Season's Greetings

I'll still be doing daily posts, featuring free to enter writing competitions over on my other blog, but this will be my last Womagwriter post until after Christmas. (Unless there's some really exciting news to report!)

I'd like to wish you all a happy winter solstice, merry Christmas and jolly nice anything else you may celebrate. For those born at this time of year – Happy birthday!

New fiction editor at My Weekly

The new My Weekly fiction editor has been appointed. She's Susan Watson (currently My Weekly's celebrity editor.) Congratulations to her.

No changes to the submission process have been announced – I'll let you know when/if that happens.

Your Go

This month's discussion topic – If you didn't write Womag fiction, what would you do with the time you currently devote to it?

Here's another monthly random photo for use as a story prompt. 

Please share success (or otherwise!) report any womag news, tips, advice you may have, make womag related comments or observations and ask questions – and answer them too if you can help.

 (If you have news or a question relating to a particular magazine, it's also fine to add it as a comment to the latest post for that magazine.)

Writing competitions

If you like writing competitions, take a look at my other blog. Every day from last Friday until the winter solstice (at least) I'm featuring a different free to enter writing competition (short stories, poetry, novels, non-fiction etc).

Do you like writing competitions?

Ever been placed in any?

A YEAR OF IDEAS – 365 sets of writing prompts and exercises

Do you like writing prompts and exercises? If so, you'll love my new book. There are lots in there. I know it says 365 sets of them on the cover, but it's a leap year next year, and I have a tendency to get carried away, so there are a few more than that.

A YEAR OF IDEAS – 365 sets of writing prompts and exercises

All writers need ideas. We need topics and themes, prompts to get started and a little encouragement to keep going. New writers may be wondering where to begin, daunted by a blank page and want help to transform thoughts into fiction. Even the most experienced have dry periods when ideas don't flow, or times when they appreciate a push to try something different.

Patsy Collins' methods are proven to work. She's employed them at workshops where she's never failed to get her attendees, from brand new and nervous to burnt out, not just writing but producing interesting scenes, snippets and stories.

Each of the daily sets of prompts in this book have been used in some way by Patsy, to create her own work. She needs a lot of ideas as she's completed five novels, co-written From Story Idea to Reader (an accessible guide to writing fiction) and produced nineteen collections of themed short stories, averaging two dozen per book. Hundreds and hundreds of her short stories have been published – mainly in women's magazines. She blogs, writes articles, wins competitions and is always working on something new.

Whether you're a new writer, or a more experienced one temporarily out of ideas, have hours to fill or just five free minutes, you'll find something in this book to help get you writing – every day of the year.

You can buy it here. The price is £2.50 ($3.22) for the ebook and £6 ($7.74) for the paperback.

ISSNs

Thanks to Chris Sutton who, via a comment, has supplied some ISSNs (Magazine International Standard Serial numbers, needed to claim ALCS). 

For Woman's Weekly the ISSN is 00437417 

For Woman's Weekly Fiction Specials it's 23997508 

For My Weekly, it's 0262026X 

For My Weekly Fiction Specials it's 14790475

And for The Weekly News it's 02623714 (This is now considered a newspaper and not eligible for ALCS.)

ISSNs are usually displayed somewhere in the magazine, although it's often hard to find them. If you can't and you have work in a particular mag, you could email the fiction editor and ask them for that magazine's ISSN. 

From Bernadette –

Take a Break Fiction Feast is 09530983

People's Friend is 02622382

Writing Magazine is 09649166

From Glenda Young

The People's Friend Fiction Special 14790467 


ISSNs are often found in the bar codes, if you know how to interpret them.

If anyone adds other ISSNs and mentions them in the comments, then I'll add them to this post, hopefully providing a useful resource for us all.

Btw, I was really pleased this morning to see 13 new comments on this blog – until I realised every single one was spam! The spam is a bit annoying. Genuine comments are really appreciated. Whether they're asking questions, providing answers, encouraging me or others, even just a bit of chat, I value them all.

From Sally Jenkins –

Just filling in a DACS claim. They recommend this website for finding ISSNs. Type in the magazine title and it comes up with a list of options from around the world - we would need to look for the UK magazine.
https://portal.issn.org/

You magazine closed for submissions

You magazine, in South Africa, have now closed for submissions until 1st June 2020.

Your Go

This month's discussion topic – What's your favourite thing about writing womag stories?

Here's another monthly random photo for use as a story prompt. 

Please share success (or otherwise!) report any womag news, tips, advice you may have, make womag related comments or observations and ask questions – and answer them too if you can help.

 (If you have news or a question relating to a particular magazine, it's also fine to add it as a comment to the latest post for that magazine.)

ALCS reminder

Just a reminder that the deadline to register work for ALCS payments is the end of this month.

For anyone who doesn't know, the Authors' Licensing Collection and Collecting Society (ALCS) is an organisation which collects and distributes money which is owed to authors when their work is published in magazines. This applies to fiction, non-fiction and visual work. You must state that you own the copyright in order to claim. Newspapers don't qualify, so there's nothing due from stories published in The Weekly News.

You're not obliged to make a claim if you'd rather not, but not doing so means you miss out on money which is due to you.

More info on ALCS can be found in this guest post by Carol Bevitt and from their website.

You're in the right place!

I have a couple of womag related snippets in Writer's Forum this month and the editor added this comment.
->


Talking of editors ... Isn't it great that Katharine Wootton of Yours listened to and acted on the concerns raised by myself and others about the all rights issue? (See previous posts if you missed the two bits of good news from Yours and Yours Fiction.)

