Kay Seeley's poetic prompt

I'm sure this fun poem by Kay Seeley will raise a smile from anyone who's ever attended a writing group. There are some great characters who could well be used in womag stories.

Kay tells me this group has now disbanded – there's probably a story or two in that!

A Tale for our Time

Writers come in all shapes and sizes,

Race and Religions and different disguises,

The quiet as a mouse, the blatantly loud,

The cautious, the reckless, the shy and the proud.

The weary, the dreary, the lustful and leery,

The hopeful, the doubtful, the dour and the cheery,

Into the library each Wednesday we troop,

The disparate members of our Writing Group.

Slowly but surely the writers drift in,

Here comes old Molly, still smelling of gin.

Next comes the man who’s convinced he knows best,

Sitting next to the girl with the ginormous chest.

Mad Mick the bouncer, who’s brilliant at verse,

Sits down next to Sarah, the Community Nurse,

We’ve got novelists, poets and screenwriters too,

From writing for children to something quite blue,

You’ll never get published, they mutter and moan,

Tales of rejection make everyone groan.

‘I hear that Romance is doing quite well,’

‘Oh no it isn’t, it just doesn’t sell.’

‘How about Sci-Fi, I’d give it a shot,’

‘Oh no,’ says another, ‘most certainly not.’

‘How about crime or historical thrillers,

A bloodthirsty saga of latter-day killers?’

‘You’d have to add zombies, vampires or ghosts,

But Celebrity stories are what they love most.’

‘Write what you know,’ they cry with one voice,

I know very little, so that limits my choice.

They grumble and mumble and twitter away,

Deploring the state of the book-world today.

If they can’t get published, then what chance have I?

I sit and I ponder as the minutes tick by.

‘What’s that I hear, no it cannot be real,

Old Jeremy’s landed a seven-book deal!

It’s out with the Champers, the biscuits and cheese,

Then back to the laptop and pounding the keys.

Woman's Weekly update

I recieved the following this morning and have copied it with permission ...

Dear Regular Contributor, 

We are writing to let you know that we are currently in need of the one- and two-page stories, ie: stories of 800-1,000 words and 1,800-2,000 words respectively, and would ask if you could consider these lengths when you are next thinking of submitting to us.  Of course, we also still need the much longer-length stories of anything up to 8,000 words for the Fiction Special, so if you are happier writing to that length, then please continue to do so!

Many thanks and we look forward to hearing from you.  All short stories to Clare as usual, please.

With best wishes.

Gaynor and Clare.

Take a Break's Fiction Feast - December issue

Well done to all those who have stories in this issue. I thought I would too, as they've had one of mine for aaaaaages. Almost sure I will next month as they recently bought one with Santa in it.

If you haven't taken part in the survey, please do.  It's totally anonoymous*, just needs a couple of clicks and there's no need to sign in to anything.

*but feel free to add more information on the relevant post of you wish.

Woman's Weekly Fiction Special - December issue

You know how easy it is for characters to switch names halfway through a story, and how hard it is to spot and correct that during editing? Well, it seems authors aren't the only ones to have this problem.

Two of the stories in this issue have one author name in the contents and another on the story itself!

Survey

There's a poll over there --->

Sorry, with my usual technological brilliance, I've made it tricky to read. The choices are:

I write womag fiction and have had some published.
I write and submit womag fiction, but haven't had anything published - yet.
I'd like to write and submit womag fiction.
Other

If you could click on the answer which best suits you, and then on the 'vote' button, I'd be very grateful. The survey is anonymous and you don't need to be a blog follower to take part.

I'm asking because I'm very nosey. If I was a bird, I'd probably look like this.

Please feel free to add more info in the comments.

Yours magazine guidelines

SHORT STORY (FICTION) GUIDELINES
YOURS is always looking for good short stories. Every submission is read but we receive more than a hundred manuscripts a month and are able to publish only one short story per issue.
Please allow up to six months for reply and enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you would like your manuscript to be returned. Submissions should be 1000-1,200 words long and not have been published elsewhere before. Manuscripts must be TYPED on one side of the paper and the title page must include the following:

• 100 - 150 word synopsis.
  
• An accurate word count.
  
• Your full name (and real name if you write under a pen name), address
  and telephone number
  If we can’t use your submission and you would like it returned to you please enclose a SAE with enough postage to cover the cost of the submission/s.
  KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
  It is essential that you study three or four published stories in YOURS before writing anything for us.
  Many manuscripts are rejected because, although they may be well written, the stories are aimed at a completely different market, such as younger women or a largely middle-class readership.
  Read several issues of YOURS. This will give you a good idea of the type of reader you should be writing for and the general tone we use.
  Our readers range in age from fifties upwards, with most in their mid-sixties and seventies. They are mostly women, although YOURS is read by some men, so don’t ignore their interests!
  GOOD SUBJECTS
  Some of the most popular themes with YOURS readers are romance, families, grandchildren, nostalgia and wartime comradeship. A lot of our readers did war work and/or had husbands
  

