Writing Magazine

For nearly a year now, we’ve done everything we can to ensure your trusty Writing Magazine carried on unaffected by that pesky virus thingy. But this month it’s finally caught up with us. As regular readers will know, we usually collate our listings

Find out what the SoA could do for you at www.societyofauthors.org and get 15 months for the price of 12 with the code WRITINGMAG Anxiety is bad for creativity. Even if you don’t feel consciously anxious, there’s no escaping the uncertainty and rapid

The most talented commercial publisher I ever worked for, the terrific Jane Morpeth, publisher and joint MD of Headline books, had an axiom that whatever trend was sweeping America would, within a year or two, sweep the UK too. While perhaps not a pe

Editor: Jonathan Telfer, email: [email protected] Senior designer: Nathan Ward, email: [email protected] Marketing: Collette Lloyd, email: [email protected] Advertising sales manager: Mark Dean, email: mark.dean@warne

What a shame Allie Reynolds felt the need to validate her article The First Five Pages (WM, Feb) with the disclaimer that she was ‘no writing coach’. She then further validates it by saying she was ‘lucky’ her novel went to auction. Imposter Syndrome

‘For so many aspiring authors and submitting agents, the one refrain they hear over and over again is that editors are looking for “voice”. As an editor, I can appreciate how amorphous and frustrating this can be but one needs look no further than Wi

If your writing group would like to feature here, whether you need new members, have an event to publicise or to suggest tips for other groups, email Tina Jackson, [email protected] The UK’s second oldest writing group, Rushmoor Writers in

‘Some authors will tell you, there is no better feeling than receiving the proof copy of a new novel, particularly during these challenging times when many people are struggling to keep their mental health, and indeed their lives and livelihoods inta

• The main tip I have for new writers is to believe in yourself and never give up.• Also, read: see what’s being published, and learn from more established writers. Most writers are happy to give advice.• Try to start and finish a book, no matter how

Q If someone dopes a woman’s drink, what would they use? When a prisoner is interviewed, would the police always take their clothes? And would they be put in a forensic suit or a uniform track suit, like the ones prisoners wear? Linda Regan by email

What did you write in lockdown? A first draft, some poems? Melanie Blake blasted out a bonkbuster. Reworking the classic 1980s formula of sex, sleaze, trash, glamour and high society for the 2020s, Ruthless Women is the addictive page-turner you will

Publishing some 300 poems a year, Rattle magazine is open to submissions year round and pays $200 per poem published in the print editions plus a one year subscription to the magazine. Payment for online publication is $100 per poem. ‘We’re looking f

Writers under the age of 18 years are invited to submit poetry, speech, song and art for a competition on the theme of The Unheard Voices of Conflict: Stories From Around the World. This is being run by Never Such Innocence, a charity which began as

JayHenge Publishing is an indie press with a busy editorial team. Currently closed to full length subs they have four anthologies which need stories, in varying types of speculative fiction, ‘from high fantasy to hard SF and anything in between’. • N

PDR Lindsay-Salmon Latah Books is a US small press which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the publication of ‘meaningful, well-crafted books and to helping fill the interstitial spaces in our literary community.’ They ‘especially enjoy suppo

You want to write a female character for your novel or screenplay. But is it really necessary to consider gender difference in the 21st century? Surely any character of any gender identity can do or be anything? When my book The Woman in the Story: W

Sundress Publications is a non-profit literary press collective run by volunteers. They publish chapbooks and full-length works in both print and digital formats, as well as a variety of online journals. Their mission is ‘to champion great work – esp

At the start of the pandemic, most magazines requested writers not to submit Covid-19 related stories, as it was felt readers would welcome a break from the topic in fiction. Most writers welcomed this, as it’s very difficult to write uplifting stori

The Writing Quarter organises a monthly free to enter short story writing competition for writers of any nationality or country of origin, with a Aus$30 prize for the winner. Stories should be 1,000-3,000 words, with no restrictions on theme but subm

