Dear Reader

We’re getting into the swing of production under lockdown now:

SELF STARTING

Rachel Abbott started late but quickly became one of the world’s biggest hybrid authors. Tina Jackson discovers how she did it

LAUREN H BRANDENBURG

The author tells Dolores Gordon Smith how she changed tack to land a publishing deal

BEHIND THE TAPE

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

LESLEY PEARSE

The bestselling novelist shares her top five reads with Judith Spelman

The style & technique of JONATHAN COE

Tony Rossiter looks at a novelist whose humour has some unlikely inspirations

There seems to be a problem

Get your writing group to channel their inner grouches and start complaining in these writing group exercises from Julie Phillips

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

ALL OF US HERE

They weren’t like me. No, not even in the dark

Are you the 2020 £20k storyteller?

The 2020 Kindle Storyteller Award is open for entries of

Nature (writing) calls

The Moth Nature Writing Prize is open for entries until

A newsworthy competition

Norwich Writers’ Circle invite entries for the sixth Olga Sinclair

Troubadour revitalised

The Troubadour International Poetry Prize, for original, unpublished poems up

Bedford Prize launches new over-70s award

The Bedford Competition 2020 is inviting entries. Win £500 first

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Beer here, now

Stories of the Commonwealth

Twenty writers are shortlisted in the various territories of the

Have you heard about these anthology opportunities?

Thirty submissions on the ‘lockdown’ theme and ten on the

FLASHES

The free Surrey Life short story competition – run by

GLOBAL BOOK MARKET

Regal House Publishing is run by a team of editors

One step closer to £30,000

American and Irish writers dominate the longlist for the world’s

UK FICTION MARKET

Avon calling

GLOBAL MAGAZINE MARKET

Sky’s the limit

From a given start

Offering inspiration and a jump start for the imagination, fiction

LIFE WRITERS TO WATCH

Spread the Word has announced the twelve longlisted unpublished writers

FLASHES

Win $750 and publication in the annual international Miami University

UK LITERARY MARKET

Open window for lucky beggars

GLOBAL BOOK MARKET

Black market

Booker backdated

Due to the difficulty in readers obtaining copies of the

On spiritual lines

There is a £500 first prize in the competition for

TONY BASSETT

Lynne Hackles talks to the former news reporter about his second career as an author of thrillers

TO MAY TO, tomahto

Getting fretting about your story the differences to flow is more between important American English, says Adrian Magson

Under the Microscope

James McCreet applies his forensic criticism to the beginning of a reader’s novel

Crying time

Jane Wenham Jones has sound advice for a reader lamenting her difficulty in ramping up the emotional content of her novel

Under the covers A question of priorities

As her book launch is scuppered in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, new author Gillian Harvey reflects on what really matters

The past is tense

A story by Margaret Atwood illustrates how the past impacts on the present in your storytelling, says Helen W Walters

HEROES & VILLAINS: Part 2

Make sure the baddie in your children’s fiction fascinates as well as repels with this advice from Amy Sparkes

Eyes on the prize

Are your short story competition entries missing the mark? Improve your game plan with advice from experienced writing competition judge Margaret James

I wish I’d known…

‘I wish I’d known what I was capable of. As

PUNK IT UP

Steam, cyber, bio, nano? Alex Davis explores the ‘punk’ subgenres of science-fiction

MICHAEL SCANLON

The Irish crime and mystery author tells Margaret James about chipping away at his writing

ON THE (VIRTUAL) ROAD

Author Paul Beatty talks about taking his books on a blog tour, and how it can introduce new readers to your work

GET in the HABIT

Write Every Day author Harriet Griffey explores the benefits of a regular writing practice

All roads lead to CHROME

CL Raven decided to combine their favourite things – writing and poledancing – in a specialist What the horror writers hadn’t bargained for was the impact of a real-life global pandemic

GETTING OVER slump time

“Eat a live frog first in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day”

OFFICE LOCATIONS

Virginia Woolf famously called for a ‘room of her own’ in which to write. Simon Whaley chats to three wordsmiths about where they work and why

Not just a shopping list

Publishing ‘fresh, original and intriguing’ ten-item lists on a daily

SOCIAL ANXIETY

A book launch throws Lorraine Mace into a spin

NDA or not?

