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WRITERS’ NEWS

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

UK HISTORY MARKET

Tina Jackson

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

PDR Lindsay-Salmon

ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET

Gary Dalkin

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

PDR Lindsay-Salmon

ONLINE CAREERS MARKET

Gary Dalkin

GLOBAL ARTS MARKET

PDR Lindsay-Salmon

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Tina Jackson

ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET

Gary Dalkin

GLOBAL BOOKS MARKET

PDR Lindsay-Salmon

ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET

Gary Dalkin

UK SHORT STORY MARKET

Patsy Collins

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

Kanstellation Magazine is a new zine and its editorial

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

PDR Lindsay-Salmon

UK CHILDREN’S MARKET

Tina Jackson

Editorial calendar

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

THE WORLD OF WRITING

Found poems, rediscovered classics and lost publishers – a weird world of writing through the Miscellany Manors window this month

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…

Commercial nouse

Writers should cultivate their sales instinct, says

Novel Ideas

Inspiring words for lockeddown writers from Lynne Hackles

Riding it out

Patrick Forsyth thinks positive in isolation

HOW TO DO disputes

Commercial mediator Andrew Hildebrand shares his ten step approach to sorting creative disputes, based on his long track record in resolving disputes across the creative industries

Going quackers

There is an owner of a small chain of mid-western book

BEHIND THE TAPE

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

Countries & cultures

Does your research include places and people abroad? Be an armchair travel researcher with advice from Tarja Moles

Coping with the coronavirus crisis

The Covid-19 crisis and lockdown have affected all our working lives. Susie Kearley discovers how other writers are coping and how you can too

Write on through to the other side

Helen Stockton suggests ways to use your writing to help you get through lockdown

Work it out

Join forces with like-minded writers with Rosalind Moody’s guide to online writing workshops

Ask a Literary Consultant

Is now the right time to submit fiction set during a pandemic? Helen Corner-Bryant weighs up the pros and cons of writing topical fiction

Wolf Sister

After more than a decade, Michelle Paver has gone back to the Stone Age world of her massive children’s series, Wolf Brother. Tina Jackson finds out why

How I got published

The author of historical thrillers tells Dolores Gordon Smith about her path to publication

MICHAEL NATH

The contemporary novelist and academic shares his top five reads with Judith Spelman

The style & technique of BEATON MC

Tony Rossiter looks at a bestselling crime writer who preferred to call herself an entertainer

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

ANDREW HUNTER MURRAY

The author tells Adrian Magson how an idea that came out of the blue turned into a high-concept thriller

CJ SUTTON

The Australian author talks Lynne Hackles through the routine that produces his fast-paced thrillers

Star rating ★★☆☆☆

Reviews come with the territory of being a writer, and sometimes they’re unfavourable. Get used to it, says Adrian Magson, and move on.

Under the Microscope

James McCreet applies his forensic criticism to the beginning of a subscriber’s work in progress

Tailoring the classics

Crime writing styles go in and out of fashion. Leading crime author Martin Edwards looks at new ways to present classic mysteries.

In the beginning

Give your fiction a strong start with advice from Helen W Walters and the example of a short story by Nadine Gordimer

Heroes & villains: PART 1: Heroes

In the first of a two-parter, Amy Sparkes offers ten top tips on creating lead characters that young readers will love and identify with

Anger MANAGEMENT

Anger can be a driving force in fiction, says Margaret James – as long as the writer knows how to control it

I wish I’d known…

‘When I set about becoming a novelist, for seven years

NO ROOM FOR BOARD-OM

Board games are a great diversion in lockdown. Perhaps rediscovering them has encouraged you to try writing one? Gamesmaster Alex Davis outlines the rules.

Beating the BLOCK

Author Julie Cohen thought writer’s block was a problem that didn’t exist, until it happened to her. She describes how she got through it, and shares what helped.

CRISIS & CURRENT EVENTS

Jane Wenham-Jones advises a writer planning her first novel during lockdown that she isn’t bound to include the coronovirus crisis if it doesn’t suit her storyline

Under the covers Me, naked

With her book being sent out for review, first-time author Gillian Harvey is feeling vulnerable

A BIGGER PLATFORM?

It’s a good time for digital sales, but should authors go exclusively with Amazon, or dip their toes into the wider world of Kobo, Apple and more? Simon Whaley explores the pros and cons.

Reluctant writers ROUNDUP

Lorraine Mace’s postbag proves she’s not alone in not actually liking writing

Writing out your system

As National Writing Day approaches, take some new approaches to writing about writing in these exercises from Jenny Alexander

WIN! £500 IN CASH PRIZES & PUBLICATION

£250 TO BE WON

THE HOUSE with the BLUE DOOR

1st place £200

WHITE-KNUCKLE WRITING

Put your characters through the wringer in this writing group exercise from Julie Phillips

Playful PUZZLE POEMS

Have fun figuring out verse with a hidden message, says Alison Chisholm as she launches WM’s competition for acrostic poetry

Wide open

The winners of WM’s Open Poetry Competition impressed Alison Chisholm with their focus and flair

THE MESSAGE

Alison Chisholm is impressed by a young poet who uses rap to communicate ideas about social justice

Poems in practice

Make change for the best with advice from Doris Corti