The importance of researching markets

I’m sure I’ve done this before, but it’s always worth repeating. It is very important when you want to submit your work that you research your markets thoroughly. I’m not taking the moral high ground here as I sent out stuff willy nilly in my early days of writing, having no clue how publishing worked, or that my womag style stories would not be a happy fit in a literary magazine and vice versa. But at least I was sort of sending the right type of writing – stories – to the right people … i.e. editors … even if I wasn’t targeting my work correctly. I don’t think I’ve ever sent my work to some stranger I found on the Internet because they mentioned, in passing, the market that I wanted to be published by.

I need to stress for the record that I only write a column for Writers Forum magazine. I’m not the editor, and I don’t run the WF writing comps (though I can understand the confusion with the latter as the email addy for the writing calendar at WF does start comps@).  And I hate to sound stroppy here, but neither am I in a position to be passing on other writers’ article ideas to the editor, especially if I don’t know those writers from Adam. That is something writers should approach the editor about directly. One of the things you need to learn about being a writer is not feeling shy about emailing editors with ideas. After all, it’s clear that some people don’t feel shy about emailing a perfect stranger who’s website they just happen to have come across after putting ‘writing’ in Google. It seems to me that it makes more sense to get valid contact information from the actual Writers Forum website than it does to assume that someone who mentions writing for them is also in charge of accepting submissions.

A friend of mine who runs a very helpful blog also receives submissions for the markets she writes about, even though she has nothing to do with those markets other than as a fellow writer who hopes they’ll publish her. She kindly points the mistaken writers in the right direction.

Whilst I’m all for helping other writers and pointing them in the right direction, as is my friend, it is important that someone wanting to submit to a market researches that market properly and learns exactly who they’re supposed to contact. Just because someone writes a blog or website devoted to a particular market, or as I do, to writing comps, does not mean that we are the people running those markets or comps. That’s a bit like assuming someone who runs a blog showing naked pictures of Sean Bean lives next door to him so can pass on your demand for those 300 extra free minutes (I shan’t make that mistake again!)

It’s also important to make sure that you are targeting the right market with the right type of article/story etc. Writers Forum is a writing magazine, ergo it features articles designed to be of interest to writers. It does not carry any other type of article. For special interest articles, one needs to be looking at either the womags or other lifestyle magazines to see if they fit. That means reading the magazines, rather than just closing your eyes and sticking a pin in one in the hopes it’s the right one. I think some new writers use a scattergun approach, just sending anything anywhere in the hopes it will stick. You may well get lucky and find the right market amongst them all, but you will also have let lots of other markets – and the odd blogger/comps calendar compiler – know that you didn’t do your homework properly. One day you may need those markets, so it’s a good idea not to show your unprofessionalism if you can help it.

What makes me uncomfortable is people thinking I’m the God of Writers Forum (or any other market I write for), and that I personally run all the comps I list (believe me, it takes me enough time to do the listings, let alone coordinating and judging the dozens of competitions listed every year!) Luckily the contact form does not allow for attachments, but I have had people send me their work in the past, which in these days of worries about plagiarism, makes me feel even more nervous. I never read the work, and delete it immediately, but I also live in fear of the day I inadvertantly write a story with a similar premise and the writer then believes I’ve stolen their ideas because they sent their story to me on such and such a date.

The Writers & Artists Yearbook is a good place to start when researching markets, and of course, the Internet is ideal as it contains loads of information (sometimes far more than you need). But as stated before, if you find a website or blog that specialises in writing about a particular market, don’t assume that the person running it is the editor or connected to that market in any way. Double check the information by putting the magazine’s name into Google. Most markets, if they’re not listed in the Writers and Artists Yearbook, will have their own webpage with contact numbers/email addresses so you can either email or ring up and ask who to approach with your ideas/work.

I’m pretty sure I’m preaching to the converted here, but I hope that at some point someone new to writing falls upon this blog and sees this post and learns from it. Having said that if anyone wants to contact me either on Twitter, Facebook or via my webpage contact form to ask me where they can find such information, I’m more than happy to point you in the right direction. I am generally known for being a nice person like that. Just don’t send me your work and/or your ideas then later accuse me of stealing it because you haven’t taken the time to make sure you’ve emailed the right person.

