Last week I thought I was super organised, and ended up making two posts on the same day. No idea how I'll mess up this week, but it'll be in a different way!
You'll probably get all kinds of oddness from me from now until autumn (and I might not stop then!) as due to travelling I'll put things in posts and schedule them when I can, but they might get published before I've properly finished them off. Hopefully that'll be better than nothing.
It seems jolly cold for the time of year, so I'm sharing some summer sunshine.
Womag news
I was fortunate to have a story accepted by The People's Friend this week, and asked what season they're currently scheduling for. I was told that late summer and early autumn are still OK.
Publication opportunity
Thanks to Lindsay for this – "If you fancy a flash fiction challenge, Paragraph Planet publishes one 75-word story every day on the website. There's no payment but it can be a good way to kickstart your creativity. Each story must be exactly 75 words, including the title, and formatted as one paragraph. Submission information is on the website https://paragraphplanet.com/submission.php"
Next week, I'll have a fun, exclusive competition to win a book cover design, for a book you've finished and are waiting to publish, your current WIP, or one that's just a figment of your imagination.
19 comments:
Thanks Patsy, summer in the van sounds like lots of fun. Look forward to regular, irregular or multiple posts with lots of photos - next best to travelling myself.
Congratulations on your PF acceptance too. All quiet here.
Congratulations on TPF, Patsy. I am trying for the summer 'Best' as Sharon mentioned last week - thank you for that, Sharon. TPF still not in my orbit I think ;) Thanks to Lindsay as well - some of the challenges just get your imagination going. I was chuffed to have my FIRST email from Andrew Shaw saying... 'potentially'... 'on file'...,. Thanks to this blog, I am fully versed in rights and not rights ;) but when you are.. shall we say... mature?... there are only so many avenues left to try and so long to wait! Even if it comes to nothing, it's still another new experience for me.
Happy travelling, Patsy - it sounds like fun... and lots of writing (and photos?), eh?
That's wonderful news Marguerite (regardless of outcome) it's a good indicator of being on the right track with a magazine. Don't give up on TPF either, just keep sending them, you can always edit them down for resubmission elsewhere until you get the break & you will.
Thank you, Sheelagh. Again, this blog puts rejects vs acceptances into perspective. As for TPF, at least I'm up to 2 days for a rejection rather than 2 hours! ;)
Well done on all who have had acceptances and received positive news.
Well, my TPF rejects take around 3 days now, so I guess that's progress of sorts!
I have 2 Xmas stories try at TPF and then that's it there for a long while.
It can be mixed results with stories placed on file at WW.
Some are published fairly quickly and some take over 2 years.
If they're not uploaded onto the digital system, we're still free to sub them elsewhere.
Once we get into into May, I'll be busy subbing out Xmas stories.
Thanks, Patsy, and happy travelling. Look forward to seeing the photos.
Congratulations, Marguerite. It’s lovely just to have an acceptance, isn’t it!
Could someone post the details of the Best comp, please? I went to buy the mag yesterday, but there were none there!
HB
I'm not proud of myself, being an ex-teacher an'all, but I've only recently rejoined a library, after too long. All of these are available on Pressreader with a library card - I'm guessing in most areas of the country? bestfiction@hearst.co.uk ‘Summer fiction 2024’ in the title of the email by 2nd June 2024. 1200 words… theme of summer. There are lots of T&C but to the best of my knowledge, they DON'T take all rights just by virtue of sending a submission, unlike Prima. Good luck, HB :)
Thanks for the info, Marguerite.
I haven’t felt like writing lately. I am hoping having a theme and deadline will help.
HB
Enjoy your trip, Patsy.
Congratulations to everyone with acceptances.
Thanks Marguerite for the Best details.
Alyson
Congratulations to everyone who’s had acceptances and ‘maybes’. Rather quiet for me atm. I have two stories out with WW that are approaching the three month mark. (So here’s still hoping). I have another just about ready to go as well as working on another. Re Best’s competition: I still have an unfinished story that I started writing last summer, but was too long for their word count. I hope to finish it this year ready for next. (TPF maybe?).
Michael
I haven't subbed to any women's magazines for a while but I did sub a piece that was rejected by two womags to a publisher doing a call out and it was accepted for an anthology. My second acceptance in as as many weeks. Quite a novelty for me.
With the Best comp, the max length used to be 1, 200.
I'm not sure, but I think the length hasn't been mentioned in their recent competition T& C's, so I don't know.
Maybe I've missed it. It'd be good if someone could confirm the word count.
@ Sharon Yes the maximum length is 1200 words. I would love to enter a story with 'Summer' as the theme but unfortunately the competition is only open to UK residents. So best of luck all you 'Patsy's blog readers' resident in UK. I look forward to reading your story in Best anon.
Well done on the acceptance Patsy and I'm looking forward to hearing 'Tales from the Travelling Writer' in the coming months.
The winning £10k story has been published in TPF.
It covers an emotive subject.
It'll be interesting to hear other's thoughts on it.
@ Michael Did you know someone wrote a flattering letter to the editor of the Woman's Weekly (the 30th April edition) about your short story 'The Icing on the Cake'?
@ Sheelagh – I'll try not to make them too 'irregular'! ;-)
@ Marguerite – Congratulations on the maybe email. They might be vague, but they do prove your work is suitable for publication in the magazine.
I don't recommend people give up their rights, but it's absolutely your choice. The most important part is that you understand what it means and are willing to accept those terms, and aren't just signing without giving it any thought.
@ Sharon – It seems odd to consider a longer wait as progress, but I think I understand. Good luck with those Christmas stories.
@ HB - I'll see if I can get a photo or screenshot for the next post.
@ Alyson – Thanks. I'm sure we're going to have a great time.
@ Michael – Word counts are pesky things!
@ Lindsay - well done for those acceptances!
@ Maria – There will be many updates, I'm sure!
@ Sheelagh. I didn’t know, so thank you for telling me. I’ll try to order a back copy as I don’t always buy the weekly edition. (A shame that I didn’t purchase this one). It’s nice to learn that my story has gone down well, though I’m sure that others do as well.
Michael
@Michael If you have no luck I can email to Patsy & I'm sure she could forward to you. Yes it's great when someone takes the time to express their opinions too
Post a Comment