Questions, questions

Today's photo is a quiz!

I do know what it's of, but only because there was some context when I took the image. Care to guess? Or perhaps you know?

Free entry writing competitions

Thanks to Sharon for the link to this poetry competition with a £100 first prize, and book tokens for four runners up.

Here's a playwriting competition. The theme is climate crisis. The prize is £15,000 and develpment support. Entrants to be UK based.

Calls for submission

Thanks to Alyson for sending the details of this call for anthology submissions. It's in aid of Hope Against Cancer, so there's no payment. You have 1,500 to 3,000 words to write a short story on the theme of 'An Act Of Kindness'.

And thanks to Linda Casper for the following – Competition at www.thefirstline.com either a story with their first line or last line.

Winter:
Lawrence was the last to arrive.
Due date: November 1, 2026
Notification: We don't make decisions about submissions until after each issue closes. We typically send notices four to five weeks after the issue's deadline to everyone who submitted. You can also check the website's home page for each issue's production status.

Payment: We pay on publication: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $10.00 for poetry, and $25.00 for nonfiction (all U.S. dollars). We also send you a copy of the issue in which your piece appears. You'll receive your money and issue at the same time.

Request for help

A fortnight or so ago, someone mentioned me having a story in BOWW. I can't remember who, or exactly when it was. If anyone saw the story, can you recall the title, or what it was about?

It's summer!

Gosh, it's warm, isn't it? I'm so lucky to have the sea so close. We've walked down and chucked ourselves in several times this week.

I'll sprinkle this posts with refreshing glimpses of cool water for anyone who might benefit. (Not all taken on my daily walks!)

A quick reminder - this is how this blog works.

Free entry writing competition

Thanks to Alyson for sending the link to this haiku competition. The theme is sight, and the prize is $25 sent via Paypal.

Call for Submissions

Thanks to whoever told me about Poplar and Prose. Was it Fiona? Sorry, my memory isn't great even when it isn't melting! I got in touch, and was sent this –  I’m looking for 100-word stories that celebrate summer — inspired by nature and rich in imagery. This could include stories about family, relationships, vacations, and summer memories to give you a few examples of what I’m especially interested in. 

This is for Poplar & Prose, a literary lifestyle brand, featuring pieces that make the ordinary moments feel a little richer, inspired by good books and the outdoors. I’d love to highlight one or two amazing writers in August through a featured Journal post.

Authors always retain the rights to their work. I simply ask for non-exclusive permission to publish the piece on Poplar & Prose. Contributors are also free to publish elsewhere.

While I’m only able to provide a token .03/word payment, contributors will be credited alongside a short author blurb and linked work/socials if desired.

To get a feel for the brand, you can visit PoplarandProse.com.

By July 15 8pm EST, submissions, along with a 2–3 sentence bio, can be sent to: contact@poplarandprose.com

Thanks so much for your interest, and I look forward to reading about your summers!

Womag news

There will be July and August issues of TABFF. I don't know about after that.

Feeling floral

We've visited quite a few big gardens on our recent travels, as well as walking through woods and countryside full of wild flowers. Here are just a few examples of flowers we've seen.

Womag news

People are still getting rejections from TAB. It seems rather a waste of time, as we're told to assume a rejection after three months, and the rejected stories are, as far as I'm aware, all much older than that. In my case, they're nearly all for stories sent and given up on years ago. I've also had rejections for stories TAB have published!

Free to enter writing competitions

Thanks to Alyson for this flash fiction competition from Curtis Brown. Max word count 300, theme landmarks. The first prize is £300. 

The rules state AI must not be used – something I totally agree with, but wouldn't be able to prove I'd complied with. Apparently in some cases, the use of dashes is considered 'evidence' of having cheated in this way, as is the knowledge AI exists. 

Here's a poetry competition with £100 first prize (you'll need to scroll down a bit to find it). Thanks to Aly Rhodes for sending me the details.

Other publication opportunities

Thanks to Alyson for the info that Haiku Shack are looking for micro fiction and short poems. They don't pay, but you can submit previously published work – as long as you did't give up all rights, of course.

btw, if you're involved in any publication, physical or digital, which welcome submissions, doesn't charge a submission / reading fee, and would like a mention on my blog, please get in touch.

From Liz Filleul – Earlier this year, I signed a contract with Clan Destine Press, an Australian small-press publisher, for a short story collection called Sentenced Beyond the Seas: The Convict Constable’s Casebook. The book features a convict constable, Will Grafton, solving crimes in 1830s Van Diemen’s Land. The seven short mysteries include three that have been previously published in The People’s Friend Special. ‘The Convict Constable’, ‘Death Knock’ and ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’ appeared as 9500-word ‘long crime reads’ in May 2020, May 2021 and May 2022 respectively. 

