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.

More from Scotland

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.

Three free writing competitions.

 

Free entry writing competitions

Here's a 'micro fiction' competition. You're allowed up to 1,500 characters to write a story 'related to Africa in some way'.  There are three cash prizes, €750 for first - plus the possibility of runners up and special mentions.

The Oxford/42 New Writing Prize is for novels, stage, radio or screen plays. Experimental writing is welcome. You must be 'unagented' to enter. The prize is £1,500 pounds and an agency contract with 42 M&P

The Baen fantasy adventure award is for fantasy stories of up to 8,000 words. First prize is paid publication, $500 of Baen books and an engraved award

Regarding the AI issue mentioned in my last post, there's a petition by the Society of Authors here. It has some 'big' names on it.

Please sign even if you're not directly affected in this particular case, as if this goes unchallenged then it's likely that even more of our work will be stolen. 

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.

Don't forget to check the submissions database for details of which magazines publish fiction under what terms, and how to submit.

Other markets news

Anyone write fantasy short stories? If so, you may be interested in this call for submissions. Payment is £25, or possibly £50.

Free entry competition news

Here's a competition for micro fiction, which offers a €750 prize.

This competition has a prize of £1,000. It's for detective fiction between 15,000 and 20,000 words. No fat shaming allowed (why would anyone do that?)

Thanks to Fiona for passing on this –

This year's Love the Words competition is open and your entry (or further
entry) is warmly encouraged!

As ever, the comp is free to enter, and is part of International Dylan
Thomas Day. Any age of writer may take part, and there are some wonderful
book prizes for winners courtesy of Parthian Books and Infinity Books UK.

This year's theme is 'dream', inspired by Thomas's Under Milk Wood, the
famous 'play for voices' which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

Find out more about the competition and how to enter:
https://www.discoverdylanthomas.com/portfolio-items/love-the-words-poetry-competition-2023-online

Thank you 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.

Brrr!

Brrrr! Don't you sometimes wish writing was a more active occupation? I get involved in a story and don't notice how cold I am until I stop and then it takes a lot of tea to warm me up again.

 

Free to enter writing competitions

The Secret Attic run regular competitions for fiction of various lengths. To qualify for the Amazon vouchers you need to be a member which costs £12 a year, but you can still enter the competitions for the fun and glory (plus publication) without doing that.

The prize for this year's W&AYB short story competition is a place on an Arvon course. I've heard that as well to the useful writing stuff they serve good cake. If you've been, can you confirm that?

The L Ron Hubbard Writers Of The Future contest offers a $1,000 prize every quarter for sci-fi and fantasy stories of up to 17,000 words.

Other Publication opportunities

Thanks to Alyson for pointing out that Bridge House Anthologies are looking for submissions on the theme of 'Gifted'.  Successful submissions will be published and you may earn a small amount in royalties if the book happens to do well.

Womag news

I've sold a couple of stories to TAB, 800 and 1,200 words. One was subbed in January, so don't give up on those which have been out for a while. (This is a 'closed' market.)

If you'd like to share the word lengths and waiting period for some of your successes it will help people judge what's in demand and how far in advance we need to send it.

As always –

New blog posts are published each Saturday.

All blog readers are welcome to use the comment section to share writing news, tips, successes, links to competitions and other publication opportunities, to ask questions and to respond to comments from others.

IWSG and more free to enter writing competitions.

It's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. This month's question is –

When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

To me a working writer is someone who puts time and mental effort into their writing, to make it as good as they can, and who then attempts to have it published for financial gain. This may, or may not, be their main means of support. They probably enjoy at least part of the writing process, but perhaps don't do it solely for pleasure.

A hobbyist, in my opinion, is someone who writes mainly for their own enjoyment. They might edit their work if they like doing that. They might enter it into competitions or submit for publication – but any success is a bonus, not the reason for writing.

An aspiring writer is someone who'd like to write, but has never yet made any attempt. As soon as they string words together in a creative way they cease to be aspiring and really are writers.

I'm a writer. I don't generally define it further than that, but out of these options, working writer fits me best. I take my writing quite seriously in that I research and learn all I can, and revise and edit until the piece is as good as I can make it. I try hard and put in a lot of hours – and I hope for a reward of some kind.

Do you agree with my definitions? Which of the options – working, hobbyist or aspiring, do you think describes you best?

Thanks to Alyson for passing on the link to this free to enter fantasy/ science fiction competition. They want up to 3,000 words. The top prize is £100. Entrants must be over 18 and the work can't have been previously published.

And also for mentioning this flash fiction competition in a comment to an earlier post. Very short, and weird, Christmas stories are wanted There's a $50 prize, plus the winners will be read on a podcast (by the author if they wish). This sounds like fun, think I'll have a go myself. I'm sure I could do weird if I disconnected my inner editor.

Thanks to @The_StorySmith for bringing this paid publication opportunity to my attention. They're looking for horror stories involving cake. I'll probably give that a mis as 'I've run out' is a bit on the short side!

Talking of competitions, I won one! The Secret Attic run monthly free short story and poetry competitions, plus some with entry fees.

I've got a new short story collection coming out soon. You can pre-order it here. The first three in the series, and all my other books, can be found here.