>Jane Holland and Salt Publishing’s New Romance Imprint

>The always fabulous Literary Project has a fascinating interview with ‘romance’ editor Jane Holland. As well as Jane discussing her own likes and dislikes in the romance line, she gives details of Salt Publishing’s upcoming romance imprint called Embrace. As well as novels around the 60k-65k range, they’re looking for novellas from 12k-25k. Full details, including how to submit can be found in Jane’s interview.

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>Kate Long’s Blog Tour on Nik Perring’s blog and Ask Sally #29

>The final leg of Kate Long’s blog tour rolls into Nik Perring’s blog (or as I like to call him, Gentleman Nik Perring). There’s also a chance to win a signed copy of Kate’s newest novel, A Mother’s Guide To Cheating by sharing your memories of the hymns and poems that have inspired you.

On a different subject, can I bring everyone’s attention to Ask Sally #29 where Hywela Lyn has left some great information about publishers of novella length romances.

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>Writing serials for womags

>On Facebook I asked Sue Moorcroft if she had any tips for writing womag serials. That lovely lady has gone to the trouble of writing a whole blog post on the subject.

Thank you, Sue, for taking the trouble. Now all I have to do is think about what I’m going to write!

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>A Pocketful of Dreams

>Having written one My Weekly Pocket Novel (which was accepted) and being two-thirds into another, I reckon I’m expert enough to tell everyone else how to do it now. Okay, not really, and that was meant to be a joke, but I did do a fair bit of research, reading others from the market before sitting down to write mine, so what I’m really sharing here is my own experience of reading and writing them, and a few tips that might help you.

The idea of sitting down to write a My Weekly Pocket Novel seems simple. After all, they’re traditional romances and only 30,000 words long. How hard could it be to introduce your hero and heroine, have them fall in love but deny it – several times – before that wonderful moment when all misunderstandings are understood and they can go off happily into the sunset?

I’m here to tell you it’s not easy at all and I came away from the project with renewed respect for those who attempt it and succeed. The My Weekly Pocket Novel series has it’s own particular disciplines and requirements, and you treat them superficially or with disdain at your peril. Official guidelines are available via Womag’s Blog, but this post is about what I’ve learned, and I hope will help you if/when you come to write your own.

The first thing I learned was that it’s not at all easy to either make a love story stretch to 30k words, or condense it to 30k words. Much depends on your subject matter and your structure. I find it helpful to break my own novel up into three sections. Don’t take these figures as carved in stone. They can go a thousand or so words either way, as long as you end up at 30k words.

The novels are generally made up of short chapters, certainly no more than 3000 words for each chapter. I find that my earlier chapters, to set the scene, can be even shorter than that, from 1500 to 2000 words. But I also think of the novels as having three sections.

Section 1: The first 10,000 words. Hero and heroine meet. I would advise that even if your lovers don’t meet in the first chapter, the heroine (for it usually starts in her point of view) and the reader must become aware of the existence of the man of her dreams. I would suggest that given how short the novels are, the lovers do meet within the first 3000 words. Now would be a good time to hint at some problems that might affect their relationship. Introduce any supplementary characters, but keep the focus on the lovers.

Section 2: The next 10,000 words. This is the opportunity to have your hero and heroine thrown together all the time, either dealing with the ‘problem’, or if it’s crucial to the plot, ignoring the problems, so that it prevents them getting together. It’s the time to build up their relationship, even if it hasn’t become a full relationship yet.

Section 3: I think of the last 10,000 words as the ‘wind down’ period. You’ve built up the ‘problem’, you’ve had your hero and heroine struggling to overcome it. Now they need to be facing it head on, so that they can walk off into the sunset. That doesn’t mean there are no more surprises to be had. Misunderstandings can be cleared up, bad guys/girls dealt with, and your hero and heroine can begin to declare their love.

Those sections could be subdivided, into six sections. How you do it is up to you. This is just a rough guide.

The hardest thing about writing a romance is avoiding predictability. It’s pretty clear to anyone who’s familiar with the genre that your hero and heroine are going to get together in the end. So your story probably needs something else, some sub-plot to keep the readers’ interest. My own preference is to add a bit of criminal intrigue, adding a Hitchcockian taste to the story. That way, your reader is not only reading to find out what happens to your lovers, but is also interested in the outcome of the featured intrigue. The important thing is that the sub-plot never gets in the way of the romance, and is in fact, a way of throwing your lovers together, so that as well as solving the mystery, they’re also learning about each other. That goes for any sub-plot you choose. The story must always come back to the romance between your lovers, and not get bogged down in the problems of others, be they children, pets or friends and family. Any sub-plot must inform the budding romance, not detract from it.

