Ghosting around

Writers love telling stories. Simon Whaley chats to two writers who help bring others’ stories to life through their ghostwriting services

FICTION OPPORTUNITIES

The Fiction Desk Summer 2024

NOVEL COMPETITIONS

The 2024 Exeter Novel Prize Win a £1,000

GENERAL NEWS

Hugo Awards 2024 The Hugo Awards, the most

LITMAG OPPORTUNITIES

The McNeese Review The McNeese Review is produced

SHORT FICTION COMPETITIONS

The Bath Flash Fiction Award October 2024 The

NON-FICTION COMPETITIONS

Bridport Memoir Award 2024 The Bridport Memoir Award

ANTHOLOGY MARKETS

Flame Tree Publishing UK press Flame Tree Publishing

Gypsum Sound Tales: On the Farm

Submissions are curently being accepted in any genre

POETRY COMPETITIONS

Passionfruit Poetry Prize 2024 The Passionfruit Review’s competition

Make oportunities knock

Patrick Forsyth suggests forward planning for future promotional opportunities

SMALL PRESS OPPORTUNITIES

Horrorsmith Publishing Lyndsey Smith, editor at Horrorsmith Publishing,

PODCAST MARKET Mirage

Mirage is a niche travel writing podcast looking

WRITING FOR CHILDREN OPPS

The School Magazine The School Magazine is the

ZINES AND WEBSITES ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

The Dodge The Dodge is a literary magazine

NOVEL PRIZE

2024 Blue Pencil Agency Pitch Prize

WELCOME

DEAR READER Why think small when everything is

Making talent PAY

In par t three of this series, James McCreet looks at how you can put your honed writing skills to use in creating readable, persuasive words that pay

THE FICTIONAL SUITCASE

Your children’s stories can take their readers on a journey that will introduce them to the rich diversity of the world. Children’s author Chitra Soundar offers advice on infusing your writing with culture and heritage

What is writing?

As writers, how much do we consider what writing actually consists of, and what the act of doing it means? asks Tim Brookes. founder of the Endangered Alphabets Project

FINDING poems

As National Poetry Day approaches, poet Kenneth Steven offers a thoughtful writer’s guide to the process of finding your poems – and opening up space so a poem can find you

CROSS-POLLINATION

Poetry can offer transferrable skills to prose writers, says Helen Stockton, as she outlines poetic techniques that will put the shine on your words

Go with the flow

Literary author Will Eaves, whose new book is called The Point of Distraction, tells Tina Jackson about the sense of liberation to be found in pursuing different areas of creativity

Dress up and show up

Thinking about what your characters wear and how their garments were produced adds layers of meaning to your worldbuilding, says fantasy author and fashion historian Natania Barron

REAL LIFE, great stories

Jenny Alexander looks at autofiction, which mixes fact and fiction, and advises you how to write it and when it might be particularly effective to tell your story

Your writing critiqued

James McCreet applies a forensic micro-critique to the beginning of a reader’s manuscript

THE BUILDING BLOCK OF CHARACTER: PART FOUR

Everyone in your stories needs a reason for being there, says author and tutor Ian Ayris, as he shines a light on the role played by secondary characters

House of SECRETS

Polly Crosby looks at the creation of the beginning of her new gothic novel, and how she generated the impression, right from the start, of a place steeped in mystery

Time travel for the clueless

Novelist Jodi Taylor explores how to write science fiction when you know nothing about science. And not much about writing fiction.

JULIET GREENWOOD

The author of emotional historical novels tells Lynne Hackles about fitting deadlines around her day job

Expanding possibilities

Feeling a bit stale? Tired of writing the same old same old? Margaret James suggests you push yourself out of your comfort zone and explore unfamiliar areas of writing

Moonlighting

Helen Walters looks at how information can be communicated in a story, using an example of a gothic tale with unreliable narrators

WINNING SERIES

With the WM Children’s Book prize open for entries, Amy Sparkes looks at how considering the series potential of chapter books can put you in pole position for a win

Sunshine HORROR

Alex Davis shines a light on how you can write summer frights

G. D. WRIGHT

The former police officer describes how a heart condition put a stop to his first career – and made him determined to realise his ambition to write

SHELF LIFE

SALLY PAGE

As sayings go

Alison Chisholm examines a draft of a poem that takes proverbs as its theme

Resting bitch face

Writers’ talks inevitably attract ‘the one’, says Lynne Hackles

The world of writing

What goes through a writer’s brain? Readers’ letters and dispatches from the wide world of writing

THE POWER OF FICTION

‘In many ways I think fiction is the

TYPOTASTIC

Perhaps the word rate for proofreading in Whitstable

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Can I play devil’s advocate here, or at

SOMETHING IN MY EYE

I don’t shed tears very often, some say

WORDS FLY

The question of when and where to put

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: YOUR WRITING

Write what you love

WE WANT YOUR WRITING

(and we’ll pay you for it!)

Subscribers’ news

To feature in Subscribers’ News contact: tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

A TROVE OF TINY TRAVEL TALES

I didn’t discover travel writing until my sixties

Get the write idea

Explore the possibilities of writing settings in these place- related creative writing prompts to try right now

FIRST impressions

Alison Chisholm applauds the winners of WM’s Impressionist Poetry Competition

Jax

Deborah is a specialist teacher who, even

Experimentation

Dr Tarja Moles takes you through a systematic process of discovery that will expand the parameters of your research

Behind the tape

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

ADAM GAUNTLETT

Simon Whaley chats to agent Adam Gauntlett about the narrative non-fiction market, and his recent experience of becoming a published novelist

GET PUBLISHED

You’ve read the advice – now get into print! Find the most up-to-date calls for submissions, writing competitions to enter and publishing opportunities to suit you and your writing in our easy-to-navigate news pages

Considering genres

Authors should be aware of what genre their work-in-progress falls into, but let it develop organically, advises Cornerstones’ Monica Chakraverty

Don’t wee in the sea

Laws you shouldn’t fall foul of on holiday make good travel writing topics, says Patrick Forsyth

ADVANCE WARNING

Not all authors are treated equally when it comes to publishing-industry finance, says Piers Blofeld