Dead cheap!

Today's treat (in addition to the bargain book mentioned below) is some coloured sticks. You weren't expecting that, were you?

Free entry writing competition news

I entered the tree to my door Valentine's competition, and got an acknowledgement wishing me luck. Then I got another email thanking me foe entering and spotted the words 'We regret to inform you'. I thought it was going to say I hadn't won, but it actually said they've decided not to run the competition. That's much worse! I'm rather cross, as I wrote something specifically after seeing the competition advertised on their site.

Story Glory has a free monthly fiction competition. You have to create an account with them, but it's free to do that. The prize this month is publication and a book. From next month there will be a choice of a book or Amazon voucher.

Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for this nice sounding writing competition with eight cash prizes. They're looking for a piece of fiction, non-fiction or 'something in between' of up to 1,000 words on how you see the world. Anyone can enter. Closing date is Easter Sunday. If you've not entered a competition before, on account of feeling a bit apprehensive, this might be a good one to try.

Call for submissions

Thanks to Alyson Hilbourne for passing on this from Bridge House Publishing. The theme is 'Room at the Inn' and you have between 1,000 and 5,000 words to create something for inclusion in the anthology. In theory you could earn royalties, but don't count on it.

My news

My romantic murder mystery Acting Like A Killer is currently on sale for 99p / 99c. I think that's dead cheap! ;-) Anything you can do to help spread the word will be greatly appreciated.

Blue sky thinking

Free entry writing competitions.

The Jim Baen memorial short story competition is for 'a short story of no more than 8,000 words, that shows the near future (no more than about 50-60 years out) of manned space exploration.'

The prize package includes paid publication.

The Creative Futures competition is for 'underrepresented writers' (there's a long list of people who qualify). There are classes for fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction and offers £25,000 worth of 'cash and professional development prizes'. 

Other publication opportunities

Thanks to Alyson Hilbourne for the link to Fiction On The Web. The publish two stories a week, which can be from 1,000 to 10,000 words. The pay is £15 (or $15 or €15). They'll consider reprints as long as they're not currently available anywhere online, including ebooks.

I thought I'd test them out for you, by sending a story I'd previously had published in a magazine. Submission is by Submittable, so you'll need to set up a (free) account if you don't have one. 

The story I sent had been previously published in a womag. It was rejected within days. The feedback suggested they'd have preferred something less light. Feedback is optional. There's a thing to click when submitting if you'd rather not have it.

Bluesky

Alyson saw the above market mentioned on Bluesky. That's a platform I feel could be very useful, but which I'm not currently making the best of. If you're on there, please share your profile and/or that of others you find useful or interesting with regards writing, and I'll add them to the list.

For those unfamiliar with Bluesky, it's just like Twitter used to be, before it got swamped with adverts and bots. If you feel you already have enough social media platforms you're happy with, I wouldn't advise you to add more, as they all take up time, but if you want to add one, or make a switch, it might be worth you taking a look.

Alyson Hilbourne             J Lenni Dorner

Kathy Steinemann

Patsy Collins

Womagwriter

Elizabeth McGinty

And another one

Free entry writing competitions

In case you missed it, here's a link to the extra post I made on Tuesday, with three free to enter competitions, all with a Scottish flavour.

Thanks to Alyson for this 350 word story competition. There's no theme. First prize is $200, with two further prizes of $50.

My news

Here's another promotion I'm involved in. If you like cosy mysteries, do take a look.

How's your writing going?

Scottish selection

 

This week's post is much earlier than usual, due to the limited amount of time left to enter one of the competitions coinciding with me actually having something ready!

I'll probably still post something on Saturday - if you'll forgive me for not finding more competitions by then.

Free entry competitions

Thanks to Eirin for telling us about this crime story competition from Glencairn Glass. The word count max is 2,000 words and your protagonist must be from Scotland. In the past a cash prize has been offered - that's not mentioned this time. Even without it might be worth a go, as the publicity for the winner is likely to be very good.

I've entered this competition before. I didn't win, but have still had good results. My first attempt gave me a character and part of the plot for the first novel in my cosy crime series. Another attempt was eventually published in TAB.

Oooh, I've mentioned Scotland. That makes it OK*, to sprinkle the post with photos from my latest trip!