Your lovers must be morally sound. You and I may not think that a woman who’d had several lovers before meeting the man of her dreams is immoral in this day and age, but the readers of the Pocket Novels might. You might also think that the odd swear word is a normal part of life. It is in the real world, but not in Pocket Novel world. The hero gets a bit more leeway, and can have had other lovers, but even he must not be a male slut or uncouth in any way. Any previous relationships, whether marriages or otherwise, must always have ended because of the bad behaviour of the other party, with no blame attached to your hero and heroine. Even if the lovers doubt each other’s morals, due to some misunderstanding, all those doubts must be eradicated by the time they declare their love.

Explicit sex is out. That’s not to say you can’t suggest your lovers have had sex, but it must be clear that they’ve done so after making a clear commitment to each other, or a clear commitment must be in the offing. Keep the sex scenes sensual, but not explicit. There’s no need to tell the reader what goes where. Most of them will have some inkling. A good idea is to watch the old movies of the forties and fifties. Not only the films were black and white but the morals were too. You’ll also see how much they got away with inferring, with everything from unmarried mothers and illicit sex to criminal activity in very subtle ways. A clever writer can do that. You can learn a lot from watching old films about how to present the sort of story a Pocket Novel fan likes to read.

My trick, if dealing with a modern setting, is to gloss over previous relationships, unless they’re integral to the plot. I’d never proclaim my 21st century heroine a virgin, as it would be just too unrealistic in these modern times, and neither would I add a trite little paragraph about how she was really a good girl. That should be plain through her actions in the novel.

It should go without saying that the hero and heroine should be ‘nice’ people. Not necessarily sickly sweet, but honest, loyal and even if they have flaws and sometimes make mistakes, always kind to others. When dealing with historical romances, at least for this market, it is doubly important to adhere to the morals of the time.

When writing historically, it’s always wise to be clued up on the time you’re writing about. That includes the manners, the morals, the things people say, and what objects might appear in the novel. Remember that up until the 20th Century, women had certain restrictions on their behaviour. At least high-born women had. Don’t have your 16th century hero profess to being as ‘sick as a parrot’. In particular, beware anachronisms. It’s an oft-told story of mine that when I was writing a story about Anne Neville, the wife of Richard III, who was forced to work as a kitchenmaid for a short time, I wrote a scene where she peeled potatoes. Luckily I remembered before sending the story that potatoes didn’t actually reach these shores till the following century, during the reign of Elizabeth I. It’s even easier to get things wrong in more recent history. Whilst writing my current pocket novel, which is set in 1920, I used the expression that someone had ‘fallen off the radar’. As soon as I’d typed the words, I was hit by the vague recollection that radar wasn’t invented until WW2, so the idiom was out of place. As I couldn’t be bothered to check, wanting to get on with writing the novel (and knowing full well that if I opened my browser and googled ‘Radar’, it would be at least another hour before I got back to the novel) I took the phrase out immediately.

Always keep your story simple. You do only have 30k words in which to tell it, so avoid complicated plotlines that might take 80,000 words (or write that novel instead). Have no more than two problems that your hero and heroine need to solve. The first problem is obviously the romance itself. How do they get together? What prevents them from getting together? How do they overcome the obstacles keeping them apart? The second problem should have some influence on the relationship. Who committed a murder? Was it the hero? (Obviously not, unless he has a damn good reason for killing someone in self-defence). Are the hero or heroine in danger from the killer/business merger/interfering relatives/each other? What crisis do they have to deal with, which will eventually bring them together?

Incidentally, if you’re scoffing at all this, then I’d suggest writing for My Weekly Pocket Novels is not for you. Even if you disagree with the moral outlook of the readership, you need at least to have a healthy respect for their values.

The market doesn’t pay very much. It’s around £200 for First Cheap Paper Rights. So if you’re writing for the money, it may not interest you. If however, you’re writing for the challenge, the discipline and the chance of seeing a novel on the shelves that has your name on the cover, then give it a go!

Full Guidelines for writing Pocket Novels are available from Womag’s blog.

As I said, these are only my tips and ideas. I’d welcome any further suggestions from others who’ve written them.

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>Carina Press – Harlequin’s new digital only imprint

>This should be of interest to many of my visitors, and not just those of the female persuasion. Harlequin have launched a new digital imprint called Carina Press, and are looking for a wide ranging selection of novels, including sci-fi and horror. Guidelines below.

Carina Press is now accepting submissions for our digital publishing line.