Patsy has kindly invited me to blog about the work involved in taking those three stories and making them part of a collection that can be read like a novel. So next week I’ll be blogging about the process involved with this. Having just been through the editing stage, I can safely say that it’s been trickier than I initially envisaged!

 

More free entry writing competitions

Free entry writing competition news

Thanks to Ruth for the link to this competition from the Scottish wildlife trust. They're looking for up to 1,000 words in any form on the theme 'from source to sea'. You can write in English, Scots or Gaelic. (I confess, that despite sometimes having needed a translator for my mother-in-law, I hadn't realised Scots was a separate language!) There's a prize bundle of stuff likely to appeal to wildlife lovers. UK residents only.

Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for sending this - 

In case you can't read the small print, it says unpublished (when it comes to novels) UK residents without an agent, over 18  only. Self published is OK.

Sharon and Alyson both found this short story competition. It's open to everyone, they want up to 550 words featuring braille, audio , community, or all three. The first prize is an echo dot. Second prize is a book token. The fact I understand the second one but don't know what the first does probably says something about my age, or technical abilities. Honestly, you're lucky this blog doesn't come in the form of totally unreadable handwritten notes.

Thanks to Aly Rhodes for sharing the details of this short story competition. They're looking for a murder mystery story with a fun twist. 

I asked the organiser for clarification on the rules and have been told, 'It’s open to anyone over 18 with an original story that’s not published elsewhere."

Calls for submissions

Thanks to Liz for the info that Flametree are looking for romantic fantasy submissions for two anthologies. They pay 6p per word for first publication and 4p for reprints. 

International news - not all bad!

 

Womag news

This (paraphrased) info comes from Liz. It's been announced this week that Woman's World (USA) sister publication, 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.

Since I made the post, Liz has learned more -

A follow-up to my info regarding Woman's World - two new fiction editors have been announced. One (Shay) will look after the mysteries and the other (Melissa) the romances. The email addresses remain the same: Fiction@womansworldmag.com for writers who haven't published with Woman's World before, and FictionPro@womansworldmag.com for those who have. I'm hopeful that having two editors again, one for each slot, will make the role less overwhelming (they look after other parts of the magazine as well as the fiction). 

And from Sharon Boothroyd "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." Sharon also informs us that That's Life in Australia has resumed the Fast Fiction slot. Neither of us know if they're accepting unsolicited submissions.

Here's a link Fiona found, about how magazines are perhaps being appreciated differently.

Free entry competition news

The BCSA are running a competition for up to 2,000 words of prose. There's an optional theme of 'liberation' and other compulsory criteria. First prize is £400.

Calls for submissions

From Liz - 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. 

The Heroines Anthology reimagines women in myth, fairy tale, folklore or legend, & tells women's lost histories and untold stories. Submission is open to women writers from around the world, and all submissions are considered for the Heroines women's writing prize, which is $500.

Call for submissions and competition news

Call for submission

Thanks to Alyson for telling me about this call for short stories on the theme of Magi. In theory this is a paying market, but don't expect to earn much, if anything. Anthologies don't tend to sell well, the royalties will be split between the publisher and all other contributors, and they don't pay out until you've earned at least £10. Still, money isn't the only reason for writing and submitting work.

Free entry writing competition news

I'm the runner up in Best's Valentine's competition. I'm not telling you that just to brag, but also to remind you that real people do win these things, so it's worth having a go.

Thanks to Marguerite for the reminder about this gothic short story competition.

The photos were taken on a recent day out at Mottisfont Abbey. There was cake!

Over to you

Do you have any writing news?

Do you know any market news? Have you heard about any free to enter writing competitions? Or come across calls for submissions or other opportunities?

Are you researching, writing, subbing? Had any acceptances or rejections? Still waiting to hear back on outstanding submissions? Do you have a question? Can you offer tips or encouragement to other writers?

Any other writing related news, questions and comments are also welcome and appreciated. As well as allowing us all to share information, help and encourage each other, comments show editors, competition organisers and others that the blog is read and will therefore be more likely to answer my questions, or provide information for me to share with you.

Feel free to use these photos as picture prompts. If you'd like written writing prompts, short exercises and story/scene suggestions then you might find this book useful.

Free entry competition news.

Thanks to Polly (@pollygraceauthor on Instagram) for the following - ' Cwlwm magazine are looking for submissions. It’s my understanding that they are looking for pieces exploring connections with Wales. £200 for a successful submission. More info can be found at https://cwlwm.substack.com/ 

I've had a quick look and it seems they want creative non-fiction articles which reflect contemporary Wales. I didn't see anything suggesting authors must be Welsh.

