Combine

Wednesday word of the week

To combine is to join together or unite for a common purpose, to coalesce into one substance or cause this to happen, a big old machine for gathering grain, or co-operation.

Slightly Spooky Stories II combines 24 of my stories in one book (as do I and III !)

Another meaning is to possess qualities which are usually distinct, for example writing combines imagination with discipline.

I'm combining my other blog with this one, and all future posts for both will appear here. I'm not sure precisely how the combination will work out – it's very much a work in progress. Please let me know what you think, and if you have suggestions for improvement.

Insecure Writer's Support Group

For a time last week, I was a very insecure writer. I was wrongly accused of copyright infringement. At first I was deeply distressed, fearing I'd get into all kinds of trouble and, even worse, people might think me capable of deliberately stealing another person's work. Thankfully my on-line friends, many of them writers, were extremely supportive. They offered help and reassured me.

It makes so much difference to know others are on our side, can sympathise with our problems and possibly even help. That's why Alex set up the Insecure Writer's Support Group, and it does a great job. You can join here.

Free to enter writing competitions

Under the Hood are looking for short stories about facing down monsters. The prize is publication and $100.

The Rebecca Swift Foundation is offering £1,000, support and coaching for the winner of The Women's Poetry prize.

Questions
What qualities do you combine? Are you ever insecure about anything to do with your writing? Do you enter writing competitions?

Womag stuff

I'm (very slowly) creating a database of guidelines posts and official links for all the womags on my website. Does it look as though it might be useful?

My Weekly guidelines

Here are the latest My Weekly pocket novel guidelines. Unlike with the weekly magazine, submissions are accepted from all writers.

New guidelines for short stories have also been released, which means if you've not heard back about anything sent in June or July, it hasn't been accepted. My Weekly don't accept unsolicited fiction submissions. Stories will only be considered from those who are on their list of approved writers. If you feel you should be on this list and haven't been sent the latest guidelines, you'll need to contact the current fiction editor.

Updates on all the stuff

My news

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who commented here and on social media about the copyright infringement accusation made against me – and to the friend who offered to put her law degree to use should that be needed! I very much appreciate all the support. At first I was deeply distressed, but your kindness went a huge way to alleviating that.

I was especially pleased that not one person suggested I may actually have infringed anyone's copyright, even accidentally. It had been my fear that some might think me capable of that and I've been greatly reassured.

Blogger have still not responded, but I have heard from two people connected to the blog whose copyright I allegedly infringed. They both assured me they did not raise the complaint and have no quarrel with me. They expressed sympathy and offered to contact Blogger to try to get this sorted out. They've done that, making the situation very clear, and copied me in. I don't see how they can do more. Their kindness is also very much appreciated. To paraphrase one of them, 'the internet is great – there are just a few idiots who spoil things'.

Another thing which cheered me up yesterday was the sale of a story to Allas. The cherry on the top of the support and kindness I'd received from so many online friends.

Womagwriter blog news

As mentioned previously, I've been considering combining my blogs. Although I'm yet to work out the best way to do that, I've made the decision that this will happen. For now, posts from my other blog, will appear here, along with womag stuff. I'm going to try using headings, as in this post, in the hope that makes things easier.

I'm also experimenting with adding Womagwriter to my website. I'll be duplicating relevant posts (or parts of posts such as the bit below) there to build up the information to a useful level. Obviously there's not much there yet, but please take a look and let me know if you're able to find womag stuff, if you think it will work, and if you have suggestions for improvement.

Womag news

I asked ‘my’ editor at The People’s Friend which story lengths and subjects are most in demand. He says it’s ‘the usual culprits’ by which he means 2000 and 3000 word stories as these are always in demand. Also, stories set around events and holidays – Christmas, Advent, Bonfire Night, Easter, Valentine’s etc are appreciated.

The cover featured is an old one – but as it has me name on the front, I like to make sure it’s seen!

This blog may be removed!

Yesterday I received a 'take down notification' from Blogger, about this post. Another writing blogger has reported it for infringing copyright. It doesn't, but because a complaint has been made I must remove the 'offending material'. If I fail to do so, I will be in violation of Blogger's terms and the entire blog could be removed.

I cannot remove anything which infringes copyright, as there's nothing to remove.

I can challenge this, but must tell them the precise content the matter refers to – and I can't because I don't know. There was a link which supposedly would take me to the complaint, but it states 'unspecified'. If I did know, I would need to provide a sworn statement and all my personal details would be made available to whoever made the complaint. 

There's a lot of stuff about me being at risk of perjury and having to pay damages if I go ahead. If I don't go ahead, I'm accepting the accusation I've infringed someone's copyright. Anyone who has read more than a few of my posts will know I take copyright matters seriously, and might understand how distressed I am by this.

If anyone has any experience of this issue and can advise me, please get in touch.

If this blog vanishes, you'll know it's because I couldn't remove what doesn't exist. 

