Letter from the Editor

As writers, it seems some of us are not quite

Competition Special 2017

Welcome to the annual Writing Magazine Competition Special – and,

Star interview: Eowyn Ivey

Fairytale BEGINNINGS

On writing: Raymond Chandler

When I was at school, splitting an infinitive was almost

How I got published

YA author Melissa Keil shares her path to publicationwith Dolores

Beat the bestsellers

MARK BILLINGHAM

Shelf life: Deon Meyer

DEON MEYER

New author profile: Mark Hardie

The debut author refused to let losing his sight stand

My writing day: Paul Read

Young children, a day job, two broken legs... nothing stands

Grumpy Old Bookman

Coping with change

From the other side of the desk

From the OTHER SIDE OF THE DESK

WM goes to Hodder

Just write!

Ten top tips: This is Halloween

This is Halloween

Talk it over: Collection care

COLLECTION Care

Novel Ideas

Over the last six months, in this column, I’ve tried

The business of writing: Conquering challenges

Writers with disabilities strive to achieve their goals on a

Essay this competition

The Notting Hill Editions Essay Prize 2017 is open for

Thanks for the memories

The National Memory Day Creative Writing Competition is open to

Peggy Poole

Peggy Poole, award winning poet and broadcaster, and a long-standing

Notes from the margin: It has potential

It has potential

The power of understanding

Robert Laing couldn’t find articles that spoke to him directly on living with Asperger’s, so he decided to write them and help others in the process

The Magical World of Cindy Beadman

In 1969, young bride Cindy Beadman created a single copy

“How I created a new genre...”

Howard of Warwick is Amazon’s #1 medieval crime comedy author

Subscriber spotlight

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing

Fiction: Find your voice

FREE EXPRESSION

Creative writing: Does it have to be a box?

Be unpredictable and it won’t just be you who’ll enjoy

Writing YA: Teenage kicks

TEENAGE KICKS

Beginners: Read your own book

Read your own book

Under the microscope

Author and lecturer James McCreet examines the first 300 words

Fiction focus: Get out there

Social media posts are useful training ground to hone your

I wish I’d known…

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

BEHIND THE TAPE

Q In my completed manuscript, the main character, Jess, is

Crime file

Square Peg Theatre take the atmosphere of Scandi crime onto

Fantastic realms: Not as we know it

NOT AS WE KNOW IT

Writing for children: Mistakes to avoid

Starting a mini-series on rookie errors to avoid with your

Get away from your desk

Away from your desk

Pen pushers: Clarify your characters

Get under the skin of your characters with exercises from

Train your brain: Red editing pen

Each month, we give you a few sentences which would

Short story

A COMMUNITY SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Writers’ circles: Reach for the stars

Reach for the stars

Short story

NIGHT OF THE CRYING WOMEN

Poetry workshop: How long is a line?

Alison Chisholm explores a subscriber’s poem to consider how much

Poetry in practice

Perhaps you have an idea for a poem but not

Poetry from A to Z

A LINE, rather than a number of words, is the

Poetry launch: Burning poems

Enter our latest open poetry competition with advice from judge

Feature writing: A splash of colour

A splash of colour

Going to market

Patrick Forsyth recruits assistance to expand the possibilities of impressing

Research tips: Focused research

FOCUSED RESEARCH

Living the dream?

Headline-grabbing high earners skew public perception of author earnings upwards

What’s your writing worth?

It’s not wrong to write for free – but neither

Money for (next to) nothing

Create passive income streams online to bolster your writing income,

Miscellany

THE WORLD OF WRITING

Letters to the Editor

We want to hear your news and views on the

Editorial calendar

Strong forward planning will greatly improve your chances with freelance

Writers’ web watch

Where to host your free writer’s website

Computer clinic

PC trainer Greta Powell offers expert advice on using writing and design software

Helpline

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

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Period Ideas is a glossy monthly consumer interiors magazine edited