Our mission is to connect readers with authors who write the stories they want to read. We will be introducing the bestsellers of tomorrow.

Carina Press will feature books from talented authors in all genres of romance, erotica, science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, women’s fiction, and more. If the book of your heart fits into a niche that has very little shelf space in a traditional bookstore, Carina Press is eager to read and potentially publish your story.

WHAT WE’RE SEEKING…
Carina Press will consider shorter length stories of less than 50,000 words, genre novels between 50,000 to 100,000 words and longer and complex narratives of over 100,000 words. We expect to publish a majority of romance and erotic romance but are also very interested in women’s fiction, science fiction, fantasy, futuristic, mystery, thrillers, horror, and niches. If you have something new and fresh we would be happy to read your story!

Your passion, quality of writing and voice is what will make your manuscript stand out and be considered for publication.

At this time we are not acquiring young adult novels. Additionally, Carina Press is not acquiring non-fiction or poetry of any kind.

Romance
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Futuristic
Erotica
Mystery
Thrillers
Horror
Family Saga
Women’s Fiction
Choose Your Own Adventure
Previously Released Material
How to Submit
Romance and Erotic Romance
We are seeking submissions in all subgenres and all levels of sensuality. We welcome everything from the very sweet to the incredibly sexy, featuring couples (or multiples) from all walks of life and sexual orientation, including same-sex romances. Romances should focus on the development of the relationship, as well as external and internal conflict; the heat level should be appropriate to the book and enhance the story, and the primary relationship in the book should offer a happily ever after (HEA) or happily for now in an emotionally satisfying manner.

The key element to a successful romance is characterization, creating a unique, believable hero and heroine who need to end up together in order to achieve the happily ever after. Alpha heroes remain popular.

Subgenres of romance we are seeking include, but are not limited to, historical, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, futuristic, contemporary, western, Egyptian, Roman, paranormal, erotic romance and fantasy.

Miniseries have proven to be very popular with readers and Carina Press is looking for interesting twists on established, popular romance themes (marriage of convenience, cowboys, vampires, babies). We are interested in seeing your fresh interpretation on novels featuring astrology, pets – especially rescue animals – playing a role within the story as matchmaker or catalyst, and other unusual or fresh themes. The only limit is your imagination!

Please also see the science fiction, fantasy and futuristic guidelines.

Science fiction, fantasy, futuristic
Carina Press is keen to acquire manuscripts in this genre, both those that fall within the romance category and those that have only romantic elements or little to no romance. Under this genre, we are also very interested in space opera, steampunk, cyberpunk and other similar genres and subgenres.

Erotica
Erotica, differing from erotic romance in not promising a happily ever after within the story line, will also be considered. The story must still contain good character and plot development, and the sexual content must be integral to the development of the story. No Penthouse Letters, please! No incest or bestiality.

Mystery
We are open to the full range of mysteries, from soft to hard including cozies, procedurals, historical mysteries, and contemporary PIs. We are very open to seeing mysteries in the 60,000 to 80,000 word range.

Thrillers
Thrill us with your edge-of-the-seat suspense story. We are open to all types and very eager to find psychological, legal, medical, and political thrillers.

Horror
Scare us!

Family Saga
Focusing on the loves, lives, dramas, traumas of several generations of a family.

Choose Your Own Adventure
Do you have a 21st century way of telling a choose your own adventure story?

Previously released material
Carina Press will also acquire books that have been previously released in print form, but for which the author has either retained digital rights or had digital rights revert to them. Please contact: malle_vallik@carinapress.com

HOW TO SUBMIT
Please submit queries for only completed, fully polished manuscripts. In the subject line of your query, please type manuscript name, author name, genre. Queries should include the following:

Brief, introductory query letter listing genre, word count and a short description of the book, as well as any pertinent information about the author, including both legal name and pen name and any writing credits.
The manuscript saved as an RTF file and attached, with file name TITLE_MANUSCRIPT where you substitute your book’s title in place of TITLE.
2-5 page synopsis of book that details character development, plot, and conflict/story resolution. Attach as an RTF file with file name TITLE_SYNOPSIS where you substitute your book’s title in place of TITLE.
Please be sure to put the following information on the first page of all files: manuscript name, author pen name/legal name, email address, phone number, genre, and word count.

Submissions should be sent to submissions@carinapress.com.

