Hot, hot, hot

It's been very hot and I've been very busy working on my latest novel – which is why there's only a short post today.  By way of apology, I've made something to cool you down. The photo is a clue!

Other publication opportunities

Thanks to Alyson for sending me the link to Flame Tree Fiction. Definitely not womag and a bit niche, but it is a paying market.

Something random!

Ever wanted to give your character a really wacky name, but weren't sure anyone could actually be called that? Here's a site which allows you to check whether a name would be legal in the UK. Thanks to Charlie for sending the link.

Ant thanks to Marguerite for this link for plausible sounding landline numbers which aren't actually in use.

Summer writing sanctuary

Thanks (again!) to Alyson for sharing the details of this free summer writing sanctuary.  Does it look like something you'd like to participate in?

I'm back!

I'm back home from my travels for a while – although obviously I reserve the right to dash off somewhere at a moment's notice. Unless that happens, and probably even if it does, the blog will return to regular weekly posts with various free opportunities for writers, and womag news when there is any.

Free entry writing competitions

Protopian Prize is for optimistic stories set in the future. They should be 500 to 6,000 words. There's a $5,000 prize in each category, plus publication.

Thanks to Dee for sending these details. As she says, both the competition on the New Writers website look interesting. Competition open to UK residents only.

Green Dragon Guild of London Poetry Prize 2026

Deadline: 23.59 (UK time) on Wednesday 29 July 2026

• Entry Fee: FREE
• Prizes: The winning entrant will receive: 1. Cash prize of £100; 2. Your work set to music by composer David Yardley and performed by professional musicians at the “Of Carols & Chimeras” concert on Friday 20 November 2026; 3. Complimentary tickets to the concert; 4. Standard 50% royalties from any future performances or recordings of the musical work that uses your lyrics
• Word Limit: 50 lines
• Theme: Chimeras
• Category: Poetry Competitions

Other (ie NOT womag) publication opportunities 

Story Unlikely are accepting submissions until 14th October. They pay 8 cents a word with a maximum payout of $350 (or 1 cent a word for reprints). They consider any genre, but don't want anything excessive.

My news

I have a new book out! (Yes, I'm back at that again too.)

A brief break from blogging

This is the brie I bought the day we arrived in France. We're not allowed to bring dairy products back, so I'm I have work to do. Delicious work.

Sorry for the cheesy pun in the title, and that there's not much of a post from me today. I'll be back home next week, and things will be back to what passes for normal round here.

Please chat amongst yourselves – especially if you have good news to share, or cheese based jokes, puns, and general remarks.

Last minute update! I've been alerted to the fact Press Gazette have published an article on TABFF's use of AI. It appears this blog, and those who comment here, are the top source of information on the subject!

Bonjour!

We're in France on another trip in the van. A short one, mainly for Gary's work this time. I don't think the one hour time difference is quite enough to account for me having lost all track of time and not getting around to writing a post. The lack of good news probably also has something to do with it. (If you missed the latest bad news, you can find it here.)

This morning I had a message from someone who has been writing womag type stories for years and is thinking of putting them into a collection to sell on Amazon. One of her reasons is she feels AI stories are taking over, and she'll find it even harder to get them published, so may as well try herself. As I've produced lots of such books myself, she wondered if I had any tips. Well yes. The first is, don't expect high sales. Secondly, it's not for everyone – and most definitely not something you 'should' do unless you actually want to. Thirdly, here's how I did it.

This post isn't just for her – it's for all of us wondering whether AI will make our human creativity worthless, and what we can do with our existing stories and any we may write in the future. What do you think? Are their still readers for short stories written by humans, and if so, how do we reach them?

Please note – I only know of one womag market using AI to 'create' stories. As far as I know, the other publishers have not decided to take this route, and still do value human creativity, and those who use it to produce content for them.

The future of TAB's Fiction Feast

Here's an email I received today. As I told Rebecca I wished to share any information received from her on this blog, and I've not been asked to keep this to myself, I'm sharing it here.

Hi Patsy

I hope you’re keeping well.

 

We were in touch recently to let you know about the pause in commissioning on Fiction Feast, and I wanted to share a further note with you as several writers have asked me about what will happen to the magazine.

 

We have been reviewing how best to support its long-term future and exploring opportunities in our current editorial and operational approach. 

 

So, the July issue of Fiction Feast has been created using a combination of stories – some writer commissions and some in-house creations from the Fiction Feast team. 

 

We have also introduced the use of AI tools exclusively for our in-house stories, so our editorial team has more time to do what they do best and focus on quality and creativity.  And we will be exploring this further in the coming weeks.

 

Again, I wanted to tell you how much we all value the enormous contribution you have made to Fiction Feast, and your kind words to the team.

 

Wishing you all the best for the future.

Rebecca

Update - This blog post has now been linked to in an article on the subject of AI in TABFF. As that might mean new readers finding the blog, I'd like to point out that it regularly contains information on writing fiction for magazines, usually has links to free entry writing competitions, and even stuff about me and my writing. If you're new here, welcome! I generally post on Saturdays. If you have questions or would like to add to the conversations, please do so in the comments.