Welcome...

Congratulations! You’ve already made the right choice in reading the

Star interview: Kei Miller

From the hills above Jamaica’s August Town to London academia,

On writing: Winston Churchill

Churchill’s comment was written in the margins of an official

How I got published

Jenny Blackhurst used to read this column and swore one

Beat the bestsellers

The pioneer of modern children’s picture book writing, Beatrix Potter,

Shelf life: TOM BOWER

The unauthorised biographer of figures including Tony Blair, Robert Maxwell

Crime file: Emma Kavanagh

A psychology background informs the thrilling realism of Emma Kavanagh,

New author profile: Peter Breakspear

Winning a competition organised by WM and Matador Books led

My writing day: Jemma Wayne

The writer and journalist sits at her grandfather’s old desk

Away from your desk

Get out of your garret for some upcoming activities and

From the other side of the desk

Even though it’s party season the publishing lifestyle isn’t as

Grumpy Old Bookman: Submit, don’t give up

Michael Allen attempts to get to grips with modern submission

Publishing: Proof perfect

Improve your proofreading skills and increase your earning opportunities, with

Be yourself

Write just 500 words to help you discover your inner

Ten top tips: A world of opportunity

Whether you’re looking for topics to inspire your writing or

Talk it over: Game on?

Jane Wenham Jones helps a reader decide if a TV

Novel Ideas

It doesn’t matter where and when, just write, says Lynne

The business of writing: Social engagement

Frittering time on Twitter, or legitimately working? Simon Whaley dodges

Subscriber Spotlight

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing

Circles’ Roundup

If your writing group would like to feature here, whether

Writers’ circles: All ears

Manage dominant personalities and shrinking violets to ensure your writing

Notes from the margin: Finding the right words

Many moons ago I wrote a column about people who

What’s it all about?

Get to the heart of good writing and uncover the

Beginners: Trust your inner editor

As writers, we tend to be perfectionists but sometimes, you’ve

True lies

What is reality? In fiction, realism is not necessarily real

Under the microscope

Author and lecturer James McCreet puts a reader’s first 300

Fiction focus: Tales retold

Writers have always reimagined stories, and retold classic tales in

I wish I’d known…

Novelists tell us what they wished they’d known right at

Writing for children

Newly confident readers love animal stories just as much as

Fantastic realms: That’s magic!

Spells, wizards, sorcery, enchanted amulets... magical elements pepper fantasy fiction,

Train your brain: Pen pushers – Outlining a novel

Creating an outline for your novel isn’t a one-size-fits-all job

Train your brain: Red editing pen

Each month, we give you a few sentences which would

The Fifth Wall

Thomas Everley is a writer and filmmaker based in the

Dialogue-only short story competition winner

‘I swear that walk from the bus stop gets longer

Read the winning entries in our holiday poetry competition

Judge Meg Marsden highlights the winning entries from our subscriber-only

Enter our annual love poetry competition

Improve your chances in our popular annual love poetry competition

Poetry workshop: Time to write

Alison Chisholm explores a subscriber’s poem that celebrates discovering the

Poetry in practice

Lines written in prose depend on font and paper size

Poetry primer: Poetry from A-Z

In IRONY, words are used to convey an opposite meaning

TEN STEPS to get your reference book published and promoted

Sarah Plater’s Mastering Portrait Photography hasn’t left the Amazon photography

Features desk: In their own words

Conducting strong interviews and presenting them in the best way

Going to market

Getting out more can be an important part of a

Research tips: Unobtrusive research

You can discover a lot about human behaviour by discreet

GLOBAL TRAVEL MARKET

Travel, adventure and culture are the content of Toronto-based Outpost

Book time to enter this competition

Books Ireland magazine is repeating its short story competition, launched

Travel writing know-how

Where shall we go? This is a common enough question

Miscellany

Spoon’s Carpets: An Appreciation by Kit Caless is based on

Letters

Write to: Letters to the editor, Writing Magazine, Warners Group

Editorial calendar

Strong forward planning will greatly improve your chances with freelance

Behind the tape

How do I find out whether someone is likely to

Writers’ Web Watch

Every so often a listicle appears in our social media

Helpline

Email your queries to Diana (please include home-town details) at:

Discovery tales for Dragonfly

The Dragonfly Tea Short Story Competition, which launched last year,

Novelists, take note of this grand award

Now in its third year, the Caledonia Novel Award is

Best poems forward for this competition

The Poetry Society has launched this year’s National Poetry Competition,

New pay rates for plays

Theatre negotiators of the WBBB (Writers’ Guild of Great Britain)

