Welcome…

Oh to be an author, whiling away the hours in an ivory

THE WORLD OF WRITING

Weird words, missing Es and horrible histories are all grist to mill for Derek Hudson in this month’s look at the world of writing

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…

WRITER’S VOICE

Have you thought about using another author’s creation in your work? Nicola Solomon SoA chief executive, explains rights in characters

From the OTHE SIDE R OF THE DESK

Gender stereotyping limits our reading experience no matter where it comes from, argues literary agent Piers Blofeld

ASK A LITERARY CONSULTANT

Getting an offer of representation from one agent is tricky. Getting two is a potential minefield. Helen Corner-Bryant helps a reader plot her course.

Helpline

Your writing problems solved with advice from Diana Cambridge

BEHIND THE TAPE

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

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

Tarja Moles provides a research guide to a contentious aspect of British history

The dream OF FACING OUT

If you’ve self-published a book and are wondering how to get it in bookshops, author and former bookseller Jackie Carreira has the advice you need

The failure I HAD TO HAVE

Julia Kite describes how she had to watch her dreams disintegrate before she could make a success of her first novel

Get up to data

Megan Palmer explains how a new data protection law will affect writers

Make the most of a media kit

JK Rowling has one. Lee Child has one. You should have one too. Simon Whaley explains what to put in your media kit.

Editorial calendar

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

Away from your desk

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

Frances WHO?

Lorraine Mace tells us why she has done away with her dastardly alter-ego

THE WOMAN BEHIND THE THRONE

Halfway through her Six Tudor Queens series, Alison Weir discusses the balance of scholarly research and speculation, with Tina Jackson

How I got published

The historical novelist tells Dolores Gordon Smith that writing what was most comfortable to her led to her first publishing success

The style & technique of PETER ROBINSON

Tony Rossiter looks at a writer whose Yorkshire roots are at the heart of his crime novels

Shelf life: EVA WOODS

The author of crime and contemporary women’s fiction shares her five favourite reads with Judith Spelman

SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe

CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP

If your writing group would like to feature here, whether

THOMAS MULLEN

The US crimewriter tells Chris High about revisiting the territory of his acclaimed novel Darktown for book two in the series

ROZ WATKINS

WM success story Roz tells Adrian Magson how a critique from James McCreet paved the way to a Big Six publishing deal

DAVID WHITEHOUSE

The novelist, journalist and scriptwriter tells Lynne Hackles how he tries to cultivate a work ethic

Beware the jibber-jabber

Always bear in mind that readers want to be entertained rather than educated, says Adrian Magson

CELEBRITY Under the Microscope H Rider Haggard

James McCreet considers the opening of a ‘lost world’ classic

It takes all kinds

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to formatting a novel. Margaret James looks at the options

Spell check

Spelling and grammar do matter, Jane Wenham Jones advises a reader, but not nearly as much as being able to tell a story

You & me

Helen M Walters examines writing in second person, with a reading of Cyprus Avenue by Lucy Caldwell

Story jigsaw Part 2

In part two of Amy Sparkes’ mini series on assembling the essential components of a children’s story, we look at characters and theme

Exploring the dark:

Alex Davis looks at the current state of horror publishing by the Big Six and how they see the horror genre

The long haul

Patrick Forsyth looks ahead. Well ahead.

Novel Ideas Names matter

Never forget the power of words when you’re giving your story a title, says Lynne Hackles

A long haul

Patrick Forsyth investigates a long journey into print

WIN! £500 IN CASH PRIZES & PUBLICATION

Short enough to require tight, well-paced writing but

The Waiter

Joanne completed Faber’s ‘Starting a Novel’ course

FREE RANGE writing through the year

With summer on the horizon, try taking your writing outdoors for new inspiration, suggests Jenny Alexander in these creative writing exercises

IF THE CAP FITS

If you want to get ahead with your writing, get a hat, suggests Julie Phillips in this writing group exercise

Betrayed

1st place CLIFFHANGER COMPETITION SHORT STORY WINNER £100

Red Editing Pen

Each month, we give you a few sentences which would

WIN your way to NAWGFEST 2018

One lucky writer could win a long weekend at the University

Dragon breath

Alison Chisholm explores a poem that draws together a combination of ideas to create an original work

Poetry in practice

An image can spark a new poem, says Doris Corti. Then you need to make word choices

Poetry from A to Z

Poet guides you through the language of poetry

Tell me a story

Alison Chisholm has sound advice for writers entering our competition for narrative poems

Tell Kindle a story

Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying markets, opportunities to get into print and publishing industry news.

