INTRODUCTIONS

Welcome…

This is always a busy month in the WM office. And not

THE WORLD OF WRITING

Derek Hudson finds brain food, writer workouts, author insecurities and a literary treasure trove in this month’s world of writing

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We want to hear your news and views on the writing

Editorial calendar

Strong forward planning will greatly improve your chances with freelance submissions. Here are some themes to consider for the coming months

By any other name…

Patrick Forsyth suggests that author ego may lose you sales

Novel Ideas

Think writing has an age limit? Lynne Hackles takes

A question of time

Be realistic about what you can do with your time, says Patrick Forsyth

Social minefield

Charlotte Murphy, trainee solicitor, and Éamon Chawke, partner at Briffa, The Society of Authors’ solicitors, offer some advice on social media for writers

THE DEVIL is in the detail

Piers Blofeld offers a word of warning to authors about the dangers of dealing with a difficult agent

Ask a Literary Consultant

How do you write characters whose lives and experiences differ from your own? Cornerstones managing editor Julie Gourinchas advises a writer wanting to proceed with sensitivity

Screen dreams

Jane Wenham-Jones finds practical suggestions for a writer who is tempted to try TV screenplays but realistic about the chance of succeeding in such a competitive industry

Helpline

Diana Cambridge solves your writing problems

Resources for poetry writers

Tarja Moles looks at what’s out there for poets wanting to research and develop their skills

BEHIND THE TAPE

Expert advice to get the details right in your crime fiction, from serving police officer Lisa Cutts

SETTING OUT: The first chapter

Author James McCreet looks at the most important part of the novel (for readers)

Every chapter tells a story

Adrian Magson looks at how chapters help writers shape and structure their story

Under the Microscope

James McCreet applies his forensic criticism to the beginning of a young writer’s YA novel

Creative tention

A good storyteller piles on the pressure to keep readers hooked, says Margaret James

I wish I’d known…

with Sue Moorcroft

Memories are made of this

Helen M Walters uses a short story by Katherine Mansfield to explore how conflicting memories can add layers to your fiction

How not to WRITE A PICTURE BOOK

Amy Sparkes launches WM’s Picture Book Prize by telling you the mistakes not to make

Transcending time

YA author Adrienne Young explains the enduring appeal of fantasy to readers (and writers!) of all ages

TO BOLDLY GO BY THE RULES

Alex Davis offers his top ten tips for writing science fiction

Block busters

Worry that you might be suffering from the dreaded writer’s block? Banish fear with fun in these exercises from Alex Smith

Gadgetise your writing

Hone your skills and pocket some swag by targeting filler slots in mags that interest you, as Simon Elson explains

Blessings in disguise

KH Irvine describes how losing her agent turned out to be a good thing

Under the covers

First-time author Gillian Harvey counts down to her publication

Away from your desk

Get out of your garret for some upcoming activities and places to visit

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

Listen carefully. The future is aural. Simon Whaley hears what two authors have to say about audiobooks.

One door closes…

Lorraine Mace encourages any writer feeling as if the door to success has been slammed in their face

TRUNK’S CALL

Baby Ganesh Agency author Vaseem Khan learnt discipline, craft and patience during a 23-year ‘apprenticeship’, he tells Tina Jackson

HOW I got published

The YA author describes how using editorial services helped him draft and structure a publishable debut

HANIF KUREISHI

Tony Rossiter looks at the bestselling author who put British Asian writing firmly on the map

ADELE PARKS

The prolific bestselling novelist shares her top five reads with Judith Spelman

CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP

If your writing group would like to feature here, whether

SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe

ANITA FRANK

Living in a haunted farmhouse inspired a ghostly debut, says Adrian Magson

ANDREW CROFTS

The ghostwriter tells Lynne Hackles how he stays close to home to write

Seasonal greetings

Embrace the turning seasons with these creative writing exercises from Jenny Alexander

Linda’s Demons

Linda slouched under the harsh fluorescent light, her

Branching out

Flesh out your fictional characters by giving them a family tree in this writing group exercise from Julie Phillips

Opposites attract

Alison Chisholm explores an exceptional poem that resulted from the challenge of a themed competition

Poetry in practice

Play with rhyming couplets to give yourself a change of pace, suggests Doris Corti

We wish you…

Alison Chisholm launches WM’s Christmas Poetry Competition

Genius poetry

Alison Chisholm is impressed with the winners of the competition for works celebrating Leonardo da Vinci

Rewarding literary talent

Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying

Koontz goes with the flow

In an illustration of the way Amazon is changing the

Quick flash

The Edinburgh International Flash Fiction Award 2020

A compelling episode

Win $10,000 for a pilot episode script for a drama

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

A weekly feel-good fixture

Championing collections

The 2019 Edge Hill Short Story Prize shortlist has

Crime time or screen time?

