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.
Free entry writing competition news
I'd love to hear your competition news.
Do you have writing tips to share, questions to ask, or suggestions for this blog?
21 comments:
Fabulous photo Patsy. I have no news at all other than I'm working very slowly on a spooky story for the Bella competition. I have been spending more time in the garden than writing this summer so I can't complain really.
Like Sheelagh I love the photo Patsy. I was so fed up when I heard from Lucy at PF that my summer stories - sent in well in advance and one following an appeal for stories - hadn’t even been read that I’ve been concentrating on other writing. The stories were all written for this summer, so I think all I can do is ask to withdraw them and tweak to take out the references that date them then resubmit. No idea whether that’s considered OK!
This morning I realised that I’ve had poems in quite a few anthologies published this year so have been adding them to my ALCS account. I only registered last year and was amazed when I received quite a good payment and a chunk of it was for a poetry book I was in - lovely surprise!
Thanks Patsy for your work on this blog, it’s a great resource.
I’m writing and submitting, but like others it feels like I’m submitting into a black hole at the moment! I’m new to this and wish I’d plucked up the courage to start years ago as it seems there used to be more opportunities.
I’m wondering if I should look into other markets, it looks like other also submit to international markets. Which leads me to a question…how do other go about reading stories previously published in magazines from outside the UK? I feel like I would need to get a taste of what has been published previously, but not sure how to get hold of non-UK publications. Sorry for the newbie question!
AH
Like Fiona, I was pleasantly surprised when I received my first ALCS payment. I didn't realise you could find out how that payment is broken down, though. I'd be very grateful if Fiona or anyone else could explain where to find that detail. Thank you! I've had some Christmas stories accepted recently, which makes me particularly happy as these are my absolute favourites to write. (I wrote them last Christmas and submitted them in April.) I also have a new Christmas-set mystery/suspense novel coming out in October and had to give the typset version a full read-through before it goes to proof-reader, so very excited about that. (It is called 'Closing In' by E.D.Thompson, published by Hachette, and is currently available for pre-order in trade paperback and e-book.) Thanks, as always, Patsy, for this monthly meeting place. Wishing everyone a productive end to the summer and many acceptances all round.
I've had a good few weeks - three short story acceptances plus the green light for a serial instalment (all TPF). I was particularly pleased to get an acceptance for a story written this year! My other acceptances this year have been for stories written in 2021 or 2020. I hardly wrote any fiction for the first half of this year, so it was great to have a 2022 story accepted.
@ Sheelagh – Is that Bella or Best?
There was a week in June when I spent more time in your garden than I did writing!
@ Fiona – Commiserations. I know just how you feel as she has a bunch of my summer stories (3,000 word ones, written specially for them and subbed as requested) which haven't been read. It's so disheartening.
I can't see why it wouldn't be OK to withdraw them and make adjustments. If she's not read them then it's as though you never subbed them, isn't it?
@ AH – It did use to be a bit easier when I started. There were more markets then, and we almost always got some kind of response to our submissions, so knew where we stood.
Do you belong to a library? If so you can register with them for online services, which include free access to some digital magazines. You can also subscribe to Readly. There's a cost involved, but it gives you access to most magazines which are available in a digital format (which seems to be all but the small presses.)
@ Eirin – ALCS is great once you've gone through the faff of joining. Perhaps it's simpler now, but I recall it being complicated and time consuming. Definitely worth it though.
I have seen info from them about how my payments are calculated but I didn't properly understand it, so I'd love an explanation too! If anyone fancies doing a guest post about that, please do get in touch!
@ Liz – That's great. Well done! It's good to know responses are trickling through. Hopefully more are on the way.
Well done on all acceptances, everyone.
As for markets abroad, they are shrinking for womag writers.
That's life in Australia does still publish fiction but they are re- prints, and the writer isn't paid for them again.
Allas lost their English translator, so unless you can write your story in Swedish, then it won't even be looked at.
Woman's World USA- I think some published stories are re-produced on a fan/ writer blog, where readers also add comments and feedback.
Bear in mind that this is a public arena, for all to see.
Personally, I would hate that!
If you've had fiction published in Allas, sometimes stories are re-produced in Hemmets mag and writers are sent a free copy - but the story isn't in English.
Again, writers aren't paid a second time for this.
I can access the Oz mags on Readly, the mag and newspaper app (around £8- £10 a month) but Ireland's own isn't on it and neither is the weekly TAB or TABFF.
If you are published in Ireland's Own, they post a complimentary copy for you.
If there are any other overseas paid markets, please let us all know!
Ah yes sorry, it is the Best 'spooky story' competition not Bella. I am also working on an entry for Ireland's Own Annual short story competition, closing date 30th September, there is however a €10 entry fee here but it has become a bit of a tradition with me to try to have something ready to send off. I made it to their anthology a couple of times when I first started to enter (& for which they pay you) but nothing in recent years. Still I am very fond of the ethos of Ireland's Own so happy to support it.