Following the success of Wild Poems in 2020, Cheltenham Poetry Festival’s e-zine Wildfire Words has launched a second contest, this time with the theme of ‘Transformation’. Enter original, unpublished poems up to seventy lines. Prizes are £300, £100

Ver Poets Open Competition 2021 has prizes of £600, £300 and £100. Winning and selected poems, chosen by André Mangeot, will be published in the competition anthology. The entry fee is £4, £10 for three, £3 per poem thereafter. A donation will be mad

• Be happy with your main character. Remember, he/she may be with you for many years to come.• Don’t make the focus of the series too narrow, or you’re going to run out of elbow room pretty quickly. Think long-term. www.joffebooks.com/faith-martin ■

In the summer of 2004 Sam Mills sent the opening chapter of a novel called A Nicer Way to Die to Faber & Faber. It was pulled from their slush pile and, within a day, Sam had a reply asking to see the rest. ‘This sent me into a panic,’ Sam says, ‘as

The Fence is an independent quarterly print and web magazine focused on London life and on promoting the work of young writers. The title publishes essays, short comic sketches, features and fiction, as well as ‘insider’ accounts, often anonymously,

The Common Tongue magazine publishes dark fantasy and speculative fiction online, plus fantasy anthologies. They like a multicultural mix of work and welcome subs from authors anywhere, but are particularly keen on ‘writers whose voices give better u

Crime and mystery stories of all genre and from the ‘cosy to hardboiled’ are invited for Mystery Weekly Magazine. Stories are published weekly as sample stories to publicise the monthly issue which contains theses stories plus bonus stories. The mont

Planner or non-planner, when you’re starting to write any kind of story, always ask yourself the following three questions: • Whose story am I telling?• What does this person want?• How is he or she going to get what they want – or fail to get it? Th

khoréo is a new US digital quarterly magazine of speculative fiction, essays, and art launching this February. The editorial team, headed by founder and editor-in-chief Alexandra Hill, Rowan Morrison and Lian Rose, are especially interested in writin

Podcasts are a great way to assimilate knowledge while you are busy doing other things. Check out these informative independent authors. I’ve given their web address so you can find all their stuff, including podcasts. Even if you prefer to go trad,

Avon has teamed up with the Mushens Entertainment agency for the Avon x Mushens Entertainment Prize to find a new commercial fiction writer of colour. The winning writer will receive a two-book contract with a £10,000 advance with the Harper Collins

Writing a novel? short story? picture book? The Writers’ Weekend is here to help you reach your writing goals, from inspiration to publication, with • Keynotes by award-winning children’s author/illustrator Chris Riddell and best-selling novelist, Di

‘What a thrill it is to be reading these words in Writing Magazine’s Subscriber Spotlight pages,’’ writes subscriber Pam Fish. ‘I have been avidly reading these stories for nearly twenty years. Now I have the chance to tell you about my latest novel,

PRISM International is the oldest literary magazine in western Canada and also has an online supplement. The editorial team try to publish ‘exciting, original, literary material from established and emerging writers in Canada and around the world’. A

Literary magazine The Wild Hunt is celebrating its fifth year with its first short story competition. The Wild Hunt is an online literary magazine that celebrates the weird, surreal, other and imaginary worlds. There are first and second prizes of £2

These websites are full of useful tips and information, even without joining. • Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLI): www.allianceindependentauthors.org• Authors Licencing and Collecting Society (ALCS) A great place to go for reports on author earn

I’m not normally a fan of targets. Back when I had a ‘day job’ (my current job has no such parameters – I write at all hours, even in my head) and being told I had to reach such-and-such an achievement by such-and-such a time was something that didn’

Original ‘thought provoking weird fiction’ in the form of fantasy, science fiction and horror are wanted for Hypnos, which twice a year publishes pieces in the vein of HP Lovecraft, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Edgar Allan Poe an

FASTEST talles lightest smallest We live in a world of ordinary people doing extraordinary things and this month, to inspire writing, your writing group are going to dive into the world of records. If you are of a certain age, you will remember Roy C