All submissions will receive an auto-response acknowledging receipt of submission. Please allow 8-10 weeks for an editorial response to your submission. If a response has not been received after 10 weeks, please follow-up with the submissions@carinapress.com email address.

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>Calls for Subs – Legend Press Short Story collection

>Call for submissions for 2010 Legend Press
Short Story collection

Legend Press are delighted to announce the opening of submissions for our 2010 short story collection. This collection (published in Spring 2010) will be the fifth in our acclaimed Short Story Re-Invented Series. We are looking for talented, vibrant authors to submit stories for consideration.

Our short-fiction series is designed for todays busy, but discerning, reader. Short fiction is the perfect answer for the modern reader on the move who wants to read easily accessible, sleek contemporary fiction. Through this series we hope to reaffirm the short story’s inimitable place in the mainstream market.

We are calling for writers to send in their submissions by 16th October 2009. The theme for this year’s collection is ‘Journeys’. Writers are invited to interpret this theme any way they wish: whether a literal journey (for example a trip, pilgrimage etc), an emotional journey (divorce, birth etc) or any other way you wish to interpret the theme.

Guidelines
· Short-story of approximately 7,000-10,000 words
· Your story should be based on a ‘Journey’ whether literal, or the writer’s own interpretation of the word.
· We would like each story to draw inspiration from a stream-of-consciousness style of writing and to follow the actions/thoughts of a single main character.
· Non-genre-specific
· Thought provoking and original. We want to feel moved and inspired by these stories.

Submission procedure

· Please submit stories to Legend Press by email to submissions@legend-paperbooks.co.uk by 16th October 2009. Any questions or queries, just let us know and we’ll try to get back to you as soon as we can. Email lucyboguslawski@legend-paperbooks.co.uk.
· Visit the Online shop page of our website http://www.legendpress.co.uk — for details of the first four collections in the series, The Remarkable Everyday, Seven Days, Eight Hours and Eight Rooms.
· For further information visit

Aim of this collection:

High quality, thought provoking short fiction can perfectly fill what before may have been an enforced gap of ‘dead-time’ in the daily routine. We believe that dipping into our unique brand of short fiction is not as daunting as delving into a thick novel on the Tube when you know that soon you will be interrupted mid-chapter, yet the subject matter is still weighty and meaningful enough to give the modern reader something new to think about and feel inspired about for the rest of the day, week, month and year.

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>Getting It Right

>Whilst updating my comps calendar yesterday, I came across the concerns of one comp organiser about entries to their last competition. The comp was the Rose and Crown New Novels Competition. The organisers are quite specific in that they’re seeking entries in the Christian Inspirational Romance tradition, and have a page explaining clearly what they mean by that.

Now this may not be your thing, and that’s fine. Chances are that if it’s not your thing, you’re not going to be sending an entry and paying the £18 entry fee. Or so you’d think. In their precis of the last competition they ran, they encountered the following problems:

Some of the wrong-genre entries were written before Christ was born; others were after Christ’s birth but had no Christian content; others had no romance storyline at all.

You’d think the clues would have been in the words “Christian Inspirational Romance”. Personally I don’t see why people couldn’t live a ‘Christian’ life before Christ was born. What I mean by that is that one doesn’t have to be a Christian to have a strong moral foundation and live one’s life in a good way. Having said that, I completely understand that as the Rose & Crown/Sunpenny imprints are so obviously looking for romantic ‘Christian’ tales, and ask that at least one character is a Christian then it’s important that Christ is in there somewhere.

As for people sending in novels with no romance, when the comp clearly asks for romance. Words fail me. I do have an image of these nice Christian ladies, hoping for a warm, morally sound story about people being kind to each other faced with a tale about Nazi Vampire Hordes.

Last year I had an article published in The New Writer, called Werewolf Not Included. You can read it on my website, here (scroll down the page). It charts the problem that Graveside Tales had when they put out a call for a werewolf anthology. Or, because they were happy to spread the net wider, a were-creature. Even a were-hamster was suggested (oh and I wish I’d written that story!) The editors were mystified when they received stories that had no were-creatures at all. Not even a cute and cuddly were-hamster.

The thing is that with Graveside Tales, and other market calls, it’s generally free to submit (and if you’re ever asked to pay to submit to a market, rather than a comp, I’d strongly suggest you take your talents elsewhere), but the Rose and Crown New Novel comp costs a whopping £18 to enter. Incidentally, given the scope of the competition and the fact they ask for a full manuscript to read, I think this entry fee is fair. It baffles me why anyone would pay that much, yet send in an entry that’s so off base.