A bit on blogging

I'm thinking of somehow combining this blog with my other one (which is a more general writing blog and regularly includes links to free to enter writing competitions). Although I'd still have the same amount of research to do, I think it would be slightly easier and less time consuming to only have the one blog.

What do you think about that? Any suggestions for the best way to go about it? Or maybe I should just stop one of them?

Do you have a blog yourself – writing related or otherwise? If you put a link and brief description in your comments, I'll add writing related ones to this post, so people can easily take a look.

Fellow blogger Paula Readman recently invited me over to her blog for a virtual tea and chat.

If you're interested in the subject of blogging, you may like to join #WritingChat on Wednesday evening. This is a Twitter event held 8-9 (UK time) every Wednesday evening. There's always a theme – this week it's Does blogging still work for writers? Participants are encouraged to suggest topics for further discussions.

To take part, just tweet at the appropriate time, using the #WritingChat hashtag. (Without that, we'll probably miss your comments.)

Reader's blogs (copied from the comments, so they don't get missed.)

Sharon Boothroyd – I don't have a blog, but I do have a a website. 

I'm looking for new members to join our small group of published womag writers. We test our work on each other before we sub it out, via email. 

It's free to join, but you must have had at least 1 story published. Please visit wwww.sbee.orgfree.com for details.

Lyn Love – I do blog at https://lynnmlovewords.wordpress.com/

Mainly flash fiction and publication news. I do guest posts too.

Sally Jenkins – I blog at https://sally-jenkins.com/blog/.

All quiet?

Is it just me, or is Womagland very quiet at the moment? I have quite a few stories 'out there' but it's starting to feel as though I'll never get a response to some of them. Perhaps more concerning, a couple of recent queries to editors have gone unanswered.

Last week I had just one communication from an editor. As it was a sale (to The People's Friend) it went a long way towards convincing me it's worth sending more stories out. I've not done a lot of that lately, and even less writing of them, but I've been working on other things. I've started up a newsletter. The latest novel is, I hope, in the final stages of editing, with all the rewrites behind me. And I've released a new short story collection.

DRESSED TO IMPRESS

We choose our clothes to help us stand out, make a statement, or to hide inside. They may show who we really are or be our disguise. Perhaps they'll help us play a part, get the job done, or be a means for revenge.

Clothes can warm, comfort and reassure us. We might buy or borrow them, damage or repair, give them away or have them taken. The items in our wardrobe might bring back memories, express hope for the future, or offer a surprise.

From glasses to shoes, fancy dress to fancy dresses, designer wear to charity donations, the clothes we wear all have a story to tell. This book contains 24 of them.

You can get it here.

This week I'll be polishing the novel, and making a few womag short story submissions. If I'm lucky, I'll be doing some of that from the campervan. What are you planning to do?

Very friendly

I'm very pleased to have a story in the current issue of The People's Friend, along with some virtual writing friends.

There will be another one of mine in a fortnight's time, and more to come in the future as I've just heard I've sold them two more.

See here for some tips from 'my' editor, for writing stories for The Friend.

A few words of caution

I'm posting this because of something I saw in an online group. Some members clearly misunderstood the situation, and if they did, it seemed likely others will too.

When you sell rights (any rights from single use to all rights) you generally sell them to the company who own the publication – not the magazine or the editor. The rights you sold will belong to that company for the term of the agreement (which is usually the whole copyright term, so long after your death). This will be stated in the contract.

You don't get those rights back if the editor moves on, or the magazine closes, or it was such a long time ago you think it doesn't count anymore. The only way you can regain your rights is to buy them back – and whoever bought them is under no obligation to agree.

Please, please, please don't sign any contract until you're sure you understand all of it completely, and that you agree with the terms offered. And keep a copy! Don't assume you'll remember, and don't assume you can ask another writer to check for you – they may well have been offered different terms, especially if they signed at a different time.

Couple of things...

Lucy at The People's Friend thought this post, on writers' rights, might be of interest.

I'm the latest guest on the Healthy Happy Writer Show. You can listen or watch here. I talk (and talk and talk!) about different writing related topics, including Womag and copyright.

Update. Three things now! I've just had an acceptance (from YOU) for a story which was sent three days short of two years ago!

Guest post by Della Galton – Selling All Rights

Today's guest, Della Galton, is probably known to all of you as a very successful womag writer.

Selling All Rights

Long ago when I joined a creative writing class – which was what got me started as a writer – I was told by the tutor never to sell All Rights to my work.

All Rights meant that you no longer owned your work. You literally handed it over lock stock and barrel to a new owner, who could if they wished make a film script from it, put their name on it, sell it on to someone else, enter it in a competition, all without asking your permission, or, of course, paying you any extra fee.

For the above reasons selling All Rights was a financially unsound thing to do, especially in the days when you could sell the rights more than once. However it could possibly be considered as an option if the buyer paid handsomely. Not many writers did it though. Not ones who knew what they were selling anyway.

