Over To You

 Womag news

Here's another helpful blog post from Lucy at The People's Friend, this time with advice for success with our submissions there.

Sharon Boothroyd kindly shared this information as a comment to my last post –I've just heard that, due to changes at the magazine, the future of fiction in the monthly Your Cat is uncertain.

The former ed doesn't know if fiction will feature or not, so if anyone has any stories earmarked for there, it'd be a good idea to sub them elsewhere now.
I've contacted the current ed, and they haven't replied to my enquiry. I was passed onto the former ed instead, who explained the situation. (There's often useful information shared in comments, and I can't copy it all over, even if I remember, so it's worth catching up on those from the previous post when you read a new one.)

Do you have any womag news?

Any market news? Are you researching, writing, subbing? Had any acceptances or rejections? Still waiting to hear back on outstanding submissions? Do you have a question? Can you offer tips or encouragement to other writers?

Any other writing related news, questions and comments are also welcome.

Free entry writing competition news.

Thanks to Helen Yendall for links to this six word competition with book tokens as prizes, and this short story competition. Both close at the end of the month.

Feel free to use these photos as picture prompts. If you'd like written writing prompts, short exercises and story/scene suggestions then you might find this book useful.

Don't forget to check the submissions database for details of which magazines publish fiction under what terms, and how to submit.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. As well as allowing us all to share information, help and encourage each other, comments also show editors, competition organisers and others that the blog is read and will therefore be more likely to provide information for me to share with you.

My womag news

I've had two responses from TPF this week (one yes, one no) for stories submitted less than three months previously - which is a perfectly reasonable turn around time, so it looks as though things are improving. The acceptance was my 50th with that magazine. If you'd like to know even more about my writing life, you can find it here.

Why are stories rejected?

Lucy from The People's Friend has written a blog post about why stories may be rejected. (If you read it before 2.30 on Friday and were confused, you're not alone! I was too. As soon as I queried it with Lucy, the fiction editor, she replied to say she'd amend it to make things clearer.)

On Twitter (or whatever it's called now) TPF added, "Unpublished "Friend" authors receive automatic rejection responses. Published "Friend" authors always receive an email to confirm acceptance or rejection, on all submissions. Please never assume a story has been rejected, unless your assigned editor has confirmed."

Although Lucy's post was, of course, written with The Friend in mind, the information could be applied to any other publication. The word counts, tone, and everything else have to suit the publication, and submissions have to be made in accordance with the guidelines (see my submissions database for help with those). It's not enough to write a brilliant story – it must also be a good fit for that magazine. The best way to find out what the editor is looking for is to read a few current editions.

Don't forget that there are a lot of writers submitting to only a few magazines, and each magazine prints a limited number of stories – however many good ones they're sent.  

(The photo is a metaphor!)

Free entry writing competitions

Sorry, I've been pretty busy lately, including some VERY early starts photographing ships, so there's just a couple of free competitions and a random photograph of a Russian in Finland for you this week.

Free entry writing competitions

This short story competition offers €30 in books. The rules are a bit scant though, and I've no idea what the closing date is.

If you consider yourself working class, you can enter this competition from W&AYB. There's a big bundle of prizes on offer to the winner, including £200 cash. What's especially good about this one is that all entries will receive some feedback for free. If you're eligible then I reckon it's worth having a try just for that.

This competition is for first crime novels and offers a £10,000 advance as the prize. I have a newly completed crime novel, which I'm currently trying to find a publisher for, but sadly I don't think I'll be eligible.