*According to my own, totally made up, rules.

The current theme of the Scottish Book Trust flash fiction competition is gingerbread. The prize is only little, but it's free to enter and they only want 50 words, so that seems fair enough.

Thanks to Fiona for this short story competition from Aberdeen Performing Arts. You're asked for 1,500 to 2,000 words on the themes of anniversaries, milestones and the number ten. There's an interesting prize package – but shortlisted finalists must attend the festival. Of, and the closing date is this Sunday!

We do intend to go back to Scotland this year, and were hoping to do it earlier than our more usual autumn visit, but I'm not sure I can persuade Gary to go quite so soon.

.

Looking forward

Womag news

HB spotted this from The People's Friend on X recently "We're thinking of summer! Especially summer fiction! Kick off your flip flops and get writing! All our genres and our word counts, please!"

Thinking about summer is very tempting at the moment. I'm sharing some sunny pictures to get you in the mood.

Free entry competitions

Here's a verse and/or spoken word competition. They want pieces prompted by the objects in the photos. Winners will share £2,000. 

I stumbled across this site, which offers free competitions and other potential benefits to members. I can't actually recommend them as I'd never heard of them before, but they make the claim that entering will 'Get your work in front of industry professionals and a wider audience. Stand out with podcast interviews and biographies on a platform where people are looking for new talent.' 

My news

I'm going to make more effort at marketing my books this year. So far I've signed up for some online promotions (if you use KU you might like to take a look at this one) and am booked to take part in a small literary crime festival in Lee-on-the-Solent on 28th March.

Anyone got any brilliant book marketing tips?

More publication opportunities and free competitions

Free entry competitions

Parsec are running a sci-fi short story competition on the theme of metamorphosis. I thought I'd already mentioned it, but didn't recognise the image, so maybe that was a previous competeion from them? Or I could just be getting even more forgetful. Anyway, the prize is $200.

Thanks to Alyson Hilbourne for both of these - 

Toasted Cheese are running three free entry competitions this year. They all offer publication and Amazon gift vouchers as prizes. General rules are here, then click the links at the bottom for details of each individual competition.

The Tom Grass Spirit of Adventure literary prize is for fiction or non-fiction of 1,500 to 3,000 on the spirit of adventure. Entrants must not have agent representation or have a book under contract with a mainstream publisher. First prize is £1,000.

And thanks to Aly Rhodes for this one -

Deeping Literary have a short story competition with the theme of Hidden Treasures. The prize is a £30 book token and the opportunity to be published. There's also a children's category.

Other publication opportunities

I recently found this site, which lists lots of places you might like to send your work. Scroll down a bit and you'll find tables with links the the appropriate websites, pay rates (ifthey do pay) and notes on what each publication is looking for. There is a small overlap with my own database, but also lots of markets I was unaware of.

Getting going in 2026

Have you finished all the festive cheese and chocolate, and got used to writing 26 instead of 25 yet? I've been doing better with one of those than the other.

Have you got back to writing again, or perhaps didn't stop? I've committed to taking part in a mini crime litfest, submitted a womag story, an article, and competition entry – although I confess nearly all the actual writing of those was done in 2025.

Free entry writing competitions

Thanks to Aly Rhodes for sending me a link to this short story competition from Story Unlikely. There's $5,000 in prizes on offer, you have up to 7,000 words, and they say there are no restrictions on genre (but do mention sci-fi and fantasy).

A reminder about competitions which I (probably) mentioned before and are still open...

The W&AYB short story prize offers publication and a place on an Arvon residential course to the winner. There's still a month to go until it closes.

The Wergle Flomp humorous poetry competition offers cash prizes and publication to the best 13 entries. Top prize is $2,000.  It closes on the 1st of April.

The Tree To My Door Valentine's poetry competition offers a £100 voucher as first prize. There's a month to go for that one too. At the time of writing this blog, I hadn't written any poetry all year, possibly all decade, but that could change.

The Parsec short story competition has a first prize of $200. That doesn't close until the end of March.

Best wishes for 2026

Do you have writing plans for 2026? 