Publication opportunities and more

 Free entry competitions

Thanks to Marguerite for both of these - "https://tclj.toasted-cheese.com/a-midsummer-tale/ 1000-5000 words on the Summer Olympics until 21^st June, Amazon gift cards as prizes.

Also, Secret Attic has relaunched, currently with monthly short and flash fiction categories by the end of each month for cash prizes, and a weekly one, no prize, but publication for winners.

https://www.secret-attic.co.uk/

Details change for the weekly one and a specific prompt given."

And here's an update from Sharon Boothroyd "Secret Attic have now changed the story length for their ongoing fiction competitions, and they are now free to enter.

They haven't got many entries for their 100 word story comp. The prize is a writing related book. The closing date is the last day day of April."

Thanks both of you!

A not free competition

I very rarely post about competitions with entry fees, but I'm making an exception for this one from Radio Victory. They're looking for stories of 600 words inspired by a song title from the 50s or 00s. The entry window is the whole of May. Prizes include having the winning stories broadcast, a book bundle, and a voucher. I'm making the exception because I'm involved with the Portsmouth Author's Collective which is supporting the competition - and because I'm going to be interviewed on the radio!

Calls for submissions

Dimensionfold are looking for speculative poetry (science fiction, fantasy or horror) to go in an anthology. There's no payment, but successful poets will get a pdf copy and the opportunity to buy copies at a discount. 

My news

We'll be off on our travels fairly soon (brace yourself for a LOT of photos!) I'm trying to get as much done as possible before I go. For that reason, I've put two of my books on pre order. There's this collection of crime short stories, and this cosy mystery novel.

I'm unclear about the benefits or otherwise of pre-orders, other than there being less to do just prior to launch. I'll let you know if I gain any useful insights.

Virtually saying it with flowers

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes and comments on the last post, and for the lovely virtual flowers! Sorry I'm not getting time to reply to everyone, but I do read and appreciate them all. 

Here are a few flowers in return.

btw, I changed something on my computer and can now see the adverts on this blog. Sorry, I can't avoid them. Please be VERY cautious of any of the writing ones. I definitely DO NOT endorse the companies concerned. Some might well be fine, but I saw one requesting submissions which is a well known vanity company.

Call for submissions

Thanks to Fiona (who has a story in this year's anthology) for this call for submissions to Bridge House Publishing. The authors of selected stories will get a share of the royalties and can buy books at a discounted rate.

Free entry writing competitions

This short story competition has the theme of near future manned space exploration and offers paid publication to the winner.

Here's a Valentine's poetry competition with a prize of £100 in vouchers.

Thanks to Alyson for the link to this flash fiction competition. The prize is a £50 voucher.

Thanks to Fiona for the link to this short story competition from W&AYB which offers an Arvon course, worth £850 as the prize, and also for this one. You'll need to read all the info carefully, but it looks as though they're open to almost anything creative about a particular area of Colchester – Submissions could be in the form of, but are not limited to, poems, riddles, local advice, anecdotes, short stories, photography with captions, short films or spoken word. There doesn't seem to be a requirement to live locally. The top prize is £300.

My news

I've not had time to work on short stories, but have made reasonable progress with my cosy crime novel series. The second book is now with my lovely beta readers. 

As part of my marketing efforts for this series, which will launch early next year, I've created a short ebook to introduce the location and some of the characters. That's available to anyone who'd like to sign up for my newsletter. If you've already had a link to download the book, then you're already signed up. (This newsletter is about my own writing – it's not an email version of this blog. Sadly I've not been able to get that working properly.)

Four freebies and six bargains!

 Free entry competition news

Thanks to HB for sending me the details of the details of the latest Best fiction competition. Sorry I can't make the t&cs big enough to read. I think the magazine will still be in the shops.

I may have mentioned the Tom Gallon prize in a previous post, but with £2,000 on offer for 5,000 words I don't want anyone to miss the opportunity. (You need to have had at least one short story published to be eligible.)

 Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd to the link to this flash fiction competition. They want 100 words and are offering a £1,000 top prize.

And thanks to Alyson for this one. You've got up to 5,000 words and any genre you like to try to win $1,000.

Call for submissions

Galley Beggar are currently open for submissions of literary novels, in any genre, by female authors. My style isn't literary, otherwise I'd be tempted to send them my latest effort.

My news

All of my novel ebooks are currently on offer for 99p/99c (usual price £3.49 / $4.99) Offer ends 16th October 2023.

Leave Nothing But Footprints

Sharing a campervan in the beautiful Welsh countryside sounds, idyllic and Jess always gets what she wants – but is Eliot more than she can handle?