When I mentioned this on Twitter yesterday, Jane Smith of How Publishing Really Works, suggested they did it out of desperation. I can understand that. New writers (including me in the early days) want shortcuts, so they tend to take shortcuts. That includes not really reading the smallprint (or in the case of Rose & Crown, the print at the very beginning of their requirements that you have to get through to get to the other rules …). I think Jane is probably right. But I also think that some people believe that regardless of the fact their novel about the Nazi Vampire Hordes isn’t exactly a perfect fit for the Christian Inspirational Romance tradition, the judges will be so impressed by their writing that it won’t matter.

But it does matter. Even if it doesn’t cost £18 to enter, it matters that writers send in work that fits the market. Mention of Cadenza recently has reminded me of the time, before I was online and got to know some of the editors on Get Writing and became more familiar with the requirements, that I’m pretty sure I sent them a story that would have fit better in a woman’s magazine (but at least it didn’t have Nazi Vampires – At least I don’t think it did. Believe me I’ve sent some equally off-base subs to womags in the dark distant past). I know better now, and because of that I always stress the importance of networking, because by getting to know other writers, you learn about the mistakes they’ve made, so hopefully you avoid making them yourself in the future. And do read guidelines. Especially if you’re going to be parting with quite a bit of cash.

In the meantime, I eagerly await the day that the Rose & Crown folks, overwhelmed by the literary genius of an entry to their comp, sweep aside such titles as Once Upon A Christmas and My Soul Cries Out in favour of The March Of The Nazi Vampire Hordes. Well, it could happen. But I won’t be holding my breath…

(Please see my previous post about Blog TakeOver Day on Tues 11th Aug. Join in, pass the word, or just read and support those who are having a go)

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>Not all doom and gloom

>The lovely Bernadette did a bit of a calculation yesterday, based on what magazines are still taking fiction (this is in terms of British women’s magazines). She’s given me permission to post her findings here:

Adding up the stories published by WW/MW/TaB/Candis/Lady/Yours and PF in a year, the total comes to more than 1500. Best published about 50. So although it’s disappointing it’s only a 3% drop in the market.

And if you check out womag’s blog there are other overseas markets taking stories.

So maybe it ain’t so bad after all.

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>The Future Shines…

>This is an interesting anthology. Instead of distopian futures, they’re looking for something a bit more optimistic. I reckon that if I can stop thinking that we’re all going to be fried in our beds (that’s if we’re not being watched 24/7 by our Big Brotheresque masters, dying from superviruses or killing each other in urban jungles) I could come up with something for this.

Stories up to 10k words, set in the near future (not more than 50 years hence). It must be:

Convincing and optimistic: Imagine that we are the biggest skeptics on the planet, then show us how things can change for the better, and persuade us.

Stories must be previously unpublished (see full details of what they mean by ‘unpublished’ on weblog), and those chosen will receive 5c a word and possible anthology revenues.

Reading period: May to June 2009 for early 2010 release.

More details at the Shine Anthology weblog.

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Writing Competitions Calendar

>Legend Press Call for Submissions

>Legend Press are looking for short stories for their next anthology. As before, they’re looking for stream-of-consciousness style stories of 9000-12000 words, but this time the action in the story must all take place in one room, though there is no limit on timescale within the story. They say that the term ‘room’ can be taken quite loosely to mean any sort of room, whether in a house, church, hospital and so on.

They prefer non-genre specific stories, so no fantasy, crime, romance, historical, thrillers etc.

Closing date for submissions: 31st October 2008

More Details

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NEW writing competitions calendar

>Beginnings anthology – an editor responds

>I think it only fair to post this more publicly, after questions were raised about the ‘Beginnings’ anthology I advertised the other day. It’s from Kyle Jones, one of the editors. I respect Kyle for coming here and sticking his head above the parapet, and for laying out the idea behind the anthology very clearly, along with what’s expected (or not as the case may be) of the authors. Thanks Kyle, and good luck with the project!

Hi Sally. I’m Kyle Jones from AbandonedNovel.com. I’ve just read your entry and read that people have concerns. I was recently addressing similar concerns on a writers forum, and I’d like to address those here as well to let everyone know who we are.

AbandonedNovel is two guys (and off-and-on aspiring writers) who work together in Texas. We’re not scammers trying to take money from aspiring writers. We’re not intending to get people to sign up and then steal intellectual property from people who have submitted their unfinished novels.

