Thanks to Alyson for telling me about this call for short stories on the theme of Magi. In theory this is a paying market, but don't expect to earn much, if anything. Anthologies don't tend to sell well, the royalties will be split between the publisher and all other contributors, and they don't pay out until you've earned at least £10. Still, money isn't the only reason for writing and submitting work.
Free entry writing competition news
I'm the runner up in Best's Valentine's competition. I'm not telling you that just to brag, but also to remind you that real people do win these things, so it's worth having a go.
Thanks to Marguerite for the reminder about this gothic short story competition.
The photos were taken on a recent day out at Mottisfont Abbey. There was cake!
Congratulations on the Best win, Patsy! It's a great boost isn't it. I was a runner up a couple of years ago - they don't seem to pick you a second time though, but I often enter as it makes me write a new story.
ReplyDeleteThe Bridge House anothology is unlikely to pay anything but getting a story selected is also a great boost to your confidence. I had stories in several many many years ago now and met writing friends through the experience.
Alyson
Congratulations, Patsy! It does give you a boost, doesn't it? :) Thank you, Alyson. Anthologies are definitely a way in, although, yes, limitations. I am at the tail end of my submission for Rayne Hall's 'exteremely cold weather' I mentioned a couple of months ago:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.raynehall.com/writing-contests?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
deadline 15th February - no AI - don't get me started!
Well done, Patsy! I’m looking forward to reading your story. Like Alyson, I once had success with Best and although I’ve never come close since, I always enter as there’s nothing like having a deadline to encourage you to come up with a story!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's lovely news, Patsy. I really look forward to reading it!
ReplyDelete@ Alyson. I was lucky to be runner up in the Best story competition a couple of years ago, and then again in summer 24, so it can happen twice...
I really like the Best competition because of the fact there's a theme and a fairly tight deadline. I'm guessing the next one will be a "furry friends" type one, which isn't really my thing.
I have a friend who won the Best competition twice in a row... but she submitted with a different name (and email address) the second time. Her story was great, but I did wonder at the time if she'd have won twice using her own name. 🤔
Congratulations Patsy. I haven't heard, so mine will be sent elsewhere. I'd like to enter the cold weather story comp but I've found substack very difficult to navigate. I don't really understand substack but I'm not a bright young thing any more!
ReplyDeleteThat link has an email address, Sharon. It also tells you how to head it. You don't do it through substack - hope that helps :)
DeleteCongratulations Patsy, it's lovely news and a great boost for all of us on the blog. Thanks also to all who have submitted competition details, and good luck to all who enter.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Patsy! I shall look out for your story in Best. I'm going to try to have something ready to enter in the spooky one later in the year.
ReplyDeleteWell done Patsy. I was a runner-up a couple of years ago with a Christmas story but haven't had any luck since in spite of a couple of attempts. I'll probably keep trying. Wouldn't fancy submitting under a different name. Could get complicated with bank account details for one thing.
ReplyDelete@ Alyson – Yes, being selected would be a boost to the writer's confidence. Plus, as with competitions, having a theme and a deadline can motivate us to try something different and actually finish it.
ReplyDelete@ Marguerite – Oh, thanks for reminding me about that one. I planned to give it a try, but hadn't got round to inventing a plot. I'll get thinking.
@ Marian – Yes, deadlines are powerful things!
@ Anonymous – Impossible to know for sure, but I imagine they'd prefer different winners to the same person over and over.
@ Sharon – I don't understand substack at all, and hadn't even realised it was a substack link! Fortunately, as Marguerite says, we don't have to use the platform to enter.
@ Elizabeth – It makes me happy each time 'one of us' has success, and it's great to know others feel the same way.
@ Suzan – It's very likely they'll have another spooky competition, but if they don't I'm sure someone else will.
@ Sue - I think your comment arrived while I was writing mine.
ReplyDeleteIf it was a couple of years ago, there's probably no advantage in making things complicated with a pen name.
I left a comment about this a few posts ago but has anyone heard the results of the Irish country mag comp? I assume that if we haven't heard back, it's a no.
ReplyDelete@ Sharon – I thought it only closed last week?
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Patsy - that's great! Liz
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Patsy.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I was fortunate to be runner up in the Best Christmas competition and then won the following Valentine’s comp. Nothing since, but still trying for a hat trick…
HB
Well done Patsy, that's brilliant news & thanks to Alyson & Marguerite for the competition info. I was away for a couple of days & as I can no longer post a comment from my phone for some bizarre & unknown reason I have to wait until I'm reunited with my laptop.