Paint Me A Picture

Mavis, aged 53, is finally able to live her own life. Will she survive the freedom to do as she pleases?

Firestarter

Alice has always had the hots for firemen. Is that why Hamish lights her fire, or is it something more?

A romantic comedy with a few flames.

Escape To The Country

Can Duncan the Dishy Tractor driver and Aunt Jayne's love potions mend Leah's broken heart?

A countryside romance.

A Year And A Day

Stella doesn't believe a word the gypsy said about her romantic future, especially the part about proving her predictions are true.

Acting Like A killer

Mystery fan Amelia Watson thinks she's too busy for romance, until she meets Patrick Homes. And she thinks she enjoys murder until she witnesses the real thing.

Over To You

 Do you have any womag news?

Any market news? Are you researching, writing, subbing? Had any acceptances or rejections? Still waiting to hear back on outstanding submissions? Do you have a question? Can you offer tips or encouragement to other writers?

Any other writing related news, questions and comments are also welcome.

Feel free to use these photos as picture prompts. If you'd like written writing prompts, short exercises and story/scene suggestions then you might find this book useful.

Calls for submissions

Fanatical are looking for "unpublished sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories of between 2,000 and 6,000 words." They pay £20. That doesn't seem a lot for the amount of work involved!

Free entry competition news

On the Premises are running another competition. This time there's a picture prompt (see that and other rules by clicking on 'guidelines'. The prize is $250

Thanks to Sheelagh for mentioning a different competition to me. I'm not posting a link, as it had a $75 entry fee – something we both initially missed. Has anyone seen a higher entry fee, and would you consider paying that amount?

Womag/competition news

Thanks to Sharon Boothroyd for this – The regular Yours mag have launched a short story story comp. Details are in the mag. 

Max 850 words, and it's an open theme and genre. 
Closing date, July 3rd and it's free to enter. 
The only drawback is that they take the rights to all entries. So you lose the rights to your story just by entering.

I hate the way some competitions become rights grabs in this way. There's no need for it – they don't take all our rights when they publish stories they buy from us, so why would they want them for failed competition entries?

My news

I've had a reply about my story which was accidentally credited to the wrong person in TAB's Fiction Feast. No one at the magazine has responded, but ALCS have agreed I can still claim through them in the normal way.

Edits on my cosy mystery novel, Disguised Murder In Little Mallow, are going well, and I have a new short story collection out. Days To Remember is available as an ebook, paperback or to be read through kindle unlimited. As I hope the title suggests, the 24 stories are about special days in the lives of the characters. (The first story is set in the same location as the novel I'm working on.)

A reminder – I regularly post on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month but, as you may have seen from my last post, I'll add in extras if something interesting, important or urgent pops up in between (and I'm able to get it uploaded.) Any guests posts would also go between those dates. When I know an extra post is coming up, I'll try to let you know on the previous one.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. As well as allowing us all to share information, help and encourage each other, comments also show editors, competition organisers and others that the blog is read and will therefore be more likely to provide information for me to share with you.

The next scheduled post is 1st July.

Something for everyone?

I hope that everyone visiting this buffet of free competitions and opportunities to submit will find something to encourage them to write and the get their work 'out there'.

Free entry competition news

Thanks to Alyson for passing on the link to this interesting short story competition with excellent cash prizes. If I get an idea for it then I'll give it a go, but nothing has sprung to mind so far. I suspect there won't be as many entries for this one as for other free competitions offering £1,000.

Here's a poetry competition which is open to international entries and offers a £1,000 prize.

This Christmas ghost story competition is only free to under 16s although there is an adult category with a fee.

This poetry competition is also free to younger writers (under 18 this time) with another paid for adult version.

Are any of my blog readers under 18? Do any adult readers know of young writers they would pass competition details onto? If not, I won't continue including stuff for young writers.

Submission opportunities

Brilliant Flash Fiction want stories of up to 1,000 words to publish on their website. They pay $20.

The Face Project ask for poems and short stories written in response to the portraits they share each week. Those selected will be "featured in a unique art and literature publication." As far as I can see that will be the only reward.

Womag reminder

If you want to check the submission requirements for any magazine I know about which considers fiction, you can find the links and other info on my submissions database.

How did I do?

Are any of the above of interest to you?

If I've not included anything for the form or genre you write, please tell me in the comments what that is so I can look out for suitable opportunities.

How do best like to attempt to get your writing before potential readers? Magazine submissions, competitions, calls for submission, self publishing ...?

It takes time to research and write my blog posts. All I ask in return is a comment if you've found them to be useful and / or of interest.