My aims are to enter a few more competitions, complete the next novel in my cosy mystery series, get back to writing occasional articles – and to continue writing womag short stories.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to this blog by providing information and/or leaving comments. The support is hugely appreciated and makes womagwriter a far more useful resource than it would be if I were doing everything myself. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year, and lots of good things during 2026.

I've got a request. I'm working on an article and would like to hear from anyone who had their first womag acceptance this year, after many attempts (first ever, or first for that magazine) and is willing to be quoted. If that's you, please email me at patsycollins53@yahoo.com 

Let's Party!

Today is our Solstice / Christmas / End of Year / any other excuse you can think of / party! It's all happening in the comments.

The main event is 6-7 this evening (UK time) but I'm expecting people to pop in early, perhaps to drop off food, tell us what you'll be wearing, or which literary guest you'll be bringing. Likewise, it's fine to hang around chatting afterwards. The space is free until Saturday (when I'll need it for my next post).

Have you brought a guest? (If so, can I talk to them, because the bloke Ally27 brought keeps telling me really scary stories.)

What are you eating and drinking? (There's a buffet table which already holds a variety of nibbles. The veggie options include Marguerite's special Christmas pie. There's also plenty of wine, Sheelagh's Irish coffe, and if alcohol isn't your cup of tea, we have elderflower presse, Eirin's 0% mulled cider, and an enormous pot of actual tea. Any further contributions are very welcome.)

What are you wearing? (It's hard to tell with typing, but I promise I didn't say that in a creepy voice.)

Are you listening to music?

Do you have a favourite party game? (As Richard Osman stood Dee up, we're going to have to organise our own.)

Lights borrowed from my neighbours.

On behalf of everyone who uses this blog in any way, I'd like to drink a toast and say a massive thank you to those who have supported it by sharing information (either by sending it to me, or in the comments) and / or by taking the time to leave a comment. It's wonderful how much support and encouragement that provides to other blog readers. This blog wouldn't be anything like as good, in fact would cease altogether, without you. Cheers!

On a personal note, thank you very much to everyone who has supported my own writing - by buying my books, reading through KU, requesting them in libraries, being ARC readers, downloading the free ones, leaving reviews etc etc. Cheers!

Over to you

We're having a party on 23rd December. Your invitation is here - just in case you missed it.

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!

As always, feel free to use my photos as writing prompts. If you prefer words to images for that purpose, take a look here. or visit the blog on my website for the Wednesday word of the week.

Free entry competition news

Here's a great opportunity for unpublished novelists. There are generous cash prizes, mentoring, courses and agent representation on offer.

Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for the link to The Cheshire Prize. There are cash prizes on offer for poetry, short stories, flash fiction, scriptwriting and children's literature. Unfortunately you must live in Cheshire to enter. Or, if you do live there, fortunately you will only be competing against a limited number of other writers.

Womag / competition news

Best have announced a new competition - for romance stories. Sorry, I haven't been able to get a photo or screenshot yet. I think the rules are the same as usual.

It's the winter solstice tomorrow (in the northern hemisphere). I like to celebrate the turn of the seasons and the fact the days will gradually be growing longer. This year, weather permitting, that will take place at Avebury. Do you celebrate or mark the solstice in any way?

You are invited!

23rd December is our Solstice / Christmas / End of Year / any other excuse you can think of, party! You, and a writing related guest (past, present, fictional character etc) are invited for a bring your own, food, drink and music party, which will happen simultaneously at your chosen writing venue and the comments section of the appropriate blog post.

The main event will 6-7 (evening UK time) but if you can't make that (actually even if you can) feel free to pop in early - perhaps to drop off food, tell us what you'll be wearing, or which literary guest you'll be bringing. Likewise, it's fine to hang around chatting afterwards. 

RSVP in the comments! (here's a step by step guide on how to leave a comment.)

If you'd like to help decorate the place, or have food to share, please email your contributions to patsycollins53@yahoo.com and I'll get them set up.

Free entry writing competition

Thanks to Alyson for this short story competition from RISCS. Admittedly my eyes started to glaze over when I read that stands for National Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security. Then I noticed the first prize is £1,000, there's a decent amount of cash for 2nd and 3rd, and potentially great publicity for the winner. 

You have up to 4,000 words and until 12th Jauary to come up with an entry. I'm going to read all those long words agian, in the hope that inspiration will strike.