ReplyDelete@Sharon Irish Country magazine will definitely send you an email when they have chosen the winner
Congratulations, Patsy, on your Best competition success! Like everyone else, I really enjoy hearing of my on-line friends doing well, partly because it's good news for them, but also because it makes the opportunities out there seem more real and achievable for all of us. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the update on the Irish country mag comp. I'm not hopeful. Good luck to all who entered.
ReplyDeleteYour Best story made me chuckle, Patsy! Many congratulations.
ReplyDelete(And I see I was wrong with my "furry friends" prediction. The next competition is for a crime/thriller story...)
Thanks to everyone who said they had won twice or knew of someone who had with Best magazine - gives me more incentive to try again! As Ruth says next comp is crime/thriller in 1200 words.
ReplyDeleteThis was from Alyson
DeleteJust read your story, Patsy! Very good.
ReplyDeleteAlyson
@ Maisie Love your quirky cat story in this weeks Woman's Weekly.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sheelagh. I'm a full signed-up crazy cat lady! 🐈
ReplyDeleteHi Patsy,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this is an appropriate query for this site, but I'll fire ahead & see!
My query concerns the copyright position of a short story I had published around 30 years ago, in a possibly now defunct 'magazine'.
My short story was one of a number of winners of a regular competition run by a quarterly UK publication called "Raconteur" magazine, (which was in fact not a magazine but a paperback book!). My story appeared in one of their 1995 issues and I received a monetary prize.
Excerpt from the conditions of entry to the competition:
"By entering the competition authors will be deemed to have offered only first European serial rights for publication. All published stories are also offered to the Royal National Institute for the Blind for translation into Braille and recorded for their talking books library. NO FEES ARE CHARGED OR PAID FOR THIS
SERVICE".
I don't know if "Raconteur" still exists. I've googled it, but can find no trace.
I have no idea whether not the RNIB ever published the story in Braille or recorded it as a talking book.
My question is, do I hold copyright on this story? Would I be within my rights to submit this story now for publication? or as an entry for competitions etc?
Or failing that, what if I were to revise it very slightly - say change the odd word here and there? Would that make any difference?
Apologies for the length of this query! Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks.
@Liz - thank you.
ReplyDelete@ HB - It does seem as though it's still worth entering if we've previously won or been a runner up.
@ Sheelagh - technology is weird sometimes!
@ Eirin –I know what you mean about real opportunities.
@ Ruth – Thank you!
@ Alyson – I wouldn't be surprised if they have a furry friends one some time this year.
@ Maisie - Congratulations - and I like the fact you embrace your crazy cat lady status and use it in your writing!
@ Nancy – I'm glad you've kept info on the terms of entry! Those rights mean you could offer first rights in other areas - if anybody actually asked for those now (with digital publication, that's not now very likely).. You can't offer worldwide first rights, but you can offer the story anywhere which doesn't require first rights, or enter it in any competition. which doesn't require unpublished entries, or self publish.
You do hold copyright, just not first European rights, braille rights, or talking book rights.
It doesn't matter whether the magazine still exists. If it doesn't then the publisher might, or it may have been bought out and your first European rights with it. Whatever the situation, the rights you've given up don't revert to you unless there's a contract stating that. It doesn't matter whether RNIB published - they have the right to do so and theoretically still could.
Revising the story slightly makes no difference at all. It's fine to do that before subbing it somewhere which accepts previously published work, but a revised version of that story doesn't count as a new piece of work.
Many thanks for all that info Patsy. Very informative🙂
DeleteSo I could still submit my story within Europe to any market which accepts previously published stories?
I can also submit to any market outside Europe (English speaking I presume) which requires stories to be unpublished? Presumably I should, in such cases, point out that my story has been previously published - but in the UK?
@ Nancy - not quite. It has been published, so you can't sub / enter anywhere which requires unpublished work. What you could do is offer first American rights, first Australian rights etc. It used to be a lot more common for magazines to only require publishing rights for the country in which the magazine was based. It's now rare - probably due to digital publishing.
ReplyDeleteIf you're at all unsure about whether the rights you can offer match with the requirements of where you're submitting to, it's a very good idea to include a not clarifying the position, so the editor can make an informed decision. I suggest naming the publication, stating the date it was published, and stating which rights were sold.
Thanks once again for that further clarification. The whole copyright issue is quite confusing - or is that just me?! Yes, if I do submit the story anywhere,! I will make a point of including its publication history, so no one is under any misapprehension as to its publication status. Many thanks for your help - and for your patience!🙂
Delete