Free entry competition news
The British Czech and Slovak Association have a competition for fiction or non-fiction writing. They have very specific requirements, which may seem off-putting, but do mean there are likely to be a fairly small number of entries, giving you a better chance of winning the £400 than if it were an open theme.
Both Prima and Best are running short story competitions. Best are offering £500 for a spooky story of up to 1,200 words. Send to bestfiction@hearst.co.uk
Prima are taking all rights on all entries. If you really want to give up the right to ever use that story in any way, just for the privilege of entering then you can look up the details yourself as I don't want to encourage anyone to take such a step.
Womag update
In case you've somehow missed it, there's a database of womag submission guidelines and requirements on this blog. I update it regularly and you can access it anytime from the link at the top of the page (is that visible on phones?) or here.
I've had sales to TAB and TPF, but mostly there's nothing to report short story wise, not even rejections. It's demoralising waiting years for a definite response – I'd rather have a rejection than a 'it's still under consideration. Maybe it will be used next year.'
Update - I've just had another acceptance from TAB for a story sent out this week!
How do you obtain most of the books you read? Do you use kindle unlimited?
I get quite a few books from the library. I love libraries, and love that some of my books are read that way.
A plea from me
If you find this blog helpful, interesting, encouraging or want it to continue for any other reason PLEASE leave a comment. These help the blog in lots of different ways.
In case you've somehow missed it, there's a database of womag submission guidelines and requirements on this blog. I update it regularly and you can access it anytime from the link at the top of the page (is that visible on phones?) or here.
My news
I've had sales to TAB and TPF, but mostly there's nothing to report short story wise, not even rejections. It's demoralising waiting years for a definite response – I'd rather have a rejection than a 'it's still under consideration. Maybe it will be used next year.'
Update - I've just had another acceptance from TAB for a story sent out this week!
As an experiment I took all my ebooks 'wide' ie, instead of being exclusive with Amazon I offered them through other platforms. I did sell a few, but not enough to make up for the loss in payments I got through kindle unlimited, so have reversed that decision. If you'd like to read any of my books through kindle unlimited (or buy the) you can find them all here.
How do you obtain most of the books you read? Do you use kindle unlimited?
I get quite a few books from the library. I love libraries, and love that some of my books are read that way.
A plea from me
If you find this blog helpful, interesting, encouraging or want it to continue for any other reason PLEASE leave a comment. These help the blog in lots of different ways.
31 comments:
Hi Patsy, just wanted to thank you for listing the Anansi Archive flash fiction competition - my story got second prize and will be published in the anthology. Always appreciate you keeping us up to date! https://www.anansiarchive.co.uk/winning-entries/
I always read your posts as I very much appreciate them. I don't always leave comments because I don't often have much to say except 'no comp wins, no stories sold' which gets rather tedious for writer and readers alike! Believe me, this blog will be hearing about any successes! Please do keep up your excellent work.
Congratulations, Fiona!
@ Fiona - Well done! And thank you for letting me know. It's great to hear the blog is helping people, as that's why I write it, and I'm sure hearing that one person has had success with a competition I've posted about will encourage others to try.
@ Lindsay – It's useful to hear what topics find interesting or helpful as I know what to try more of and what not to bother with, but any comment at all is helpful as it lets me know the post has been read by real people.
I agree that the endless waiting is demoralising.
I understand that editors are swamped. However, it is extremely disheartening to wait for over a year for a response, not knowing whether your story was even received in the first place. And given current issues with cost of living, it is simply not an effective use of a freelance writer's time to work on a story that might - just might - sell in 12 months' time when they can be working on something more immediate that will pay next month's bills. I doubt I'm the only one submitting fewer stories for this reason, compared to previous years, and I feel for every writer caught up with these logjams.
Some magazines have time limits - if you haven't heard from us in 6 months, consider your story rejected - and I wish they'd all do this.
Thanks for the info Patsy
Always thanks for the information, Patsy. I sometimes - not often - enter the competitions you post about, but often use the data base, so it is all of help to me.
Love the photos of the stone circles and neolithic monuments. Nothing I like better than a good traipse round something old!
Thank you
Alyson
As always, thanks for all the info you put on this blog, Patsy. It’s always very much appreciated, even though I don’t always respond to every subject. I might have a go at Best’s halloween competition ( if I can think of something over the next few weeks). I do sometimes have ideas just pop out of nowhere.
I hope nobody’s melted away in the heat. A lot more comfortable today, I feel.