or boyfriends serving in the Forces. Don’t be limited to these subjects though; the style and tone of what you write about must appeal to our readers as much as the content.
The first line of your story should grab the attention; it is all too easy to start a story with a bang, which quickly turns into a damp squib by the end of the first page. Keep up the reader's interest until the end or they will not bother to get that far - and a brilliant surprise ending will not make them read it in the first place.
WHAT TO AVOID
Avoid stereotypical images of older people as ill, frail and lonely. Make sure your story is plausible and realistic and do not rely on unlikely coincidences. Try and avoid the hero turning out to be a cat or dog.
Avoid downbeat subjects such as death, widowhood, illness and loneliness, or write about them in a positive way that does not dwell on negatives.
Try not to rely on obvious plot devices such as twists in the tale and memory flashbacks. These are very common and, unless cleverly written, can be predictable. A good story does not always need a surprise.
REMEMBER THIS
Always think of YOURS readers, not just as older people, but as ordinary human beings who have experienced everything in life - childhood, growing up, starting work, falling in love, friends and family, joy, sorrow, heartache, longing and laughter. YOURS readers have their own interests and needs which match their years of experiences but many of their hopes, fears and dreams are shared by all of us and they still enjoy a good story.
Send your manuscript to*: Short Stories
Yours Magazine
Bauer Media
Media House
Peterborough Business Park Peterborough, PE2 6EA
Or by email to: yours@bauermedia.co.uk (Subject: Short Story Submission) – email submissions must include contact telephone number and address details.
All successful submissions are accepted on an All Rights basis that gives Bauer Media exclusive copyright
*PLEASE NOTE: If you would like us to return your submission, please include an SAE with the correct postage amount on it. We regret that any submissions without an SAE will not be returned.

Yours also give some advice on getting published in other ways as well as their non-fiction guidelines here.

Sweet success

Allas magazine are one of the few who still send complimentary copies. I can't actually read Swedish,  in fact sometimes I have a great deal of trouble working out which of my stories they've published, but I instantly recognised this one.

Isn't that illustration great?

What kind of illustrations do you like best – or don't you take much notice of them when reading stories?

On a less cheery note, My Weekly are closed to fiction submissions until the end of the year.

Woman's Weekly (and WWFS) guidelines.

These guidelines for Woman's Weekly and the Fiction Special aren't new, but they're still current. (Yep, I'm still sorting out all the stuff Blogger removed!)

From Story Idea to Reader

This rather marvellous book will be available soon. It includes an entire chapter on writing for womags – by a writer I'm sure many of you will have heard of ;-) There's also lots about finding ideas and the time to write, grammar, formatting work, creating characters, competitions, self publishing ...

It will be out in time for Christmas (in paperback as well as in ebook formats) so start dropping those subtle hints now ...

Patsy to Patsy

No, I'm not talking to myself this time... Another Patsy has asked a question on the 'got a question?' page.

Hi Patsy

I've nearly finished writing a short story that involves the main character (teenaged boy) arriving at self-knowledge through getting drunk for the first time. Trouble is I'm now wondering if mags like People's Friend and Woman's Weekly will consider a story involving alcoholic consumption.
If you or anyone else could advise me I'd be most grateful.

Patsy 2

I have seen mentions of people drinking alcohol in some of the magazines. It seems fine for an adult to have a few glasses of wine, even one too many. Not sure if it would be acceptable for a teenage to do it though. What do you think?

More on blogs etc

Thanks to everyone who responded to my query about blogs and websites. I've decided to set up a new page for this – eventually, when I get round to it ...

If you know of any blogs or websites you feel might be useful to other womagwriters, please put the link and brief description in a comment. It's fine to suggest your own blog.

I'll post up the list here and it will include the first dozen which are mentioned in comments to this post. As I come across more (and get the time) I'll update it – which could involve deletions as well as additions.

This photo isn't of a blog ... it's a log!

Update. The page is now live. It will be updated with suggestions posted as replies to this post and possibly with other useful ites and blogs I come across.

For inspiration?

Penny A suggested I post up occasional pictures or short poems to act as story prompts. Great idea, Penny - thank you. I'll give it a go and see how much interest there is. Anyone have a suggested name for this feature?

Photos are no problem – I take loads. My poetry is another matter ...

If there are any poets out there who'd like to contribute something, please email me. I'll be happy to include a photo of the author and link to their blog if they wish, but that's not compulsory.

Poems can be writing related, thought provoking, inspiring, funny or downright weird. They contributor MUST hold the copyright to any submitted poem, but it's fine for it to habe been published elsewhere.

If you like word prompts then take a look at the Wednesday word of the week on my other blog.

How do you find inspiration for your stories?

YOU (South Africa) updated guidelines.

South African magazine YOU have updated their submission guidelines. (I know the date says 2015, but I checked them very recently and they still had out of date information on them then.)

I think this bit is new too –
"NB! WE ONLY ACCEPT SHORT STORIES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN PUBLISHED IN OTHER SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLICATIONS OR ON THE INTERNET."

The photo isn't of you, it's of me!

Allas update

Thanks to Simon Whaley for letting me know that the editor of Allas magazine has confirmed they WILL consider stories which have been previously published outside of Sweden. He's also the man we have to thank for providing an English translation of the guidelines.

Hmmm, wonder was his music collection looks like?

There's no need to translate the story as they accept submissions in English. For UK writers Allas pay £100 direct into your bank account.

Submissions should be sent to lotta.gustavsson (at) allas.aller.se

Jacqueline Zacharias

If anyone knows of a Jacqueline Zacharias who has submitted stories to Dreamcatcher magazine, can they ask her to contact the editor, John Gilham. 

On a related note, when submitting work anywhere, other than competitions requiring anonymous entry, do make sure your full contact details are on the covering letter or title page, so that if the editor has good news to give you, they'll be able to get in touch. You might like to consider putting your email address in the header or footer too, in case one sheet gets detached.

If an editor can't easily contact you, they might well give up and try someone else.