed.
Just to add - the YOU mag email system seems to be working ok now.
Hi Patsy (and other experienced writers),
I am new to submitting short stories, and was just wondering whether simultaneous submissions are okay or not? I read on The People's Friend website that they haven't been able to access the office since the pandemic, so am assuming it can take up to a year for a response. One of my stories could also be suitable for Yours Magazine. Do you think I could submit it to both, or should I just do one at a time?
@ Joanne – It's quite understandable that after using a computer all day you're not keen to start again when you get home and just want to relax. Sorry I don't have a brilliant suggestion to overcome that.
@ Weaver – That's impressive!
@ Liz – Thanks for sharing that.
@ Marguerite – Good luck with that comp and thanks for reminding others about it.
@ Nicola – That's pretty much all we can do.
@ Sharon – Thanks for the update. I subbed a story and got an acknowledgment a bit later, which confirms it's working OK.
@ A Chat With Kat – Definitely only send the same story to one place at a time. You'll make yourself really unpopular with editors otherwise. It's fine to try different magazines with different stories, or send more than one to the same magazine (unless their guidelines state otherwise).
Thank you Patsy, that's helpful. I will write some different stories to send off to the various magazines, then.
I've just heard about this competition:
https://www.kinglearprizes.org.uk
It's open only to those 65 and above and is run by National Creative Arts. There are prizes, and no entry fee as far as I can see.
Sorry, just noticed they're only open to 'real stories', which I take to mean real-life ones. Still, could be of interest to some Womag writers?
@ A chat with Kat – excellent plan!
@ Patricia – It looks like there's a £5 entrance fee. Even so, thanks for sharing it as some readers of this blog may be interested.
Although I don't add competitions with fees to my posts that's not because there's anything wrong with them. In most cases the fee is used to provide the prize and sometimes to pay judges or other admin costs, rather than to make money. Often there are fewer entries when a fee is involved, which increases entrants' chances of winning.
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