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

All About History, edited by Alicea Francis, is an illustrated

Poets of the future

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is for

Beeb boob

BBC Films is making a new adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s

Flashes

Church Times weekly newspaper is edited by Paul Handley. Short

GLOBAL ONLINE MARKET

Buzzfeed is one of the most popular websites on the

Tongue tried

A new writers’ collective based in Pakistan, Zabaan has the

Explore a collision of opinions

The 2016 Benjamin Franklin House Literary Prize is inviting entries

Have a laugh with this contest

The Verbolatry Laugh-a-Riot Contest is inviting entries of funny stories

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Your Cat, edited by Chloe Holland, is for everyone who

It’s a Funny Old World

Rachel Halliwell had fun in the Daily Telegraph, offering readers

Flashes

David Linkie edits Fishing News, a weekly newspaper for the

GLOBAL CHILDREN’S MARKET

Harper Collins Australia is currently open to unsolicited children’s books

Big in Bedford

The Bedford International Writing Competition is open for entries in

Tales for night owls

Strigidae Publishing has a motto, ‘We’ll keep you up at

The time for Irish writers

Short stories and poetry are published in the culture section

GLOBAL BOOK MARKET

Liberties Press is Ireland’s leading independent publisher of high-quality non-fiction

Enter the Dark City

The Dark City Crime & Mystery Magazine is ‘the product

Amazon launches comics subscription

In the US Amazon is launching a subscription service which

Flashes

France monthly magazine for francophiles will be appointing a new

The chrysalis of a contest

The Caterpillar Story for Children Prize 2016, run by Irish

Poets on fire

There is a first prize of £200, a second prize

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

The Binge-Watching Cure is a forthcoming anthology proposed and edited

Creative escape in Cornwall

Two bursaries are available for writers’ residencies at Brisons Veor

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Aiming to ‘explain the ideas and innovations that are changing

Infamous five

Following the unexpected success of spoof Ladybird books for adults

And another thing...

‘When I was writing my first book, my editor advised

Flashes

Romsey & Wellow Gazette is a free local community magazine

Remote places, enticing entries

SeniorTravelExpert.com is running Off the Beaten Track, a free-toenter travel

A truly international competition

The competition, which will be judged by Daljit Nagra, is

GLOBAL SF/FANTASY MARKET

Post Mortem Press is a US independent press specialising in

Game to write about the beautiful game?

FootyBlog.net editor and head coach Matt Tutt is looking for

INTRODUCTIONS

One of the UK’s highest-selling county magazines is the Dalesman,

FLASHES

Nature’s Home is the quarterly magazine of the RSPB, the

Big winners

The 2016 RSL Ondaatje Prize, which is given for a

UK HUMOUR MARKET

Previously compiled by a small team calling themselves ‘moderately talented

Get writing for Willesden

WM is pleased to hear that the Willesden Herald Short

Best foot forward for Olga

Norwich Writers’ Circle’s Olga Sinclair Open Short Story Competition 2016

UK CRIME MARKET

Crooked Lane is a crime fiction publisher that publishes broadly

Funny women

Founded in 2002 by journalist and producer Lynne Parker, Funny

Misjudging talent

Pop impresario Simon Cowell upset authors and readers alike in

FLASHES

Sally Hampton is editor of My Weekly women’s magazine and

UK FICTION MARKET

Longmead Publishing is an independent publisher of fiction novellas and

Universal appeal

Now in its seventh year, Kasma is a Canadian online

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

Penny is a new zine, providing short fiction that is

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

Belle Lutte Press is a US small press with a

FLASHES

Woman’s Own magazine recently included an article entitled Smart Shopper

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

Phobos is an American semiannual print and electronic weird fiction

£5,000 for ecopoets

The Resurgence Poetry Prize 2016, the major award for ecopoetry,

Notts Open

The Nottingham Open Poetry Prize has a prize pot totalling

Win a Torbay stay

Torbay Poetry Festival 2016 competition is now open, for original,

All write rebellion

To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Easter Rising in

Elemental poems for Living Museum comp

Black Country Living Museum’s Annual Prize Poetry Competition 2016 is

FLASHES

West Dorset Living is a free bimonthly magazine edited by

GLOBAL MYSTERY MARKET

Although it does not publish fiction, Mystery Scene crime fiction

Let the public decide

The UK Short Story Competition is a new writing prize

Hidden verses

The Buxton Poetry Competition is open for entries for the

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Qu is an online literary journal, published by the MFA

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

FlyPast, edited by Chris Gilson, is the UK’s biggest-selling monthly

High society prizes for playwrights

The free-to-enter Terence Rattigan Society Award offers a first prize

Book Talk

Ever since childhood my hearing has been a little impaired