Apologies for half a post last week! Hopefully that was better than nothing. I'm still in Scotland. As you can see, there are plenty of distractions.
Free to enter writing competitions.
Thanks to Fiona for this poetry and spoken word competition. We're asked to write pieces using some of the items from 'the extraordinary collections of renowned British architect Sir John Soane' as prompts. As Fiona says 'it's a bit different, but might be of interest to some'. There's a total prize pot of £2,000 and shortlisted entrants get a digital certificate.
And here's the link to the Scottish castle retreat she mentioned in a comment to last week's post. It's currently closed to submissions. I'll do my best to post a link when it re-opens.
Calls for submissions
Thanks to Marguerite for sharing the link to Flame Tree Publishing. They regularly open to fantasy type submissions. Do check the website for details, as they're very specific and decidedly niche in their requirements.
The People's Friend are looking for more pocket novels. The requirements are –
37,000 - 38,000 words.
Single or dual VPs.
Present or past tense.Any genre, but PNs still to contain PF tone.Payment is £300.Email synopsis and first chapter to Tracey Steel: tsteel@dcthomson.co.uk
My news
All of my Slightly Spooky Stories short story ebook collections are currently on sale for 99p.
16 comments:
This is just a quick thank you to Marguerite for the information about ALCS. My work was accepted when I followed your advice to include it in Books rather than Magazines.
Good :) Result! Now we await what March might have in store...?😉 We can always hope! I repeat what I've said already, I was stunned by the payout from stories printed in Secret Attic, simply because they had the ISSN number.
Thank you, Fiona and Patsy for the comps and ideas. I have been waiting... and waiting... for this one: https://weirdchristmas.com/2025/10/30/announcing-the-eighth-annual-weird-christmas-flash-fiction-conthology/ but now it's changed! They are doing an anthology and each included piece will receive payment. I try each year, but hey... Disappointed not to have featured in the Crowvus ghost story list but I have had good luck twice with them already this year, so can't complain. Ups and downs... that's life. Currently trying for 'Best' and also Toasted Cheese.
Thanks for all the info and comps. As I don't know what they mean by a weird Christmas, I'm hesitant about trying it.
Just a reminder that the large print publishers don't pay the £300 fee any more with PN's.
I've also entered the best Xmas comp and I'm waiting for the results from Scribble.
I'll try and write some new Xmas stories in the run up to Xmas, for next year. It's better to write them in November and December!
Great pics Patsy, hope you've been sampling those nice whiskeys to keep the chills at bay 😀. No news here, plodding along nicely
Thanx, Patsy. Hope you are having a good time in Scotland.
Thank you, Marguerite for the weird Christmas link. I've entered unsuccessfully in the past too! Happy to try again :)
Re pocket novels, the large print publishers now pay royalties if they accept a pocket novel and friends have earned nearly the flat rate fee of £300 already and royalties continue to pay...
Alyson
I've never claimed ALCS on work I had published on Secret Attic website, and I had quite a few stories on there. @marguerite... please could you tell me the ISSN, so that I can clain for them all before the March payout? Thank you so much!
Rummaging in my notebooks (I keep them all!), I found I submitted them on the ALCS site in August 2024. When I looked this year, there seems to be a limit on 'articles' - and they seem to define them in a pdf but I'm unsure whether short stories are articles? I'm sure I could back a good couple of years when I did it, not just the whole of 'last year' which seems to be there now. I'm unclear. Nevertheless, good luck! Fictionette: ISSN: 29771447 and Secret Attic: ISSN: 2755161X. Just checked these against my ALCS log in. All correct.🙂
Thanks so much, Marguerite. I'll have a go!
I could submit three stories from 2022, They wouldn't let me submit the ones from further back than that - fair enough, I guess! :)
I, too, would encourage anyone with anything published in the mags in the past three years to submit a list to ALCS - this is money to which you are entitled! Loved the whisky casks pic - a hot toddy with thick slice of lemon studded with cloves is a delicious winter warmer.
Good! I wrote a long and convoluted reply and my wretched tablet let me down again (#hatenewtech!). The gist of it was by all means send them an email. They personally respond to queries. My recent one was about could I claim for letters with a title.(WM). Although they said people didn't in general, there was nothing to stop me. Wading through SA emails, I found 19.2.22 which stated that from Issue 26, that ISSN would be active. Previous ones would not have counted anyway. Anyways, the flip side of all that was I had to do a self-assessment 😧- a steep learning curve! Hope you get something from it, Maisie, but again, I think there might be a deadline of this month?
Always love seeing what pics you’ve got to share with us, Patsy. A great selection as usual - thank you.
I’ve just been to the Scottish Wildlife Trust Words of the Wild competition results in the Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Didn’t win my section but it was a lovely event and pleased to be a finalist. Certificate and lovely gifts plus contribution towards travel and a few days staying with friends - none of which would have happened without writing and sending off my entry. Writing has a lot of hidden benefits I think!
All the best to everyone sending off work or entering competitions this week.
Well done to all with positive news.
Scotland's a great place to still be in!
Thanks to all for the comps.
Lovely to see the photos of your travels, Patsy. Hope you found time for sampling! 🥴
HB
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