There was another very good reason not to do it. After all, if a few writers were to start selling All Rights to their work then what was to stop all markets demanding that all writers did it?

If this happened then sooner or later writers would be redundant. Why would a market pay for new work when they could simply reprint old work without payment?

Have things changed? Is it OK to sell All Rights now? Obviously it’s up to the individual writer what they do with their work, just as it always has been. But everything I’ve said above still applies.

I often hear writers say that it’s OK for well paid bestselling authors but that the poorer ones among us have no choice.

We ALL have a choice. Although not necessarily a very palatable one.

Everyone has bills. Lots of us – myself included – are self supporting with no partner to help and no other income but writing related earnings. When Woman’s Weekly decided to buy All Rights I made my choice not to sell them any more work. This meant I took on a cleaning job, to supplement my writing income. Not a choice I particularly relished. But a choice none the less.

So now Take a Break has followed suit and I know some writers will be saying, Oh no, but I have no choice. If I don’t sell All Rights I won’t be able to pay my mortgage/rent/bills.

There is actually still a choice.

I have now added an invoicing job to my cleaning job and my writing job. I think they call it portfolio working. This enables me to continue working for markets that don’t take All Rights for fiction. I’m very happy about that.

To end on a very positive note, I’ve been approached twice recently by publishers asking if I still owned the rights to my short stories. I now have an anthology of short stories aimed at teaching people English coming out in Russian and English. I can’t wait to see what my work looks like in Russian.

I was also approached and given a very good fee for a story to be reproduced as part of an educational course used by Oxford University Press. Neither of these things would have happened if I’d sold the rights to what is MY work. Please think about it before you sell the rights to what is YOURS.

If you enjoy Della's writing, you might like to take a look at her latest novel, Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff Hill. I've not read that one yet, but I've read and enjoyed several of her other books. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Over To You

What's happening in Womag land?

Are you researching, writing, subbing? Had any acceptances or rejections? Any other news?

Do you have tips to share, questions to ask, or suggestions for this blog?

Feel free to use the photo as a picture prompt. If you'd like other writing prompts, short exercises and story/scene suggestions then you might find this book useful.

Yours Fiction guidelines

Thanks to Alyson Hilborne for sharing these guidelines she spotted in Yours Fiction. Please note that although Yours and Yours fiction are sister publications, they have different submission guidelines and you must state which magazine your story is for.

Both Yours and Yours fiction are open to submissions from all writers. They both take quite extensive rights, but after discussions with myself and others they no longer take all rights.

Double quick

Just a quick note to say that two of my novels are on sale today and tomorrow for half price – that's 99p (99c) each for Firestarter and A Year And A Day.

And I've got two stories in the July issue of Take A Break's Fiction Feast which is out today. That'll be the last time, unless they rethink the decision to impose all rights contracts.

Fiction Feast – all rights contracts.

Heres an email I've just received from Fiction Feast.

Dear Patsy

Thank you for continuing to submit your stories to Fiction Feast, we appreciate your contributions.

I am writing to let you know that from issue #10 this year (published in September 2020), both Take a Break Fiction Feast and Take a Break Monthly will be changing the basis on which fiction is commissioned. From that date we will require you to grant all rights for any commissioned work.

This is to bring Take a Break fiction commissioning in line with all other Bauer UK arrangements.

I have attached a copy of the commissioning agreement for your information. Clause 5 lays out the rights requirements. I have attached a copy of the commissioning agreement for your information. Clause 5 lays out the rights requirements. Please can you print out the Agreement, fill in your details and sign and date at the bottom, before emailing it back to us.

Please note that this change of rights applies to future commissions only.  Any work that we have commissioned from you previously will remain on an FBSR basis, as originally commissioned.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes

Helen

Helen Stables

Publisher

And here's my reply.

Dear Helen,

I’m very sorry that you’ve taken this step as all rights contracts are very unfair to the writers. It’s entirely possible to have a contract which allows you to use the work multiple times and in multiple formats without taking away our moral rights and the ability to reuse our work in other ways, such as self publishing. I therefore won’t be submitting work under the new terms.

Regards,

Patsy

If you care about copyright, I suggest you do something similar. As I said in my last post, it is possible to make publishers think again, but for this to happen with Fiction Feast it will need a lot of us to work together.

All rights contracts – again.

If you came here because you're concerned about all rights contracts, then you can click on 'copyright' under this post to get my opinions on the matter. Those opinions are not favourable.

If you're here for my advice on the matter that's very simple – don't sign. Simply explain to whoever sent it that although you'd be happy to have your work published by them, you're not prepared to give up all your rights. They might listen – several of us asked Yours to reconsider and they did. 

The only way we can stop all magazines from taking all rights is if a lot of us refuse to sign any new all rights contracts, and if those who've already signed some contact the editors and explain they will no longer submit work under all rights terms, either in their own name or a pen name. We could achieve this together. I cannot do it alone.