Other publication opportunities

Flash Fiction Magazine publish a flash fiction story of 300 to 1,000 words every day. I don't think they pay for those. They do have competitions with cash prizes, but those have hefty entry fees.

Scribble magazine run various writing competitions. They're not free - you either pay an entry fee for each, or buy a yearly subscription (£19). They do offer cash prizes, and there's the option to get critiques, which would be helpful for future entries. I've not read the magazine myself, but Sharon Boothroyd tells me she feels it's worth subscribing, so if anyone is asking what you'd like as a Christmas present, that might be a good answer? (Or a subscription to one of the womags - remember they won't keep going without readers.)

Kindle Unlimited

Did you know that you can get some magazines through Kindle Unlimited (KU). The usual monthly fee is about £9 - for which you can subscribe to up to 50 magazines, and borrow as many books as you like. You can have up to 20 on your kindle at once, and return these to borrow more as often as you wish. If you're not already subscribed, it's very likely that, if you try to buy a kindle book, such as this one, you'll be offered an introductory price. I have seen free trials. Currently they seem to be offering three months for a total of 99p. After any introductory period, the price will go up to the regular amount – unless you unsubscribe before then.

In case you're wondering - the authors do earn a fee (a fraction of a penny per page.) If you already have KU, or sign up for the trial, I'd very much appreciate if you gave one of my books a try!

My news

I'm at a Christmas Fair today, hoping to sell a few books (St Faith's Lee-on-the-Solent). Please wish me lots of shoppers looking for easy to wrap gifts.

Don't climb the walls!

There aren't many rules around here, but that's one of them. I think it's perfectly reasonable, if a bit random.

As always, feel free to use my photos as story prompts. If you prefer word prompts, you might like to know that the blog on my website has a word of the week every Wednesday. They're a bit random too.

Free entry writing competition news

If you're a British or Irish, unpublished (self published is OK, I think) and unagented female writer who has written, or is writing, a novel then the Discoveries women's prize may be of interest. The winner will get £5,000 and agent representation.

A while ago I posted a link to a competition supplied by Sharon Boothroyd. The Welkin Prize for micro fiction hadn't actually opened when I posted about it, so I'm mentioning it again now it is. There's a first prize of £75 for up to 100 words of narrative prose, fiction or non-fiction.

Other publication opportunities


Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd* for letting me know that ezine After Dinner Conversation, accept short stories. Here's a link to their submission requirements. They pay $75. If you like, you can pay them to read your story more quickly! (I wouldn't pay - would you?)

*She kindly sent me lots of info, which I'm still working through.

The Fiction Desk publish anthologies of short stories of between 1,000 and 15,000 words and pay £25 per 1,000 words, plus two paperback copies. They charge a £5 submission fee. (I wouldn't pay that either - would you?)

Btw, I do understand why both these charges are made. I'm not saying they're wrong, or that authors who do pay are wrong, it's just not something I personally choose to do.

In case you missed my post earlier this week - the submissions database is now done! (For now - I'll add to and update it as much as I can.)

This isn't one of my rules. You can write virtually anywhere you like round here. (See what I did there?)

I had an idea...

Does anyone fancy a virtual Christmas party?  I was thinking of early evening, 23rd December. Of course it won't be the same as meeting up in person, but it might be nice for some of us to be online together, and chat as we enjoy our choice of snack and drink.

The database of fiction guidelines for women's magazines is DONE!

After a lot of research, and help from friends, I've updated my database of fiction submission guidelines for women's magazines. It also includes a few ezines and other publication opportunities. It's as comprehensive and accurate as I can currently make it! Please let me know if you spot any errors or omissions, or you become aware of any changes and I'll do my best to amend it.

Feel free to share the link for the database, but please don't just copy extracts from it.

I'm going to have a cup of tea and something to eat now – I feel I've earned it. Is it too soon for a mince pie?

Moving forward

I'm slowly sorting out the blog, but in meteorological terms I'm standing still, by pretending it's still colourful autumn, and the dull grey days are a long way off...

Subscriptions

It seems that entering your email in the little purple box at the top of the right hand column really will result in you getting email notifications of new posts on this blog - however they may not arrive until the following day.