Michael D
Thanks Patsy I love all your posts even when I'm not doing a lot of writing it keeps me hanging in there. Reading about other peoples successes & rejections is a lifeline, as I am not part of a writing group I think the blog is vital for that connection to other writers. Also I would never have had access to all the submission and competition information without it & this year I made it into the Bridgehouse publishing 'Evergreen' Anthology (due out in November) which I would never have heard of if I wasn't reading the blog so please please never consider stopping. I find that even in fallow periods its good to know that others are going through the same thing & well I just enjoy it so much I regularly check in to see if anyone has added any comments. Help..I may even be addicted to checking out your blog!!!
Well done Kate, an acceptance by TPF still evades me but I am nothing if not determined and intend to keep trying so I am absolutely delighted for you. Should I ever get that acceptance email/call I will celebrate in style, make sure you do too, these are the days that make up a wonderful life.
Also well done Fiona on your win in the competition, that's great news.
Ps Love the photos Patsy keep them coming, we loved the ones you took in our garden too.
I mostly buy second hand books and buy new books when I want to support particular writers or publishers or want a particular reference book (I read too much to be able to afford to buy all my books new). I should use the library more! I don't have a Kindle or similar reading device, they've never appealed to me.
Congratulations on your recent success! I found out a couple of days ago that I won a small flash fiction contest and today I've had a haiku accepted.
Hi Patsy,
Hope you enjoyed your travels as much as we enjoyed the updates and photos, I always love seeing where you've visited.
Thanks as always for the info posted, your blog has always been an enormously helpful resource to me in my writing journey.
I agree it's frustrating awaiting responses to submissions, I haven't had much success with Short Story submissions recently.
However I have three, yes three! poems in TPF Friendship Book due out on 1st August, and my Pocket Novel Home Farm Ranch originally published by TPF is due to be released by Ulverscroft Large Print on 1st September.
Many Thanks Patsy for all your hard work in keeping this blog going.
Thank you for this blog, Patsy and all the information in it. I've been lucky enough to have had a number of stories published by The Peoples Friend and now want to look further afield and enter some competitions. So, I'm sure I'll be reading your blog a lot more in the future.
I LOVE this blog! I enjoy your travel news, Patsy, and hearing of your publication successes and those of your correspondents (some fantastic news above). I haven't yet dipped a toe into the world of competitions, but I know I can find out about all the opportunities here, too. I value the database and updates on womag happenings. I was personally very grateful for an opportunity to talk in a guest post about my mystery novel, I Know I Saw Her, which was published last summer (now much-reduced on Kindle!), and I have enjoyed the guest posts of others. Possibly most of all, I am grateful that you have provided a meeting place for like-minded people to share thoughts and feelings about our writing experiences - something I don't get anywhere else. Thanks :)
So much good news above and also Patsy - congratulations on all the acceptances! But Kate T and PF! Wow! I bet you are chuffed :) I am pursuing Anansi for the second time so good to hear Fiona's news :)
I am using a Kindle more than I thought I would. I just love books so any format will do!
Thank you for the 'Best' info - was trying to find that yesterday... definitely for me.
@ Liz – Totally agree with you!
All the editors are very busy and not deliberately keeping us waiting. It must take up time to answer our queries about stories we sent ages ago, and to have to re read work they passed over but didn't reject the previous year. Having a cut off point, past which stories were automatically rejected would reduce that – and our frustration.
@ Sherri – You're welcome!
@ Alyson – Traipsing is good and it's a great word.
@ Michael – I'm not totally melted, it just feels that way.
@ Sheelagh – Well done on the anthology inclusion. I agree that hearing about other people's success and even rejections can be encouraging. It reminds us that both are part of the process.
@ Kate – Double congratulations! Well done for mastering the technology – I know it can be a bit daunting and irritating sometimes and YAY! for getting your first acceptance from TPF.
@ Sheelagh – Yes, we absolutely must celebrate any and all success!
@ Crafty Green Poet – I suspect most of us read more books than we can afford to buy new, however much we might want to support the authors that way. Libraries are a great alternative as at the very least the author will have that one sale and they may get lending rights too.
Well done for your successes!
@ Elizabeth – We had a wonderful time, thank you.
Well done for the poems and the Pocket Novel!
@ Meg – Competitions are great for experimenting with different styles and subjects. I'll do my best to find some interesting ones.
@ Eirin – I'm so pleased you find it useful and interesting. I too enjoy reading all the comments, learning what people are doing, hearing of success and generally getting to know other writers.
@ Marguerite – I wasn't sure about Kindles to start with, but I love mine now. I find that once I start reading I don't notice whether it's paper or a screen as I'm soon immersed n the story.
