It's
a time-consuming task trying to keep the various magazines supplied
with stories. I don't have a very good success / rejection ratio so I
like to maintain a steady stream of submissions to keep them busy. At
least it reminds them that I'm still here and I'm not giving up. Then
there are the various competitions run by Nottingham Writers' Club.
Entry numbers are often low so I endeavour to make a contribution
just so that the competition has enough to run. It doesn't take very
long just to put a comment on Twitter so I like to keep that piece of
social media active. That's why this blog gets a bit neglected. So
here are a few snippets to fill the void.
Most
of you will have learnt that Best magazine are running another
fiction competition. Look at their website for full details. I
believe it has been confirmed that, while the two runners up may be
published in the mag, they will not receive a prize. As far as I
know, the last time they ran this they did call the runners up to ask
permission for publication so I suppose you can always say no. A
thousand pounds for a page of writing isn't a bad return though, so
it might be worth a gamble. They want a Christmas theme so, as it's
probably too late by now to submit a seasonal story for most mags, if
you have an idea then this could be the place to try it out.
Having
had stories in the last two Yours magazine yearbooks I finally had
one accepted for the fortnightly issue in October. You get a short
bio and a tiny photo at the bottom of the page so now people know
what I look like. If they have good eyesight that is.
I
was asked at a few days notice to run a short story workshop at
Nottingham Writers' Club at the beginning of the month. I'd done one
before but was a little apprehensive because of the circumstances.
The original speaker was a former club member who is now a successful
scriptwriter and appeared at this year's Cannes Film Festival. I
wondered if people would be disappointed with the second-rate
substitute. As it turned out everyone worked hard and seemed to enjoy
the experience. Phew!
Finally
I'd like to draw your attention to Samantha Tonge's blog if you
haven't already paid a visit. As well as being a successful writer
herself she regularly interviews people from the world of publishing.
So if you want advice from People's Friend editor, Shirley Blair, or
want to know who does the story illustrations, look no further.