Here’s the deal- Scott and I are good friends and coworkers who have both written fiction extensively, but never published any works and have many unfinished novels. Talking about this over lunch one day we discussed how reading through our old stuff, we realized that there were really good stories in there, but we’d lost our motivation for one reason or another. That led to further discussion that if we had such works, there had to be many more authors out there (more talented than ourselves) who were in the same boat. And if we could find the best of those unfinished stories, then we could publish an anthology that would be unique and compelling. Would everyone like it? Surely not. But we would be interested in reading such a compilation and, I can tell your from reading the submissions we’ve already received, it’s very interesting reading the very beginnings of an unfamiliar story.

Thus, we came up with the website- wrote out the terms and conditions and sent out initial releases with our information. We’ve been very happy with the response so far, but we understand some people are skeptical. So here’s some information about us:

1) This is our first foray into publishing. Our goal is to generate interest in a unique idea to generate interest in the book. Hopefully there will be a large enough interest and we can explore a large print run. Nobody is trying to hide anything. We’re two guys with an idea we think is good. We’re pursuing it.

2) We’re not seeking any money from people who submit works. We won’t charge anyone submitting stories any fees whatsoever. There will be no reading fees, editing fees or requirements that the published authors or submitters buy copies of the book. In fact, all authors published in the anthology will be receiving copies of the book at no expense. There is not going to be a minimum sales requirement under the guise of a cost of recovery, and the royalty contract will pay off from the sale of the first book. The bottom line is this- we’re assuming all the financial risk and asking no one to share in it. We think that a reputable publishing company bears all the risk of loss and does not try to foist it off on the authors.

We really think this is a good idea and we’re hoping to make a success of it. If anyone has questions, I’m more than happy to answer any of them. My phone number is in the press release, or people can email me at media@abandonednovel.com.

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NEW writing competitions calendar

>Beginnings – Dust Off Your Abandoned Novel

>http://www.abandonednovel.com/

The abandoned novel. Every author or aspiring writer has one. In your mind you’ve created a brilliant and compelling story that begs to be committed to the page. Two or three chapters into it, fate intervenes. Maybe it’s writer’s block. Maybe your computer crashes. Maybe you’ve just lost your motivation. For what ever reason that great story never gets told in its entirety. But just because its unfinished doesn’t mean it’s not a great story- it’s just a great story still waiting to be told.

At AbandonedNovel.com, we’re seeking the greatest stories never finished. We want the best beginnings to your unfinished novels to publish in a new book with other stories that never found their conclusion.

We are currently accepting submissions for inclusion in a new paperback release: Beginnings – A Novel. Beginnings will feature ten selections of the best opening chapters of abandoned novels. Almost every genre is eligible for inclusion (please no erotic fiction, romance novels or children’s books). Selected authors will be notified and will receive a royalty contract. The deadline for submission is November 30, 2008 and the scheduled publication of Beginnings – A Novel is slated for June 1, 2009. For our submission guidelines and instructions on how to upload your own abandoned novel, please click the “submit” button. http://www.abandonednovel.com/submit.html All authors submitting original work retain their original copyright of the material submitted.

Submission Guidelines

We are looking to receive the beginnings of unfinished novels for inclusion in a collection tentatively scheduled for publication in Summer 2009. Please keep these submission guidelines in mind, as they may effect whether your submission is selected for publication.

1. This collection is about beginnings. If you have 300 pages of a 600 page novel finished, do not submit the entire work. While we do not have hard and fast restrictions on the number of pages, chapters, or words that can be submitted, we are targeting 25-30 printed pages per unfinished novel. A really great beginning may be selected even if it was only 5-10 pages long. We might stretch a selection or two out to 50 pages. However, as a general rule, aim for 25-30 pages and 7500 words.

2. We will consider most genres. We will not consider (a) erotic fiction (b) romance or (c) children’s stories. Fantasy novels, in the vein of Harry Potter are perfectly acceptable. However, do not sent us your take on the Curious George series. Fan fiction is not acceptable. Works based on characters owned by others are not acceptable under any circumstances.

3. We can accept electronic submission of PDF, MS Word and Wordperfect manuscripts. You can upload a submission up to 2 Mb in size directly to us. If your submission is in another format or is larger than 2 Mb, please visit our alternate submission page for instructions.

4. All submissions must be accompanied by a completed submission form and acceptance of the Terms and Conditions of submission. If you submit electronically, completing the web entry form will meet these requirments. If you use an alternate submission method, do not submit anything to us without these forms. We will not open, read or consider any material unless you have accepted the Terms and Conditions of submission.