Independent publisher Flipped Eye is opening for submissions from February, adding a new, dedicated fiction and non-fiction imprint to its impressive roster of ground-breaking poetry and new voices in fiction. ‘Since its founding in 2001 by poet and

The prestigious Yeovil Literary Prize 2021 is inviting entries in four different categories. Literary agents and publishers regularly check out the winners of the prestigious annual Yeovil Literary Prize, and many entrants have gone on to achieve pub

Publishing themed issues four times a year, Apparition Lit wants a speculative fiction and poetry, and also holds a monthly flash fiction contest. They like speculative fiction which is ‘weird, almost unclassifiable, anything in the fantasy, SF, horr

Literary consultancy Cornerstones has been awarded Arts Council funding to a mentoring scheme, Elevate, after a successful pilot. Elevate pairs low-income and/or underrepresented writers with specialist editors to develop their manuscripts. The schem

Stairwell Books is a small independent publisher based in the north of England. ‘We publish literary fiction, history, genre fiction (crime, sci-fi, thriller), children’s lit, poetry, memoir, story collections, and our newest genre, “cli-fi”,’ said p

‘I came to writing late,’ writes subscriber John Cooke. ‘It was almost as if I had to live my life before I could write about it. ‘I had a troubled childhood, was immature for my age, and left school with few qualifications and absolutely no idea abo

• Chanel’s iconic No 5 perfume was launched • The British Legion was founded as a charity to help Armed Forces veterans • Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, considered one of the greatest fimmakers of all time, and American boxer Sugar Ray Robinson were

Vivian Caethe, editor and publisher of US micro press, Cuppatea Publications, is currently accepting submissions for We Cryptids, the new imprint’s latest anthology. Previous volumes, Unlocking The Magic and Humans Wanted have included fiction by wri

The Free Flash Fiction competition invites entries between 100 and 300 words on any theme to win a prize of £75. The entry fee is £1 per flash. The winner, shortlisted and commended entries will be published online. The closing date is 23 February. W

Social media can be a useful place for finding images and videos. Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) in particular is handy for exploring themed collections of images curated by other people. Whether you want to see food photography, house renovation idea

A worn leather strop hung behind the door Waiting for the daily shirring stroke, Of the steel and bone cut-throat blade. Every day, in his open shirt, each early day He would work in a rhythm of down and up Always down then up, to hone each edge To a

A new Facebook group has been set up by womag writer and blogger Patsy Collins to allow authors to promote their books. Other online groups have been created for this purpose, usually populated by writers selling books with few, if any, who are there

Bridge House Publishing is inviting entries for its next annual anthology. This year’s theme is ‘Resolutions’. Submit original, unpublished writing, 1,000-5,000 words. Authors accepted for the anthology will receive royalties. The closing date is 28

The Common Breath is inviting submissions of short fiction for Voices in the Dark, a series of limited edition print pamphlets each featuring the work of a single writer. Fifty numbered copies of each pamphlet will be printed. Four submissions will b

US small press Silver Shamrock Publishing is open for submission of unagented original horror and dark fiction novels and novellas. Editor Ken McKinley is interested in seeing ‘unique spins on classic horror tropes’, ranging from ghost stories and ha

The King Lear Prizes Spring 2021 are inviting entries. The national creative arts competition for the over-65s has categories for poetry and real stories. Gyles Brandreth, writer, broadcaster and judge for the King Lear Prizes, said; ‘What better way

The Writers’ Co-op editorial team are putting together their fourth The Rabbit Hole anthology. The Writers’ Co-op is a websitebased marketing platform built by writers, for writers. Their aim is to ‘provide promotion, marketing ideas and exciting rea

READ THE STORY AT: http://writ.rs/thebodysnatcher For this month’s master class I’ve chosen a dark little tale. The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson delivers exactly what the title suggests and, as always, you will benefit most if you read the

Nonia Publishing specialise in romance and work with a wide distribution model that incorporates multiple platforms beyond Amazon. Submissions are open, with specific guidelines. They want new writers as well as established writers and seek novels 40

