New Love Stories, USA

I was delighted to receive a copy of the May/June New Love Stories Magazine from the US today, which contains one of my short stories. This is the first one I've had published in this magazine, but I hope it won't be the last. I had taken a reduced price subscription to the magazine last year so I could read the kind of stories they publish. It was well worth it, as it encouraged me to rewrite one of my longer stories I thought might suit the magazine - I updated it, made it slightly longer and added a bit more spice.

This is another of the magazines highlighted by Writers' Forum in the past, when Sue Moorcroft interviewed the publisher, Ron Victor. NLS is a very good little publication which is filled with short stories and next to no advertising. This issue has 9 stories and they prefer those between 3000 and 5000 words. They must be stories of male/female love and romance but can be any setting or period, and they do like some stories with a little sexual content (not overly graphic)!

They won't accept previously published stories and you must include a short synopsis. Put all contact details on the first page. Email your story to: submit@newlovestories.com. Include the story title within the subject line of the email. On acceptance, you will be asked to sign and return a contract (which they email to you) stating the story has never been published. They send a copy of the magazine on publication.

If you write love and romance stories, then I would definitely recommend trying New Love Stories. The publisher is still Ron Victor and the editor is now Suzanne Robyn. Check out their website for full details.

Good luck,
Rosemary

Writing Magazines - Writers' News/Writing Magazine

Two of the most respected writing magazines which have been around for many years, Writers’ News and Writing Magazine are invaluable resources for freelance writers. I’ve been a subscriber for more years than I can remember and I wouldn’t want to be without them each month. Writers’ News is available by subscription only and offers page after page of up-to-date market news, competition details and anything else that might be of interest to working freelancers.

An added incentive is the monthly ‘subscribers only’ short story and poetry competitions. I was delighted to find out that I’ve won second prize in a recent competition. The story will be published on their website in the next month or so. Even if you don’t enter the competitions (I only do so occasionally), you get a theme which could trigger off an idea.

The other advantage of having the magazine sent to your door each month is that Writing Magazine is included for subscribers.

Writing Magazine is available to buy in the shops. It focuses more on articles that are helpful to writers of all abilities. Several well known writers have a regular monthly column and there are always interesting ‘one-off’ articles. Judith Spellman conducts an in-depth monthly interview with a well known author, allowing us insight into how other writers work, or how they got started. Again, there is a monthly short story competition and usually a poetry competition. Several years ago, I won the prestigious Annual Love Story Competition, and that did wonders for my confidence as a writer.

Full details of both magazines are available from the Writers’ News website.

Happy writing,
Rosemary

Ireland's Own

Another short story acceptance this week - this time from Ireland's Own. This is another of the magazines which Writers' Forum highlighted last year; there was an interview with the editor, Sean Nolan, by Sue Moorcroft.

So, I was checking through the submission requirements the other day and realised that one of my family stories might just suit this magazine. I polished it up and emailed it to Sean. It was accepted within two days. Lovely man. Think I'm on a roll just now! Or I've finally put all my market talks and research to good use for my own work.

Sean Nolan is looking for stories of around 2000 words, written in a straightforward style - a good yarn. He does like an Irish orientation if possible, but like mine, many stories could be taking place anywhere. It needs to be sent in the body of the email to: irelands.own@peoplenews.ie

Good luck,
Rosemary

The Weekly News

I've just had my first acceptance of a short story at The Weekly News, and I thought it might be helpful to post an update on requirements.

This is a family newspaper from DC Thomson which comes out weekly and should be available in most newsagents and supermarkets - somewhere beside the newspapers. There are three short stories in every issue: one full page story of up to about 1500 words and two half page stories. It tends not to publish straight romance, but seems to favour ghost stories, twist in the tail, mysteries and general entertaining stories that would appeal to men and women.

At the moment, submissions should be made to Billy Higgins: whiggins@dcthomson.co.uk. I'm always talking about market research and I learned something with my own submission. BH does not like first person stories but prefers them in the third person. So when he asked if I could change my story into third person and he would look at it again, I did it at once. And he accepted it the same day. It pays to do what an editor asks!

Rosemary

Writing Magazines - Freelance Market News

Freelance Market News is produced by the Writers Bureau, who provide one of the most established correspondence writing courses. FMN is available to any writer on subscription.

It is a slim newsletter type of publication which is sent out 11 months in the year. It is also one of the most invaluable sources for markets, both in the UK and overseas. In addition, it highlights current competitions, magazine filler opportunities and Editorial Changes, even more helpful in the current climate.

Subscribers have the chance to enter a monthly competition, which alternates between short stories, articles, poetry, limericks and so on and the winner receives £50. There is also the opportunity to submit one piece of work each year for a free professional critique, reduced entry fee to the annual Writers Bureau Competition, and membership of the Association of Freelance Writers.

I thoroughly recommend Freelance Market News. And for working writers, it accepts (and pays for) articles on any aspect of writing. I have an article on 'Finding Ideas for Writing' in the March issue.

See the website for full details of subscription and submission.

Rosemary

My Weekly Guidelines

My Weekly has produced a new set of guidelines for submissions.

Full details, courtesy of womagwriter, here.

Rosemary

Publication Day!

100 Stories for Haiti is now available after all the amazing work and dedication of Greg McQueen and his team of editors, and the outstanding efforts of the publisher.

Buy now from: Smashwords (e-book)
                      Bridge House Publishing
                      Waterstones
                      WH Smith
                      Amazon

Ask for it in bookshops and they might stock it in the shop!

Rosemary