My aim is to have a post every Saturday morning (around 7 UK time) with occasional posts on other days in between (guest posts, breaking news, stuff I just didn't have room for... ) If you have questions / comments regarding a previous post it's fine to make them there, or on the new one.

btw, only subscribe if you'll find it helpful and feel free to unsubscribe anytime. This blog doesn't benefit, or lose out, whether you subscribe or not.

Womag news

I'm continuing to update the submissions database - thank you so much to Alyson, Liz Sharon B and everyone else who has helped by providing information. Most of the entries relate to short stories, but I'm adding flash fiction, poetry and non-fiction when I come across these, or are sent the details.

Please do continue to pass on any market news and changes, let me know if anything on the database is wrong or inaccurate etc. (By comments on posts, emails, or however is easiest.) I can't do this without you!

Here's how to submit your 'real life' stories to magazines in the Bauer group. These seem to be well paid, and you'll be interviewed so won't necesarily have to do much writing yourself. Be prepared for anything you submit or say to be edited to make the most of anything weird, shocking etc

I did one of these once, when I first started writing for womags. I *may* have exaggerated a little in my version, and the published version contained some details I don't recall happening... 

Free entry writing competitions

Thanks to Fiona for the details of this haiku compeition. The theme is the joy of nature, and there are several cash prizes going up to $500 for the winner.

Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for reminding me about the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Competition, which has a prize package including $2,000. 

Other writing opportunities

Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for mentioning Fiction on the Web. They consider stories, not available elsewhere online, of 1,000 to 10,000 words and pay £15 (or $15) via Paypal.

Sharon also came across the Inkitt website and thought some blog readers might find it of interest. They run free entry writing competitions, with good cash prizes, plus publishing deals (here's an example) – but you do have to be a paid subscriber to take part. That also apparently allows you to share your work for free with millions of readers, which somehow gives it a great chance of becoming a bestseller and being made into a film. 

I haven't done enough research to be able to recommend this company, but I did find a few references suggesting they're legitimate and a good platform for new authors. If you'd like to get published and feel you write the kind of thing they're after, then it might be worth taking a look. As always, read all the t&c's and only proceed if you're happy with those.

With a little help from my friends

The autumn colour has been great this year, hasn't it? That made our trip to Scotland extra special. The photos were taken in the last garden we visited.

We're back now and getting on with work. I'm writing short stories about cakes (I blame Marguerite and Sheelagh!) and plotting out the 4th book in my Little Mallow cosy mystery series.

Free entry competition news

The theme for The Scottish Book Trust flash competition this month is friends. There's a small prize for this little competition, plus publication on the website.

Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for the link to this short story competition for W&AYB. You have up to 2,000 words and the theme is 'play'. The prize is an Arvon residential writing week. Is that something you'd like to win?

Other writing opportunities

Gary S Thomas (writer and director) is running a free online masterclass on creating characters tonight. You'll need to register to take part.

If you write for children, you may like to consider submitting to Aquila Magazine. It's aimed at children aged from 8 to 14 and they accept both short stories and features. Pay is £105 in both cases. The submission guidelines are here.

If you liked the sound of the writing retreat Fiona discussed in the last post, but would find that too much of a commitment, how about a one week online version? Thanks to Vivienne Moles for telling me about this 'Winter Writing Sanctuary'. Vivienne says, "I've been following these courses now ever since their inception during the pandemic. There really are no catches: absolutely free. The material she uses is original and new every year and inspiring and it sort of boosts your creativity without judgement."

My news

If your library membership gives you access to Hoopla, or Overdrive, you can use it to read some of my books for free. (Not sure why it isn't all - hopefully more will be added.) Do any of you use either service? If you do, please consider borrowing one of my books - I'd really appreciate it.

Can you help?

I'm starting to gradually update my submission database. It's got a bit neglected. For example I still had Your Cat Magazine, which ceased publication well over a year ago. Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for pointing that out, and passing on quite a lot of other useful info, which I'll be sharing as I work my way through that and the database.

It would be very helpful if anyone who notices errors with what I currently have, or who sees fiction in any magazine lets me know. Obviously if you can supply all the relevant info about subbing that would be great, but even just the name of the publication where you saw a story would help.