‘I think I knew,’ writes subscriber Cynthea Gregory. Almost as soon as I saw what was happening during an otherwise idyllic Caribbean holiday. I would have to put it onto paper. Research revealed that similar things were happening in many holiday des

After fifteen years of editing and producing Interzone, the UK’s longest running science fiction magazine, Andy Cox has decided to pass on the torch. Going forward, production will be handled by Pete and Nicky Crowther’s PS Publishing, while Ian What

‘If I’m at home, the dining-table has to suffice. From there I have a view of the garden and a giant oak tree that spreads across several houses. However, I prefer writing out of the house. Travelling gives me a buzz. I write on trains and in cafes a

Win a £1,000 first prize for nature-themed poetry in the Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition 2021. The Nature and Place Poetry Competition is run by The Rialto in association with the RSPB, Birdlife International and the Cambridge Conservation

Fantasy fiction, as a genre, has largely focused on the grand, the sweeping, the truly epic in scale. And in that way it’s not hard to argue that the field has taken much inspiration from the myths and tales of old – and rightly so. Using these class

With an aim to encourage writers over the age of sixty to share their stories and talent WriteTime holds quarterly competitions and each has a first prize of £50, two runners-up prizes of £25 together with anthology and website publication for all wi

The Dead Cat Poetry Prize is a new contest for poems about dead cats, mortal felines and their immortal souls. It has been set up by cat lovers and poems revelling in animal cruelty are unwelcome. Prizes are £25, £10 and £5. The entry fee is £2.75. T

Prizes are £600, £300 and £150 in the Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition 2021. Enter original, unpublished poems up to 50 lines. There is also a special £150 prize for the best sonnet submitted. Winners and shortlisted entries will be published in an

Runner-up in the Dystopian Short Story Competition was Michael Lynch, Birmingham, whose story is published on www.writers-online.co.uk Also shortlisted were: Sally Curtis, Poole, Dorset; Andrew French, Redcar, North Yorkshire; Phil Gilvin, Swindon, W

Susan Rocks lives in East Dorset and has had several short stories published both online and in print. Last year, Susan was longlisted for the Penguin/Random House writenow2020 competition and is busy editing her first novel, The Butterfly Effect, wh

‘I’ve just published my debut novel, Melting in the Middle, a story of redemption, second chances – and chocolate,’ writes subscriber Andy Howden. ‘The novel starts in the season of Advent, but it was more akin to an epiphany that I had a year ago, w

Read James McCreet’s suggested rewrite of this extract at http://writ.rs/wmmar21 There’s no avoiding the fact that almost every piece of punctuation (except full stops) is wrong in this extract. That’s not good. Sentences without correct punctuation

World Weaver Press are closed for novel submissions until summer but need submissions for their third Punked Up Fairy Tales anthology, Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales, by 28 February. In line with the other anthologies the stor

Agenda is a British poetry journal run by poets for poets. The editors opened to submissions on 1 January and they are seeking submissions of poetry in all its forms. Read the guidelines carefully, especially about formatting. The poetry editor disli

The BBC National Short Story Award 2021 is inviting entries. The Award, which is one of the most prestigious for a single short story and is being produced in partnership with Cambridge University, has a first prize of £15,000. Four shortlisted autho

Publishing ‘literary works of transformative power’ Salamander is published biannually with a content of poetry, fiction, memoir, non fiction and works in translation. It is committed to inclusion and equity and encourages submissions from ‘under rep

Don’t miss your exclusive chance to feature on our website, www.writers-online.co.uk Showcase your book to over 14,000 readers each month in the Writers Online Subscribers’ Showcase. We’ll give your book its own page, with blurb, cover and a direct l

The Short Fiction/University of Essex International Short Story Prize 2021 has £500, £250 and £100 prizes for short stories, up to 5,000 words. There is also a special LiFTS Wild Writing Prize for nature, environmental and climate crisis fiction, win