A change to the blog - plus the usual free comps and womag news

The photos are all from trips in the mobile writing retreat, as I've not been anywhere for AGES and am missing it.

There still seems to be an issue with subscribing to this blog. People report they can do it (by using the link in the right hand column, just above the links to all my lovely books!) but they get a scary message saying it's insecure and that their email address can be seen by anyone. I don't think that's the case – I don't have access to any details about my subscribers. I don't even know how many there are! I've subscribed myself to test it out and other than the warning there have been no problems. However I totally understand people being reluctant to click on it.

To make things easier for non subscribers I'm going to try posting regularly, every Saturday morning. That will mean some posts are rather long, and others light on information, but at least you'll know when to look for what I do have.

In case you're wondering – the only advantage to subscribing is that you get an email when there's a new post. You don't need to subscribe to see posts or comments, or to comment yourself, and subscribing doesn't benefit me or the blog in any way. (If you want to help the blog, please leave comments, share info or tell others who might be interested that it's here.)

This issue doesn't apply to my newsletter. You're welcome to sign up for that if you'd like updates on my writing.

Free to enter writing competitions

It's not all that often getting a rejection can be seen as an advantage, but it can happen. If it's a poem you've had rejected then you might like to enter it into this competition which has a $100 prize. (I'm sure any poetry I submitted would get rejected, but as I've not written any in a very long time, I'm not eligible.)

There's $1,000 on offer for the winner of this new media competition. (Usually anything I consider current is old hat, so I'm going to pass.)

This themed short story competition has a £100 prize. (I've already sent in my entry.)

Storyhouse are running an animal themed non-fiction writing competitions, for unpublished writers, each with a $200 prize. (I'm not eligible - otherwise I'd be very tempted to have a go.)

Here's a competition for comedy horror. The prize is $750. (I don't think this is one for me.)

Publication opportunities

From The Horse's Mouth accept submissions of just about anything – videos and photos as well as writing. I don't think there's a fee.

Storyhouse welcome submissions from unpublished authors. No fee appears to be offered.

Although I don't personally submit work where's no fee, I know that some people are happy to do this occasionally, so I'll post details of such opportunities when I find them. I'll also look out for paying markets.

Womag news

I did update my last post with a link to this blog post from Lucy at The People's Friend. All those who've already had work accepted by TPF, have had an editor assigned to them, and currently have five or more stories under consideration should contact that editor before submitting anything else.

The procedure for those who've not yet been published by TPF, or who have fewer than five stories waiting for a response is unchanged.