An idle thought - a new 365 ideas book matched with your photos - only thing is, it probably wouldn't work so well for Kindle :( also, you've probably got better things to do ;)
I have been getting my spooky together for Best, and already sent the My Weekly one. I am feeling like AH - wish I'd been in on this some years ago - so many magazines then. Too many have embraced celebrity (DON'T get me started...)
Got story coming out 31st Aug Woman’s weekly and had another acceptance from them. Sent off a couple to Stylist but unsure if anyone else had their work published by them. Entered the best spooky comp so keeping my fingers crossed. And sent a few to yours fiction (nothing published by them since last year) not holding my breath. Everything just seems so quiet on the WW front lately. Congrats to those with acceptances.
Charlie
I am supposed to be working on a serial for the People's friend but it's not going well. So the last three days I've been getting out in the garden in this much cooler air, and catching up with tasks such as chipping branches, and hacking back the ivy from above the pond. I've really enjoyed that, and it made my elbow/shoulder feel a lot better, bizarrely. Equally bizarrely I've managed to tweak my elbow again today by trying to scratch an itch in the middle of my shoulder blades. You can't win!
I too would like to know how you can find the breakdown of your ALC's payments.
Thanks for the feedback re tweaking my PF stories Patsy. Will get in touch with Lucy and give it a go! I was very spoilt in that I had a story published by PF pre-pandemic, which meant I was able to email in stories and was receiving very quick acceptances when the posted stories were piling up, unread, in their empty offices. Sent one to Lucy at 10.30 and had it accepted before 5pm!
Regarding ALCS, I’ve just looked at my statement - only one- and I have a very detailed page showing fees for photocopying poems from anthologies. These are classed as Government (?) and Higher Education and range from 2p up to £38.53 which was for photocopying in Denmark.
I also got audio fees for a Radio 4 poem rebroadcast in the Netherlands and Ireland, but I won’t get rich on that - 5p and £1.10!
The photocopying is the most detailed - it gives the titles of every book - but the rest of the actual fees for books are all together without any details.
For magazines they are divided into lifestyle (must be People’s Friend) and Humanities, Languages and Arts (probably Mslexia and other literary mags).
Not sure how that compares with anyone else.
Like everyone else, everything is very quiet for me and I haven't heard about any submissions. I'm also writing one for the Best competition, although I don't think I'm very good at spooky things, but I'm trying!
@ Sharon – Thanks for the info!
If anyone is interested in finding out more about these mags there are links and stuff in my submissions database (button for that at the top of the page).
@ Sheelagh – I guessed you meant Best, but thought I'd check in case there was another one I didn't know about.
Competitions are good for encouraging us to get on with stuff. They might be worth the entry fee for that alone if we're needing a bit of extra motivation.
@ Marguerite – I like that idea, but as you say the kindle version wouldn't look so good, and I suspect the paperback one would be very expensive.
Celebrity goss - aaaargh!!!!
@ Charlie – Congratulations on the sales.
I've never had any response from Stylist either to my subs or my requests for information about how long we should wait before assuming a rejection. I've not heard of anyone being rejected, so don't think they do that.
@ Bubble – Glad you enjoyed the gardening, but sorry about your serial woes.
@ Fiona – Asking Lucy how she'd like you to proceed is the best thing to do. Hopefully she'll be happy with your plan. If she is that might be a way forward for all of us.
@ Fiona – Thanks for sharing that. I'm going to take another look at my statement and see if I can work it out. I may have just taken one look and decided it looked too complicated to try! Wouldn't be the first time!
My latest news – I've had an update from TPF. Not for all my stories and except for one not an actual yes or no, but some are moving through the system. That's cheered me up a bit.
@ Marian – You must have been typing your comment at the same time as I was writing mine!
All we can do is try our best, isn't it?
Thanks Patsy and Sharon for the information on international markets. I'll have a look into Readly.
Sharon, just read your letter about competition terms and conditions in Writers' Forum - well done for highlighting this issue, hope you won the free subscription!
AH
Nothing new happening for me at the moment. I do have a story in the next Yours Fiction special, which I‘ve already mentioned as well as a Christmas story still out with them, fingers crossed. I also have a story that’s been with WW since the end of May. Like others have said, everything seems to be on a go slow this summer.
Thanks, Patsy, for all the info as always. Also, nice to hear everybody else’s news.
Michael D
Thanks, Fiona - I'll have another look and see what I can find out :)
Love the photo Patsy.
Congratulations to everyone who has had acceptances, and commiserations to those still waiting.
I feel very fortunate and very pleased to have had a recent PF short story acceptance.
@ AH – Readly seems to be excellent. The only snag I'm aware of is that it's not possible to download stuff to a laptop and read offline, so not much use to people who travel in a campervan and often don't have reliable internet.
@ Michael – I hope the go slow is going to speed up a little soon and that you get good news when it does.
@ Eirin – I looked at mine again and it makes a bit more sense now/
@ Elizabeth – Well done! It's good to be reminded that responses are coming through and we'll get our own answers eventually.
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