Crime and thriller festival Capital Crime has conducted

FLASHES

Delicious. magazine editor Karen Barnes welcomes letters

GLOBAL NON-FICTION MARKET

Keen for pitches and ideas for future issues from journalists

Fantasy winners

The nominations for World Fantasy Award Best Novel

Brave weirdos here

A print and online literary and arts biannual, American

Seasonal strangeness

Enter odd, strange and downright peculiar short seasonal

Keep it short

Past winners of the international Short Story Competition

ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET

Longreads is a US-based website dedicated to the publication

Give your writing a scifitrip

Original previously unpublished submissions are wanted

It’s a Funny Old World

Belgian writer Georges Simenon (1903-1989) the author

FLASHES

First prize is €2,000 and a residency at the Tyrone

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

A magazine to break into

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

Get to know Tiny Fox

Enlist

Lists on the themes of nature, travel, lifestyle and

US LITERARY MARKET

A destination to aim for

Centre stage for over 55s

An unproduced writer over 55 based in NW England could

Contemplate space

Lichfield Cathedral Poetry Festival is inviting entries

FLASHES

Prizes are €300 for both poetry and flash fiction in

GLOBAL LITERARY MARK

Land your story

Debut snags top UK SF prize

Tade Thompson has won the 33rd Arthur C Clarke Award

An island of possibility for new northern crime writers

Crime author LJ Ross, who recently simultaneously topped

Great poems for Gregory O’Donoghue

Munster Literature Centre is inviting entries for the

UK NON-FICTION MARKET

Ferret looking for newshounds

MA creative writing

The Massachusetts Review has a reputation for literary

Do it for Dylan

Indigo Dreams’ forthcoming anthology invites poems

And another thing…

‘There’s a big office upstairs with a nice view of

FLASHES

David Hollingsworth is the editor of What’s On TV magazine.

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Dip in to Blue Nib

Small but beautiful

A small independent publisher based in Manchester,

GLOBAL POETRY MARKET

Red Dashboard is a quirky US indie publishing ‘intriguing

Get going with Gransnet

Gransnet and Harper Collins imprint HQ have teamed

UK LITERARY MARKET

Let your writing hop here

FLASHES

Fergus Collins edits BBC Countryfile magazine, and

GLOBAL NON-FICTION MARKET

Inspiring young minds

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Reach for the top

Library loans

Public Lending Right’s annual figures show the most

UK WELLBEING MARKET

Making sense of mental health

FLASHES

Garry Coward- Williams edits Amateur Gardening magazine

ONLINE TECHNOLOGY MARKET

Real Life is a website devoted to essays about living

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Get a Slice of the action

Cherry seeds

Cherry Tree is a literary annual put together by this

Get graphic for

Win £1,000 and publication in the Observer/Jonathan

INTERNATIONAL

Sword & Kettle Press publish ‘Corvid Queen’ their

FLASHES

Jessica Gunn is the editor of Waitrose & Partners

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

An internationally acclaimed literary journal publishing

GLOBAL BOOK MARKET

Turner Publishing Company is an award-winning US independent

Don’t delay your Dalkey entries

Win €1,000 in the Dalkey Creates Writing Festival international

Press seeks poems for prizes

Win a top prize of $5,000 for an unpublished poetry

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Practical Boat Owner is a magazine aimed at real boat

Get your shorts down for Southport

Southport Writers’ Circle is inviting entries for the

FLASHES

‘A literary journal from another dimension’, Outlook

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Submissions are open for the annual Upstreet magazine

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

City Owl Press is a US print and digital indie founded

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Zyzzyva is a well established American literary journal

UK FICTION MARKET

Fairlight Books publishes literary fiction and cross-genre

ONLINE ENVIRONMENTAL MARKET

Wild Lot Press is a website, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Welcome…

Regular WM readers might remember that we introduced

Open competitions

Fill your inkwells and dive into your creative well with a sneak peek at our competition programme for the first six months of 2020

SUBSCRIBER–ONLY Short story competitions

The short story competitions previewed here are open

COMPETITION GUIDE 2020

Pick your favourites and start scheduling your entries with over 660 competitions to enter. Could this be the year you win big!

Young love vs

Swanwick winner Poetry winner

Olly’s Monster Night

Swanwick winner Writing for children

The Heart That Was Left In the Wardrobe

Swanwick winner Short story