This competition is run by the Scottish Mental Health Festival, but is open to all. They want fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction on the theme of 'comfort & disturb'. Shortlisted entrants will be invited to read at the awards ceremony (pretty sure that will be optional). The shortlisted and winning pieces of writing will also be published in an illustrated print and digital book.
Thanks to Marguerite for this short story competition. The theme is heat wave and there's just a couple of weeks left to get your entry in and possibly win an Amazon voucher.
Thanks to Alyson for this short story competition with £100 prize.
Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for the info that Scribble magazine have writing competitions which are free to enter for their subscribers, and that The Oldie magazine have a regular free poetry competition with a £25 prize.
New blog feature!
Here's a discussion point, hardly at all intended to justify littering the blog with my travel photos!
Do you think writing is like peeping in through a window, or walking straight through the doorway?
12 comments:
My thoughts on a philosophical Saturday: As a writer, maybe you are peeping through a window but allowing the reader to walk through the doorway — it is, after all, their imagination that will complete the world you've invited them into. (Don't finish a sentence with a preposition!) Thank you to Alyson and Sharon — more things to explore. I tried to grow wisteria once :(
I'm not sure how many people here submit to the US magazine Woman's World, but it's been announced this week that its stablemate, First for Women, is being closed down, and its subscribers moved across to Woman's World (if they want to). There have been redundancies from Woman's World as well as First for Woman, among them Sienna Sullivan, one of the two editors who worked on the WW fiction (as well as some of the features). It's unclear as yet what this means for the two fiction slots in Woman's World, but Woman's World has seemed to be in chaos for months now, with stories appearing in the magazine before the writers had been told their story had been accepted. As always, I feel sorry for the staff who remain after a restructure, because they always have to do more with less.
Thanks for the update Liz.
Platinum mag has recently featured fiction but it's a novel extract.
That's life in Australia has started the fast fiction slot again after a pause but I don't know if the story is a reprint or not.
If anyone is interested in writing nostalgia/ memory pieces, Best of British monthly mag want around 800 words, with photos. One photo must be a headshot of yourself. If it's accepted, they pay £20.
@ Marguerite – Oooh, I really like that!
@ Liz – Oh dear. I don't sub there, but the loss of a market is never good news for us writers, and as you say it's not good for the staff either, whether they loose their jobs, or hang on to them.
@ Sharon – Good news that some mags are introducing / bringing back fiction. Even if we can't sub due to it being novel extracts or reprints, it suggests they know the readers want fiction.
Thanks for the info on Best of British too.
I hope that both the writer and the reader go through the door for a full, immersive experience.
Thanks, Patsy
Marguerite, I think you pitched that to perfection!
HB
I'm thinking of when I read The Wishing Chair and The Faraway Tree: Enid invited me in and my imagination made that world. I think there was the occasional line drawing in the book. Thank you, HB 😊. I'm guessing we will all have different 'views' of those worlds. Interesting discussion, Patsy!
Thanks Patsy & all for competition info. Love that photo & Marguerite's interpretation.
The June issue of The Simple Things is asking for readers to submit microfiction (300 words). There's no money or prize (that I can see), but the best submissions will be published in next June's issue of The Simple Things. See the mag for more details. The Simple Things is a great mag that includes a commissioned short story in every issue. They're more literary than in the womags, but I've really enjoyed several of them.
Thank you so much for all the information and discussion. It’s very interesting to learn what’s happening in the writing world and I’m so grateful to everyone for sharing what they know.
I have submitted to Woman’s World, but never got anywhere!
The simple things magazine might be great mag but it's quite expensive, isn't it? The last time I saw it in smiths, it was around £6. Until it appears on readly, I'm afraid it's something I will hesitate to buy. I've glanced at the short stories and yes, there are very literary, so not my writing style. I write pacy material for the commercial market.
I've no idea what The Simple Things costs as I've never seen a print copy. It's available digitally on Libby via my local library group. I also enjoy listening to The Simple Things' seasonal podcasts. I read an article recently about how young people are embracing luxury and indie mags at a time when commercial magazine circulation is falling. Apparently, the spines are really important, as young people want the magazines to look good on their shelves. As for the stories, I enjoy reading some literary fiction as well as commercial fiction, and I think a lot of the micro/flash fiction is very clever. I keep meaning to have a go at Furious Fiction one month, but never do.
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