WRITERS’ NEWS

Welcome…

No, don’t worry, I haven’t gone all new age on you.

INTRODUCTIONS

Writing Magazine presents a selection of cooking publishers currently accepting contributions. We strongly recommend that you read back issues, familiarise yourself with their guidelines before submitting and check websites, where given, for submission details.

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

Brevity calls itself ‘a journal of concise literary

THE WORLD OF WRITING

Rotten rejections, junked jargon and traumatic travel tales, trawled up by Derek Hudson

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We want to hear your news and views on the writing world, your advice for fellow writers – and don’t forget to tell us what you would like to see featured in a future issue…

Helpline

Diana Cambridge solves your writing problems

Editorial calendar

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

Inside InDesign

PC trainer Greta Powell helps you make the most of Abode’s desktop publishing software

Check and double-check

Patrick Forsyth recommends reading your work aloud before sending it out

A letter for the future

When did you last write a letter, asks Lynne Hackles

Take time to talk

Even unlikely conversations might spark an idea, says Patrick Forsyth

Dear publishers – an open letter…

Make sure that you ask any publisher you deal with how they measure up, says the Society of Authors’ chief executive Nicola Solomon.

From theOTHE SIDE R OF THE DESK

In the first instalment of a two-part special on rejection, literary agent Piers Blofield offers a first-hand insight into some of the rookie errors that submitting writers make to agents and publishers

Ask a Literary Consultant

What are the next steps for a writer whose well-known and rather remote agent hasn’t been able to sell their novel? Helen Corner-Bryant suggests finding someone with a like-minded communication style

10 Things Never to Say to An Editor

Ensure you stay on the right side of the decision-makers with valuable advice from journalist Alex Gazzola

Fit to WRITE

If writing is a pain in the neck, you’re doing it wrong. Simon Whaley investigates how to stay writing fit.

Women’s history

Look at women’s lives from an historical point of view with advice from Tarja Moles

BEHIND THE TAPE

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

How to professionally format your book

Self-publishers, keep up to date with the best options to give your manuscript the look it deserves with help from successful self-published author Sofia Ashdown

Sound affects

Informed by her own experience, Toni Bunnell guides you through the process of recording an audiobook of your own writing

THE ROUTE AHEAD

You’ve found a publisher for your book. It’s your dream come true. But don’t rest on your laurels just yet – there’s a lot more work to be done. Author James McCreet helps you navigate what happens next

Cover story: DO IT YOURSELF

In part two of his mini-series, Alex Davis looks at the importance of cover art to writers who are self-publishing

Quirk reads

If ever there was a poster boy for writing for your heart not the market, it’s acclaimed novelist Edward Carey, whose latest novel is fifteen years in the writing and a lifetime in the making

How I got published

The debut author of paranormal thriller Fallible Justice hit the jackpot by entering writing competitions Interview by Dolores Gordon Smith

On Writing

Tony Rossiter explores great words from great writers

The style & technique of JACK HIGGINS

Tony Rossiter takes a look at the master craftsman of thrillers

Shelf life: ROBERT THOROGOOD

The creator of Death in Paradise share his top five reads with Judith Spelman

CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP

If your writing group would like to feature here, whether you need new members, have an event to publicise or to suggest tips for other groups, email Tina Jackson, tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing Magazine and would like to feature here, email Tina Jackson, tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

My Writing Day J.B. TURNER

Thriller writer J.B. Turner tells Lynne Hackles that he can procrastinate as much as he likes – as long as he meets his daily wordcount

CATHERINE FEARNS

Adrian Magson talks to the new crime writer whose writing is a murderous mix of heavy metal, religion and genetics

When one door closes

What happens when your publisher shuts down? Romance writer Rachel Brimble tells us how she faced her fears and got her career back on track – on her own terms

Love letters

A fun writing collaboration to try with a friend, suggested by Bill Peters

Tackling the manuscript mountain

You’ve printed out draft copies of your work… but what’s the best way to deal with the resulting paper mountain? Jane Wenham Jones is on hand with some ingenious ideas

Cosy Crime Pays For Indy Author

Lynn Florkiewicz’s dream of being a writer began when she was just six years old, but it had to sit on the back-burner until, at the age of 45, she took a creative writing course with The Writers Bureau, and started out on a whole new adventure…

What you saying?

Writing a novel for young adults, Lorraine Mace faces the minefield of teenage slang

FREE RANGE writing through the year

Jenny Alexander looks ahead and gets in the Christmas spirit for this month’s creative writing exercise

WIN! £500 IN CASH PRIZES & PUBLICATION

SHORT STORY COMPETITION

Tattoo-man

1st place 1,000-WORD STORYCOMPETITION £200

Cinnamon Buns

2nd place 1,000-WORD STORYCOMPETITION £50

Shape shifting

Give your writing shape and form in this group exercise by Julie Phillips

SUBSCRIBER-ONLY COMPETITIONS WIN! £250 IN CASH PRIZES & PUBLICATION

SUBSCRIBER-ONLY COMPETITIONS WIN! £250 IN CASH PRIZES

MAY

Born in the Soviet Union, Saniya moved to the UK from

SETTING the scenery

Give your fiction a real feel of place by taking Adrian Magson’s advice

Under the Microscope

James McCreet puts a reader’s first 300 words under his forensic gaze

Write the world

Diversity in fiction publishing is rightly a hot topic and Margaret James says its high time to move on from tokenism and stereotypes

I wish I’d known…

‘When you’ve spent ages honing your manuscript, deliberating

Are you KIDDING me?

Make ‘em laugh in your short stories with Helen M Walters’ insights into what makes for humorous writing

Spell binding

Follow Amy Sparkes’ advice to create children’s stories full of magic and mystery

Found in TRANSLATION

Learning another language sharpens our understanding of our mother tongue and teaches us how to be better writers, says James McCreet

Bad marks for TEACHER

Alison Chisholm looks at work by a poet newly revelling in the joys of creativity after being told by a teacher that he would never write

Poetry in practice

Newspaper headlines can prompt poems about responses to an event, says Doris Corti

Poetry from A to Z

Poet Alison Chisholm guides you through the language of poetry

An open field

Alison Chisholm lays out some ground rules for writers who would like their poems to shine in WM’s open poetry competition