Meeting womagwriter Bea Charles

I spent a lovely day in Newcastle today, thanks to a guided tour conducted by fellow womagwriter Bea Charles.

We've known each other virtually, and as critique buddies for years, but this is the first time we've managed to meet in person.








We walked miles, saw a lot of bridges, artwork and kittiwakes. We chatted just a bit too, so we needed a few stops for refreshment ;-)

I don't know what or when, but I'm sure something from today will end up in one of my stories – and possibly in one of hers too.

Do you know your writing friends online, face to face, or both?

Do you ever put them in stories?

Guest post by Womagwriter Bea Charles

Today's guest is Bea Charles who is kindly sharing details of magazines which accept poetry.

There are not many free submission opportunities for poets in the magazine market and few pay well, if at all. But if you do write poetry and want to see your name in print, and perhaps receive a modest reward, these are the ones I am aware of.

The People’s Friend

By far the largest market for poetry. As well as publishing poems in both the weekly and three-weekly specials, the Friend also use poetry in their Annual and in their Fireside Book.

Payment is £15 per poem, although poems on their ‘Between Friends’ letters page are rewarded with a tea caddy.

Lucy Crichton is the Poetry Editor and she has written this useful blog post on what the Friend is looking for.

https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/2018/04/06/poetry-please/

Yours

Up to one poem per issue on their Meeting Place letters page, plus some poems used in the Annual. These are usually rhyming poems, sometimes but not exclusively humorous, 8-16 lines. Payment is a £10 high street shopping voucher.

Woman’s Weekly

Although they don’t usually publish poetry, Woman’s Weekly in association with the Folio Society currently has a poetry competition. To enter you will need an original coupon from either the weekly magazine dated 28th May or the July issue of Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special. The theme is ‘nature’. The competition is only open to anyone who hasn’t previously had a poem published in print. The three winning entries will be published in Woman’s Weekly and will receive a selection of poetry books.

Mslexia

Requires a more literary style, including themed editions and competitions. Payment is £25 per poem published. Their requirements are here

https://mslexia.co.uk/submitpoetry/

The Oldie

Runs a free monthly poetry writing competition. Each poem published (usually 4) receives £25 with one winner receiving a bonus prize of Chambers Dictionary of Modern Quotations. You need to read the current month’s magazine for details of the next month’s theme.

Does anyone know of any more magazines offering free submission / competition opportunities for poets?

Guest post by womagwriter Beatrice Charles

My guest today is Beatrice Charles, with a summary of why she finds a subscription to Readly a useful resource for her writing.

All submission guidelines say the same thing: "we recommend you read several issues of the magazine before submitting to us".

I used to buy regular issues of many different magazines. Before long I was knee deep in paper and several pounds lighter in my pocket. Digital subscriptions to the various magazines helped reduce the bulk but did little to reduce the cost. 

Then I won a month's free subscription to readly.com, found it a really useful resource and have continued with a paid subscription. It is a digital subscription service providing access to many and varied publications around the world.

Benefits of Readly:

I pay £7.99 per month for access to hundreds of magazines.

The cost allows five different people to access Readly at the same time and on different devices, so I can share this resource with my family.

Each user can compile a list of favourites - mine are the womags and other magazines which pay for readers' letters; my mother chooses household, knitting and cookery; my brother reads up about his hobbies of woodworking, clocks, etc; my niece parenting magazines. (Never realised my family is so stereotyped.)

Magazines from many different countries are available, which would be of more use if I were able to understand the language, but at least I can look at the illustrations in Allas and see who has been published there.

I can bookmark particular pages - narcissistic as I am I have marked my own published writing.

There is a search facility, which isn't always reliable, but helpful when I want to focus on one particular writer to research what it is about their style that makes them so successful with a particular publication. I also found a couple of my letters that had been published but had missed.

I can research a large number of non-fiction markets, as well as checking they haven't recently published something which I am seeking to pitch.

I can access back copies of magazines to when they began partnering Readly - WW and PF this was January 2014.

Once downloaded (up to 500 issues if your device has the memory capacity), they can be read anytime and anywhere. My brother found this useful on a recent 16 hour flight to Argentina.

Downsides to Readly:

It doesn't publish Take a Break Fiction Feast but it does include the TAB Specials which usually print a story or two, nor does it publish The Weekly News, Ireland's Own, or Woman's World (USA). It doesn't publish anything from Australia or South Africa. Readly claim that new editions are being added regularly so I do update my list from time to time.

The magazines don't earn as much through Readly as they will from direct sales, but they won't incur printing and distribution costs, and each time an issue is downloaded they will receive a payment.

Guest post by womagwriter Beatrice Charles

Thanks to Beatrice Charles for breaking some womag writing rules for us ...

Outside, the wind howled voraciously. In her bedroom, Daisy stood proudly by her bedroom mirror and peered anxiously at her own reflection.

"I'm so much prettier than my twin sister," she wailed piteously as she flicked her long blonde hair over her scantily clad shoulder, vainly admiring her slender neck. "I wonder where Deirdre is now?" she commented questioningly to no one in particular.

Suddenly she woke up and it was all a dream.

That's 7 at least:

1) don't start with the weather

2) avoid excessive adverbs

3) use 'said' rather than other verbs to describe conversation

4) don't have MC describe herself by looking in the mirror

5) no twins

6) no dreams

7) avoid multiple characters having names beginning with the same letter. 

That's a pretty good start. Anyone like to add to the story? Or have advice on submitting it?

Personally, I think she should hand write it and submit to every magazine she can think of, then phone up two days later and ask when they're going to print it.