I hope you've had a pleasant time during the festive period. Is it over for you now, or do you carry on until 12th night?
I'll be continuing to take things easyish until Saturday - then will be back to my normal writing and blogging routine. (Blog posts will be the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, with additional posts for breaking news, guest posts, or anything else which seems appropriate.) Until then, here are a couple of snippets of news.
Womag news
I had a message from Bauer (publishers of Take a Break's Fiction Feast, and other magazines) about invoices. I asked about this and have been assured we don't need to do anything new, it's just that the electronic paperwork might look a little different.
The People's Friend Fiction editor's blog contains details of the stories they're looking for, plus another hint about exciting news.
My news
The first novel in my cosy mystery series is ready for launch later this month and can be pre-ordered now. Currently a few people are reading ARC*s and I'm nervously waiting to find out what they think of it.
*Advance reader copies. These are books, usually ebooks, sent out to people who volunteer to read and leave an honest review when the book is released. The hope is that this will encourage others to buy it as well as increasing the book's visibility on Amazon. It's not something I've tried before, but is quite common both with Indie and traditional publishers.
Have you made any writing plans for the year ahead? Mine are to continue with my novel series (book 2 is currently with my lovely beta readers and I'm trying to decide which of two possible ideas to work on for book 3). I also plan to get back to writing short stories - both for womags and competitions. I've not written any since the summer, and miss doing them.
13 comments:
Many happy returns to you Patsy & to all the blog readers.
Congratulations on your latest book success, I have it on good authority that it's a great read!
In 2024 I intend to beat my own output record for 2023 & I'll be very happy with that.
But for now Christmas for me continues right up 6th midnight, I've taken to meeting up with some female friends on the 6th to celebrate Nollaig na Mna (Women's Christmas) or Little Christmas. It was an old tradition here that is regaining popularity & why not.
Happy New Year everyone! I like the idea of Women's Christmas!
Happy New Year to all. Looking forward to your new book, Patsy. I eagerly await TPF announcements :)
Happy New Year to everyone!
I’ve wimped out of setting specific writing plans after failing on my TPF quest last year.
My aim is to keep writing and to enjoy it. I have an annoying habit of putting pressure on myself and turning it into a chore. Anyone else? Probably just me!
Women’s Christmas sounds good!
HB
Happy new year to Patsy and everyone.
The daily mirror are now publishing short stories in their community page.
500 words and you need send a photo of yourself.
There's no fee.
I guess they'd want stories that reflect modern society in some way. They'd need to appeal to a newspaper readership of both sexes and sges.
I'll see what I have but I'm not sure if I have any that fit the bill.
Happy New Year, Patsy and all blog readers.
No writing plans for the year. I'll see where the fancy takes me.
Alyson
Happy New Year to everyone.
I have set myself a goal this year which is to try a pocket novel. I think it might be a challenge, but that's the plan anyway!
Thank you to Sharon for passing on the information about The Daily Mirror. I haven't got anything at the moment, but it would be another challenge.
Happy New Year one and all. I'm looking forward to starting writing again now the festivities are all but over. I'm determined to keep trying TPF and thank you Patsy for your advice on that subject which I really appreciate. Also want to try a few more competitions as a new challenge.
Good luck everyone with your writing endeavours in 2024.
Happy New Year to Patsy and all correspondents and readers of this blog. Wishing everyone much enjoyable time spent writing in 2024 and success for all.
My first aim this year is to finish a summer themed story that I put to one side over six months ago. Hopefully I’ll get a few more acceptances this year. Fingers crossed for a first with TPF!
@HB I also put pressure on myself, especially when I can’t get a sentence or paragraph to sound right. I end up going round in circles before coming back to what I wrote initially.
A happy new year, everyone.
Michael
Happy New Year Patsy, and to all the readers and contributor's of this blog, I hope 2024 is a good writing year for us.
I'm not making any particular writing goals this year, it will be, what it will be and I look forward to steering a steady course through it all.
Happy writing everyone :)
Happy New Year, Patsy and everyone else.
May this be a great writing year for all of us.
I really can't see the point of submitting to the Daily Mirror, though, if there's no fee. That might be okay for someone just starting out and wanting to get something published. But if you have a track record of selling to magazines and other outlets, it's not really a writing opportunity, IMO.
Sorry Liz if I've offended you.
Sometimes I spot projects that may appeal to readers of this blog. Of course, it may not appeal to all.
I sometimes submit my work to non- paid projects, as I have a lot of unsold material. It's good to see it being used, even if there's no fee involved. I have also donated work to charities.
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