Theo Jones of The Society of Authors lays out how non-disclosure agreements work and whether you need one to protect your work

Future book

Piers Blofeld reflects on the ways Covid-19 will change the publishing industry

ASK A LITERARY CONSULTANT

Part I of a two-parter on editing fundamentals from Helen Corner-Bryant looks at plot, structure and character conflict

Interviews

Make the most of your research interviews by following expert advice from Tarja Moles

Finding new form

Alison Chisholm explores a poem that recycles material from a writer’s previous short story

Poetry in practice

Use imagery to give your poem individuality with Doris Corti’s advice

Just a Kiss

‘And who said you could, eh? Was there a sign

Holiday from home

Go imaginative journey in these creative writing exercise from Jenny Alexander

THE WORLD OF WRITING

Vampires vs pirates vs cooks and virus vs everyone. Feeling the stress? Time to settle down with a good read

The joy of (writing) sex

‘While I resist drawing lines between pornography and art, if

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

Editorial calendar

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

GLOBAL MAGAZINE MARKET

Pro pay for feline fanciers

ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY MARKET

Get your writing snapped up

Last call for The Weekly News

After 165 years in print, DC Thomson have ceased production

The follow-up

Patrick Forsyth suggests what to do after an intial commission

FLASHES

Win $4,000 for the best short story by a new

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Be committed before approaching Rhino

GLOBAL HORROR MARKET

Terror Tract Publishing deals only in horror. Their goal is

No interruption to finding new plays

The coronavirus situation caused London’s Royal Court to close its

UK BOOK MARKET

Don’t lose the plot in this marketplace

Proud win

Juno Dawson’s Proud, an anthology of stories and poetry by

FLASHES

Generation Lockdown is a new competition for young writers aged

GLOBAL MEDIA MARKET

Words on fi lm

Be love sick at sea

Paper Angel Press are inviting submissions of true and semi-true

Get reading, get silly!

The Reading Agency has launched its Digital Summer Reading Challenge

INTRODUCTIONS

Writing Magazine presents a selection of educational/childern’s magazines publications currently accepting contributions. We strongly recommend that you read back issues, familiarise yourself with their guidelines before submitting and check websites for submission details

FLASHES

Writer Shed Press want fi ction, personal essays or poetry,

UK AGENCY MARKET

Open agency doors at Soho

Prize for young writers celebrating The Mayflower

Devon Family History Society is inviting children aged 5-16 and

Leading lights of horror

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) 2019 Bram Stoker Awards for

GLOBAL CRIME MARKET

Criminal plea, please

Fuse with this theatre company

An award winning New York theatre company, Nylon Fusion develops

Get buzzy

The competition is run by the Cheltenham-based poetry organisation Buzzwords,

Novel Ideas

Lynne Hackles dips into her archive of inspiration

FLASHES

Win £1,000 in the Globe Soup Summer 2020 Short Story

GLOBAL SOCIOLOGY MARKET

Get new chances at NewStart

Chew on this

Previously known as The New Food Economy, the award-winning The

Prize for A Portable Paradise

Poet Roger Robinson won the £10,000 Royal Society of Literature

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

The Furious Gazelle is an American zine, ‘furious because we

FLASHES

Green Stories have extended the deadline for their Adult Novel

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Birdwatch magazine covers all aspects of birding, from in-depth identification

GLOBAL BOOK MARKET

Vine Leaves Press is an American publisher specialising in ‘book-length

Podcast from Poppins

Julie’s Library is a new book podcast for children aged

Extreme version

Patrick Forsyth looks at writing opportunities when things go right

FLASHES

Green-themed children’s stories are wanted for the latest of University

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

Tiny Fox needs

Writing history

Five of the six books shortlisted for the UK’s Wolfson

Why kids ‘why?’

If you write for younger children, a new study by