Write a rattlingly good story

The Brighton Prize was founded in 2014 by Brighton’s

A write good prize from Manchester

The Manchester Writing Prize is open to entries for

Shorts for Séan

Munster Literature Centre is inviting entries for the

Words for change

The Grist Competition 2018 run by the University of

Get your short fic on for Dorset

The biannual Dorset Fiction Award is inviting entries

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Candis, edited by Debbie Attewell, is a general interest

FLASHES

Flight International weekly magazine for aerospace

Wells, Wells, Wells – it’s competition time

Wells Festival of Literature is accepting entries for

UK INDIE MARKET

Valley Press is an independent Scarborough-based publisher

GLOBAL NOIR MARKET

Founded in 2011 by publisher and managing editor Axel

FLASHES

Rail magazine welcomes letters about modern railways.

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Welcoming both emerging and established writers from

Chapbooks for fools (for poetry)

The Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition

Wigtown, poets’ town

In the main competition, there is a first prize of

GLOBAL RADIOPLAY MARKET

Following a successful pilot episode last autumn, US-based

Win with Winchester

The competition, which launched in 2016 and this year

Well worth an essay

The Bodley Head/Financial Times Essay Prize is running

FLASHES

Cliff Brown edits Sea Angler monthly magazine. He welcomes

GLOBAL CRIME MARKET

Seventh Street Books is all about crime fiction. The

Crashing on

Always Crashing is an annual print magazine and a continual

Stories in support of MNDA

Claret Press has launched the inaugural 2018 MNDA Short

Ice opportunity

Black Coffee & Vinyl Presents is an online and

UK NON-FICTION MARKET

Carlton Publishing is a leading independent publisher

Retreat to the Highlands

Writing Magazine columnist Helen Walters has set up

And another thing…

If you have a clear sense of how your story will end

FLASHES

Landscape, the official magazine of The Landscape Institute

GLOBAL SF MARKET

The bimonthly Galaxy’s Edge is one of America’s leading

Silence movies

British horror writer Tim Lebbon’s bestselling novel

Many plots, one premise

Set themes must be an integral rather than an incidental

A quick flash for Farnham

Farnham Flash Festival has launched a new flash fiction

INTRODUCTIONS

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

FLASHES

Nigel Atherton edits Amateur Photographer. The letter

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

The Common is a fascinating print and digital literary

Are you the next bestseller?

Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller 2018 is

Pushing the margins

The Author’s Journal of Inventive Literature aims to

Surprising SF

Science fiction stories of 1,000-5,000 words are wanted

UK LITERARY MARKET

From its modest beginnings in 2002, Highlands-based

FLASHES

The next quarterly Henshaw Competition, for short stories

UK HORROR MARKET

Made in Britain is a new anthology of horror stories

Anniversary celebration for BCSA

In celebration of the centenary of the creation of

Desperate times

B Cubed Press was ‘founded in the throes of desperation’

Get stuck in

Published online every two months as an imprint of

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

The Disconnect is a new zine with a literally attentiongrabbing

FLASHES

Beyond The Infinite – Tales From The Outer Reaches

GLOBAL ROMANCE MARKET

Heart’s Kiss is a bimonthly US electronic magazine

The only way is BBC Essex

Fifteen-minute radio plays are invited for the BBC

Where crime meets rhyme

While not a common poetry genre the Five-Two blog posts

Making shapes with monsters

Monstrous Outlines is an anthology of horror and weird

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Rugby World, as the name suggests, is all about the

Shine a light on Neon

Literary magazine Neon, published by Neon Books, needs

FLASHES

Entries are invited for the 2018 Guardian and 4th Estate

GLOBAL ARTS MARKET

Dorothy, a publishing project – named for editor Danielle

Career-defining award for young writers

The Sunday Times / Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer

Book Talk

Under threat of knee-capping if I failed to return