And isn't the support we get from the entire editorial team at The People's Friend brilliant? They must be swamped with submissions, yet we always receive a reply. Often there's a helpful comment or word of encouragement too, sometimes more comprehensive feedback will be supplied – and Shirley Blair takes the time to update her blog to keep us informed of the fiction requirements and other news.

Of course these are by no means the only helpful, friendly and supportive editors. Who do you feel deserves our thanks?

As part of my efforts to maintain this blog, and write occasional news pieces for Writer's Forum and Writing Magazine, I quite often contact editors. Almost always I get a reply.  Sometimes they even contact me with information to pass on to womag writers. These people are busy, and my requests for information take them away from the mountain of submissions and other tasks they have to deal with, so thank you to everyone who has ever replied – even when the answer wasn't what I wanted to hear.

Great news from Yours magazine

I've been away and came back to this email from the editor of Yours magazine ...

"Hi Patsy,

Just wanted to update you on something in case you’re able to add anything onto your blog post.

Following your mention about the fact many writers aren’t happy with all-rights and a few other conversations we’ve had about it, we’re now going to be accepting stories on a limited licence agreement rather than all rights. 

Basically this means we have a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual and unconditional worldwide licence to use the works in any and all media whether now known or invented in the future and continue to have the right to edit, retouch or amend any of the works. However unlike with an all-right agreement we are not asking you to perpetually hand over all present and future copyright on the work. So we hold a licence to use your work where we’d like to within Bauer media but we do not own outright the copyright to your work.

Just thought you and some of your readers might like to know about the change

Warm wishes

Katharine."

Update – I asked for confirmation that the new terms will apply to all new stories and that all writers, whether they've previously sold to Yours or not, will get new contracts. Katharine's reply is– 

"Our new policy applies from this month and not historically so any stories already bought by Yours up to this point on an all-rights basis is still contracted on an all-rights basis meaning we won’t be contacting writers to update the contract and all the terms of the all-rights policy signed for for that particular story still apply. From this month, though, the writers of all new stories accepted for either for Yours or Yours Fiction will be asked to sign the new limited licence agreement." 

Karen Byrom is leaving My Weekly

Another fiction editor will shortly be retiring from a D C Thomson magazine. In addition to Shirley Blair leaving The People's Friend (as reported in my last post) Karen Byrom is to leave her position as fiction editor at My Weekly. These two things happening close together are just a coincidence.

Karen's message for readers of this Womagwriter blog is ...

"After nearly 40 years of working at DC Thomson, I have decided to retire as fiction editor of My Weekly. I'll really miss working on the magazine, but I'm  looking forward to the next exciting phase of my life. I shall especially miss regular contact with all the lovely writers I've had the fortune to work with over the last few years - I couldn't have done my job so well without all your great contributions. I may not have been able to buy them all, but I've read and appreciated every single one.

I won't completely disappear from the radar, as I'll still be writing short stories and my Wadhams series. So I'll be dropping in on Womag regularly (if you'll have me) and am looking forward to hearing and contributing to the news and views from your side of the fence.

Fiction will continue to be a key feature of My Weekly - they're already actively recruiting for a new fiction editor. But I'll be around for the next two months, so do drop me a line anytime."

Thank you, Karen and best wishes for the future. I will, of course, be delighted to see you on the blog any time.

Shirley Blair is leaving The People's Friend

It's not happening yet, and somebody suitable will replace her and ... It's probably best if you read her blog, where Shirley explains that's she's leaving The People's Friend.

I've met Shirley and communicated with her via numerous emails and she's always been friendly and helpful. Many writing friends have said how nice she is and how she's encouraged them with their writing. She'll be greatly missed and a very hard act to follow.

(I'll have more to say later, once I've got over the surprise.)

Up to you!

I post information, on this blog in the hope that it will be of use or interest to others. I use information I've discovered, or am provided with, in good faith. That's it.

I'm not paid by the magazines (other than when they buy my stories – if they do). Making a post about a publication gains me no advantage with them (although it may do the opposite in some cases!). I'm not endorsing any publication, nor am I responsible for their policies, nor the opinions of those leaving comments.

Personally I don't give up all rights to my work and don't submit work to publications which receive money yet pass none of this to the fiction authors. If you wish to do either of those things yourself then it's entirely your decision. We're all different and write for different reasons and with different expectations.

As writers we can criticise each others choices, we can ostracise those who feel or act differently, and make them reluctant, even afraid, to express opinions in groups, blogs, social media etc and to write under pen names to avoid a possible backlash. Or we can accept that it's hard for all of us and offer support, advice and friendship. That's what I try to do. Again which route you take is entirely your decision.

New market for womag fiction

I've had an email from the fiction editor at Yours magazine.

"I’m getting in touch from Yours, a national women’s magazine, to ask if you possibly might be able to share news with your readers that our new sister title, Yours Fiction, is actively looking for short story submissions from writers. As I’ve seen a few articles on your website about various places people can send short stories, I thought this might give another platform for writers to be paid and published for their work."

As any increase in opportunities to have short stories published is very welcome, I'm only too pleased to share this news. 

Yours Fiction is quite new – I believe the second issue is currently in the shops. It contains 26 stories per issue. Submission guidelines are here.

Note Yours take all rights for the stories they publish.

Update 14/12/19 – This market no longer take all rights.

Guidelines for Yours Special seem to have been removed. Here are the guidelines for the regular mag – https://www.yours.co.uk/life/home/yours-short-story-guidelines/