It’s something that happens to many a writer – there you are, happily writing away for a regular slot in a magazine or newspaper – when that slot suddenly disappears. Not only have you lost a market you frequently write for, you’ll also have lost the regular income you receive from it. Or perhaps you’ve been writing short stories for one of the women’s weeklies and haven’t quite yet made it. You may even have received some positive rejection letters and know you’re very close – and then the magazine announces they’ll only accept stories from writers who’ve been published with them before. They might even stop publishing short stories altogether.
So what do you do? Cry? Scream? Vow never to write again? At the very least, you’ll feel annoyed and probably mutter a thing or two under your breath. I was in this position when the Guardian changed one of their weekend supplements I’d been writing something for on a regular basis and when The People’s Friend children’s corner ceased publication and they were no longer able to publish my children’s stories.
But there’s hope. You can turn a negative into a positive. Once I’d picked up all the toys I’d thrown out of the pram, I took action. Here, I share the steps I took and the steps you can take if this happens to you.