On the reading front, it's usually the paper copy for me as the kindle is on my laptop so not so transportable for me. I use the libraries a lot as I love them. Use them for writing sometimes as it helps me focus & stop wandering off to make a cuppa. & Patsy well done on your writing successes, brilliant to get an acceptance from TAB within the week, that must have a nice surprise
Really interesting to read all the comments. I like Anansi archive too. I've had one poem in their anthology, although it didn't actually win a prize. Still, that's encouraging. I also miss Secret Attic, and really hope that it will come back to life one day.
I heard about both of those outlets on this blog, so yes - I appreciate it too.
As for books, I don't get on with e-readers, and I buy most of my books second hand online from World of Books. I also use their Ziffit website/app to sell my books back - difficult for me - I hate parting with books, but at least somebody else gets a chance to enjoy the ones I sell.
Has anybody sold any xmas stories to Fiction Feast yet?
RJF
Hi Patsy!
I don't have Kindle Unlimited, but I buy most of my books on Amazon. In fact, I just recently read and reviewed one of yours (A Year and a Day). Really enjoyed it!
Question to you and other Womag writers: is a story more likely to get accepted if it is romantic? I have had two acceptances, both of them romance stories. But my other stories, which are about family and other topics, haven't been accepted yet. Is this typical? I've read stories that weren't about romance in women's magazines before, which is why I thought it would be okay to write about other (womag-appropriate) content.
Hi Patsy, thanks for all your hard work on this blog and for keeping it going. And well done on having such a lot of success with your stories - you are certainly prolific! After a spell in the writing doldrums I’ve been lucky enough to have had three stories published in fairly quick succession (with Scribble, Yours Fiction and Beagle North). Beagle North are due to run another competition from August, I believe. I’ve just written a suspense story and intend targeting the American mystery magazine market - I’ll need luck with that one! Glad to hear you had such a great time in Ireland - it’s certainly somewhere I’d like to go more often.
@ New Girl – Congratulations on being selected for the anthology!
@ RJF – Not Me. The one I've just sold them was a late autumn one.
@ Kathrin – I'm so glad you enjoyed the novel. Thanks very much for leaving a review. I've not seen it, but sometimes they take a while to appear.
In general I wouldn't say romances are more likely to be published. Personally, most of my womag sales haven't been romantic, and I'd say more of those which are published are in genres other than straightforward romance, although there are some of those too.
Having said that, if romance is what you're best at, that's the genre you're most likely to have success with.
@ Alan – Ireland was wonderful. I'd like to go more often myself!
Well done for your successes and good luck where it's needed.
Hi Patsy. I think it's clear from all the comments on here just how much we appreciate all the time and hard work you put into this blog. Not only do you give us such useful information and advice, but it is lovely to be able to hear everyone else's news. Congratulations to all those with successes to report this time!
@Kathrin - that's an interesting question about romances. And I don't have the answer! But most of what I submit tends to have family or female friendship or romance themes, and I think this reflects the mix in most magazines. Over time, I seem to write fewer 'serious' romances, though, and more often go the route of a gentle rom-com, which I enjoy. And I would definitely say that romance stories do not always have to feature characters in their twenties - mature romance is popular, too.
Thanks, Patsy. This blog is such an excellent resource. I've just had an acceptance from TPF after a rather dry spell.
@Kathrin - very few of my published womag stories have been romances. The majority of them have been cosy crime, followed by family stories. I agree with Patsy that the genre you're best at writing is where you'll have the most success.
@ Marian – Thanks, but the reason I ask for comments isn't so I feel appreciated. It's so I know what to post about, and so editors and competition organisers see it's read and are therefore more likely to share info with me, which I can pass on, and because asking questions or expressing opinions here means several people see them and answer or help, or whatever, and so others know they're not alone when they struggle to write or get rejections ... Stuff like that.
@ Wendy – Well done!
Hello Patsy! Good to hear you've had some time to yourself in Ireland. I've had a couple of PF acceptances (shorts) and of course rejections recently too. But it is helpful when an ed. gives you reasons why, so I appreciate that.
Am also wrestling with another serial but although fraught, have not yet given up.
Is it the hot weather, or what? Over-wordiness means I'm editing and re-editing far more than usual :-) All helpful suggestions welcomed!
With thanks, Penny.
Thank you for the helpful replies, Patsy, Eirin, and Liz! That's very interesting, and those are the types of stories I've written. I'll just keep trying and submitting.
@Patsy: The review is on the American Amazon site, which is maybe why you haven't seen it. It's also on GoodReads.
I have been meaning to get in touch to say a huge thank you Patsy. This is such a useful blog and as a result I have had a couple of stories published and am now in a routine of submitting for some of the competitions posted here. You are doing fantastic, selfless work! Thanks again. Philippa
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