5. All submissions should include a cover page clearly identifying the title of the work, the name, address and contact information of the author. Submit only your own work. The cover page must contain your copyright as an affirmation of your ownership of the work submitted.

6. You may submit as many different works as you desire. Please do not submit the same work more than once. The submission deadline is November 30, 2008. Do not expect to hear any response from us before that date.

7. You submission will automatically be saved and considered for any collections published within three years of the date of your submission. You will not need to resubmit the work for any future requests we make during that time period.

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NEW writing competitions calendar

>Honno Extension for Crime anthology

>Honno have extended the closing date for submissions to their Crime anthology. It’s now 1st April 2008. That’s only next Tuesday I know, but if you have something suitable ready you could perhaps send it over the weekend.

To submit, you must be female, and either Welsh, living in Wales or have a strong connection to Wales (I don’t think the Severn Bridge counts).

NEW writing competitions calendar

>Pulp.net Submissions Call: Holidays from Hell

>

[Extended] 31 Jan: Pulp Net, Holidays from Hell
If you didn’t spot this call before, or were too busy revelling to drop a line, let’s hear from you now!

We’ve all had them, but everybody has a different idea of what might constitute a holiday from hell. Is it a crime, an sudden change of travel plans, the realisation that you picked the wrong travelling companion? It could be all three, it could be none of the above. Write a story describing your holiday from hell, in under 4000 words. All selected contributions paid at the usual rate. (£100 per story)

You can submit online and get more details (follow the link that said Live Lit) at http://www.pulp.net

NEW writing competitions calendar

>Writing Opportunities and competitions from Literature Training

>Thanks to Tracey who alerted me to this site, which has a long list of writing opportunities and competitions.

Literature Training

NEW writing competitions calendar

>Writing opportunities from gumtree.com

>

Freelance Writers/Interviewers for The Talent Magazine
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Location: London
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The Talent Magazine is looking for voluntary freelance writers/ journalists/ interviewers to come on board.

We are specifically looking for people with a keen interest/knowledge in the film, tv & theatre industries however we feature all creative talent from Actors, Production Personnel, Models, Photographers, Musicians, Artists, Dancers and more. so an all round knowledge of the arts would be great.

This is your chance to gain experience on an exciting publication which is on sale quarterly in Borders throughout the UK as well as stores in Paris & LA. Its also a great opportunity to work with a dynamic team and make some good contacts in the industry.

You would be contributing on a voluntary basis. People who come on board on a voluntary basis will be given preference when we are able to start formally hiring freelance journalists.

If you are interested please email writing samples as soon as possible to the Film, TV & Theatre Editor – Leoni Kibbey. leoni(at)thetalentmagazine(dot)com

http://www.gumtree.com/london/83/16839283.html

and this one:

Fiction writer sought
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Location: Location unimportant
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We are seeking a talented fiction writer for a film-related project. The writer (or writers) must have imagination, some knowledge of or interest in the internet and be available for an immediate start.

The successful applicant will have a portfolio of fiction and/or journalism with which to demonstrate their skills and experience.

As long as the applicant is able demonstrate their expertise as a writer then talent and enthusiasm are as important as experience for this project.

The project will be a minimum of 1 week’s work but could be upto 6 weeks.

Anyone interested should email me through the form and then send a cover email plus CV and/or portfolio.

Fee negotiable.

http://www.gumtree.com/london/28/16532128.html

You can email the poster of the message above by following the gumtree link at the bottom of the message.

>D.L. Snell’s Market Scoops

>This is an interesting new resource. Author D.L. Snell interviews the publishers putting out anthology calls to get a better idea of what they want for their market. Used in conjunction with Ralan it’s a very good resource for writers interested in writing for the dark/speculative fiction market.

>Another Hadleyrille anthology call

>Hadley Rille Books are looking for yet more stories on the theme Desolate Places. As before, they want stories that are inspired by the cover on the guidelines page. See here for more details.

>Anthology Call – Ruins Metropolis

>Hadleyrille books are looking for short stories 2000-6000 words inspired by the very tasty cover picture which is situated on the submissions page, and the two words Ruins Metropolis. They pay $25-$30 for each accepted submission plus royalties and each contributor gets a copy of the anthology. Closing date 31st October 2007 More details and full guidelines can be found here

I really like the look of this one so am probably going to give it a shot.