Please share writing related news – successes and failures, details of free entry writing competitions, updates about the womags you submit to, any other publication opportunities, and raise any queries you may have. All these things will help* other readers of the blog, and help me** to keep it going!
* It can be very reassuring to know we're not the only person who gets rejections, finds something confusing, or has doubts. It's also very encouraging when people we've heard of and know are real people, something like us, win competitions or get published.
** It takes time to find new free competitions every single week and it's very difficult to keep track of markets I don't submit to. Your support through sharing information, and leaving comments, makes a big difference. (Never worry you're telling me something I know – reminders are welcome!)
Free entry poetry competition
Thank you to Fiona for sending me the link to this very interesting poetry competition. The challenge is to write an artfully awful poem (I can do half of that!) There's £100 first prize.
Thank you to Fiona for sending me the link to this very interesting poetry competition. The challenge is to write an artfully awful poem (I can do half of that!) There's £100 first prize.
20 comments:
No successes or failures for me recently - all very quiet, except I have entered this flash fiction competition. The Scottish Book Trust runs a free-to-enter monthly competition for 50-word fiction on a set theme. This month's theme is 'a bookcase'. Closing date is 25 March. There are prizes in different age categories - adult prize is a mug - plus publication on the website. Details: www.scottishbooktrust.com/fifty-words-competitions/write-a-story-featuring-a-bookcase
No successes for me lately but I'm getting fussier about which competitions I enter. I recently entered two which I wanted to support but neither published longlists and one not even a shortlist - just the three prize winners. I think that's a bit shabby. Sure my name may not have been on those lists but somebody's should have been! Neither bothered to let unsuccessful entrants know when the announcement was out - it's not hard to do that! I've organised several competitions now and I always let people know.
I'm sorry this is for today: https://christmasspirits.org/submit/ but if you have a ready-to-go Christmassy ghost story...? It was in Writing Magazine but all too late to circulate widely. I did this from my reject from Dusty Attic. Thank you, Fiona and Patsy. Still not sure about poetry. I can do silly ones for friends' birthday cards but that's about it!
Thank you Patsy, as always, for the info, encouragement, advice and the gorgeous photos and thank you to all contributors. I have an obsession with lighthouses, so that particular photo is very much appreciated:) I had an acceptance from Andrew Shaw earlier in the week - my first since last summer, so I'm thrilled. I entered The People's Friend Poetry competition, although I'm not feeling very hopeful. I'm not sure when the results are likely to be announced. Enjoy the sunshine! Ally27
Well done to all with positive news. I haven't had any good news for months and sometimes, it's hard to keep going. I, too have entered TPF poetry comp but I've no idea when the results will be announced. I don't think my entry will get anywhere. Anyway. I've also submitted to poems to kindred spirit mag. If accepted, they publish them on a reader's contribution page. There's no payment.
I’d love to be able to write poetry - I have tried, but it just doesn’t seem to be me!
I had some good news yesterday with an acceptance from The People’s Friend. I’d actually had another story accepted a couple of weeks ago. They’d been submitted quite a time apart, but are both summer stories, so I’m the proof stories are read when they are needed, which I hope is inspiration for others because, before that, things had been really quiet for me!
For those wanting to know what to send to TPF this was on Twitter this week:
Here's a shout out from Fiction Ed Lucy!
She is looking for stories for July onwards for the Special and June onwards for the weekly. Across all genres and here are the word counts.
1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500 and 4000.
I have sold them a couple of summer stories but they always need 'anytime' ones.
Alyson
@ Suzan – Thanks for the reminder! I'm sure I'm not the only one who keeps forgetting that competition, so I'll add it into a future post.
@ Lindsay – It does seem a shame not to announce the long and short lists (and doing so would give them free publicity as many people on the lists would share their success)
@ Marguerite – Ooh, thanks. I probably do have a Christmas ghost story lying about on my hard drive somewhere!
@ Ally27 – I'm glad you like the lighthouse photo. The public car park right by it allows campervans to stay overnight for a donation to maintain the area - we've stayed a couple of times and probably will again.
@ Sharon – You're ahead of me in that competition, as I forgot about my partly completed entry until it was too late.
I've never heard of Kindred Spirit magazine!
@ Marian - well done on the acceptances.
@ Alyson - Our posts must have crossed.
Thanks for the TPF update.
I suppose that means my Easter and spring ones aren't going to be used. I don't have a problem with that, but I so wish she'd reject those she doesn't want.
The Xmas spirit ghost story project -the closing date is today, Saturday, 15 March, so that's me out. I had a spare Xmas ghost story, at the correct length, to submit as well!
Why not send it then, Sharon?
Thanks as usual for the info, Patsy, and to others who also provide useful information. I had an acceptance from Andrew Shaw recently. Story to be published in June, so not being placed on file. (Been away on holiday, and like somebody mentioned a while ago, my phone also won’t allow me to send messages to the blog.) Nice to read about other people’s news and successes.
Interesting to read about the competitions, but as they’re almost always themed, I don’t usually have anything suitable at that particular time.
As I’m not the most computer savvy person, I don’t know how to drag files to entry forms etc. Call me silly, but I don’t understand when they say not to include your name or personal details on submissions. How do they contact you if you win?
Michael
Michael, if you have one where you have 'submit' at the bottom of the page, further up, there is an area where they want you to 'put' your story. If you click positively on this, your documents folders should alll magically appear, whether be desktop, documents or a named drive (C, D, USB drive). You then click positively on your named story and... there it is, uploaded! You've already entered all your name and contact details. I hope this is not as clear as mud but a lot clearer? :)
@Marguerite. Thanks for that. I’ll try it in future.
Michael
Congrats to those successes and thanks patsy for this blog! I too had an acceptance from Andrew Shaw last week (a story of mine he had on file since 2023) publishing in June so never give up as there is always hope!
Charlie
Later, I had a look at the t&C's for the Xmas spirit project and I wasn't happy with them. I withdrew all of my stories from WW, as he'd hung on to them for 2-3 years without publishing them. I'm afraid it's put me off subbing to them again. I'm not a fan of this reserve list system at all.
Thanks to Patsy and everyone. Its nice to hear what people are up to writing wise. I had one of Andrew Shaw's provisional acceptances but it's encouraging to hear that even stories that he's had ages may eventually see the light of day. I've entered the TPF poetry competition. I think the closing date was late February so perhaps we will hear who the winner is soon. Be nice if it was one of us.
Lovely reading everyone’s news! I’ve had a couple of summer stories accepted by TPF, but mainly I’ve been doing poetry. I’ve sent off my entry for the best bad competition and whether or not it wins, my husband and sister loved reading it and it was so much fun to write that I consider that definitely worth the effort!
I'm currently working on a writing project that will hopefully be taken on by a publisher here in Australia. The publisher is interested in the concept, so hopefully the finished product won't disappoint! I have another couple of weeks or so before I submit it, so am flat out. If it all works out, it should come to fruition later this year.
I've had a couple of womag writers message me to ask if I'm writing for TPF again, following last year's huha over the ebooks. The answer is yes. I decided to start writing for them again in November, basically because I missed writing cosy crime and feelgood fiction, and it had quickly become apparent that the only person losing out by my not writing for them was me. There were a couple of other, more personal reasons too. While I know I don't have to explain all this to anyone, I was very public in my criticism in August, hence the interest from writers now my name is appearing in the magazine again. Anyway, since returning, I've had three stories accepted and the go-ahead for a serial, so all steam ahead! Congrats to everyone else with acceptances and good luck to those waiting on competition results. Liz
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