Write begins at forty

Scottish Book Trust’s Next Chapter Award 2017, given to support

Review this opportunity

The Manchester Review is inviting submissions for Issue 17. The

A SoA trio

There are three upcoming Society of Authors Awards with a

FLASHES

After a hiatus of seventeen years the classic magazine of

GLOBAL FANTASY MARKET

Deep Magic was a high quality American science fiction and

Net some big prizes in this comp

The Fish Prize for Short Stories is open for the

Smiley women

Describing itself as a ‘parody publication’ the monthly Happy Woman

The Spy Who Came In again

Following the huge international ratings and critical success of the

UK FICTION MARKET

Mayfly Press was founded to support northern writers and to

It’s a Funny Old World

The Meaning of Liff, a dictionary of ‘things that there

FLASHES

Waitrose Food monthly is edited by William Sitwell. There is

GLOBAL POETRY MARKET

Publishing some 200 poems a year, Rattle magazine is open

Write the change you want to read

TheatreCloud’s Tell a Tale competition invites 500-word short stories in

Slam your way to publication

Poetry Rivals is a contest where the shortlisted poets will

Divine short stories

Fantasia Divinity Magazine is a brand new literary magazine publishing

The WOW factor

The WOW! Awards 2017, which are run by Wordsonthewaves, invite

Business for young poets

The Poetry Business 2016/17 New Poet’s Prize is open from

A glimpse of colour

The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a

UK LITERARY MARKET

Based in Cardigan/ Aberteifi on the west coast of Wales,

FLASHES

Peter Hassall, editor of Swimming Times, the official monthly magazine

GLOBAL GENRE MARKET

Owl Hollow Press is a US independent publisher of ‘world-altering

A wealth of stories

The 2017 Commonwealth Short Prize is open for entry from

A popular medium

The Opening Up Digital Fictions Writing Competition invites entries of

Flash in the Bath

The Bath Flash Fiction Award is running a new competition,

UK GENRE MARKET

Grievous Angel is a section of the UK based Urban

Be part of London’s literary life

The London Magazine, originally founded in 1732, is the UK’s

And another thing...

‘Forget the bloody crime novels of Henning Mankell and Jo

FLASHES

Kirsty McGregor, head of content: news and features and Graeme

GLOBAL HORROR MARKET

Between 1984 and 2005, five volumes were published of a

Family friendly dragonflies

Red Dragonfly New Writing Competition, run by Red Dragonfly Productions

Big ambitions

Looking to find the best poems from the world’s living

RITA rewards

The Romance Writers of America (RWA) announced the winners of

INTRODUCTIONS

Writing Magazine presents a selection of theatres wanting scripts. We strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with their guidelines before submitting and check websites, where given, for submission details

FLASHES

Champion is an independently owned free newspaper for residents of

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Cormorant Books is a well-established Canadian publishing company with high

Take five

The Flambard Poetry Prize, which is given annually for the

Natural advances

The prize money for the Richard Jefferies Society Writers’ Prize

Creating connections

Writeabridge is an international poetry competition designed to celebrate creativity

UK FICTION MARKET

Holland House Books is an independent publisher of literary fiction

Speculate at Lackington’s

The editorial team is picky: ‘We’re looking for stylised prose

The Lonely Crowd

The Lonely Crowd is a new Welsh magazine devoted to

FLASHES

Chris Burke has succeeded Chris Barnes as editor of Rhythm

UK CRIME MARKET

Bloodhound Books is an independent publisher that specialises in crime

Surviving Remains

A copy of the long forgotten The Remains of Henry

Conflicting interests

The UCG International Literary Prize is a new creative writing

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

Yellow Chair Review is a quarterly literary online journal accepting

GLOBAL HORROR MARKET

Orford Parish Books are open to submissions until April 2017

This comp has the write idea

East London’s Writeidea Festival 2016 is running the East London

FLASHES

Edward Lane has been promoted from deputy digital editor to

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

The Patchwork Raven is a new indie publisher based in

Invest your assets with TQR

Total Quality Reading is a quirky short story zine with

Be the best for South West Fest

Writers who are based in, or have a connection with

Words spreads its wings

Words and Women is inviting entries for is annual writing

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Karen Tait edits Archant’s Complete France portfolio: French Property News,

All alone?

Patrick Forsyth compares two kinds of travel and perhaps gives

FLASHES

Senior Moments, edited by Sam Harrington-Lowe, is a new lifestyle

GLOBAL FINANCE MARKET

Living abroad may in some cases be cheaper but you

A Song of Amber and Anticipation

On his website, A Song of Ice and Fire author

Comedy shorts

There are £50 cash prizes for two first prize winners

GLOBAL MAGAZINE MARKET

The Stoneslide Corrective is a new US based bimonthly e-magazine

Bright opportunity

Helios Quarterly Magazine is a new digital title which aims

Book Talk

I was in my favourite little second-hand bookshop in Oxford

Writing Magazine open short story competitions 2017

OPEN TO ALL Short story competitions 2017

Writing Magazine subscriber-only short story competitions 2017

SUBSCRIBER – ONLY Short story competitions 2017

Writing Magazine poetry competitions 2017

OPEN TO ALL Poetry competitions 2017

Creative writing competitions 2017

COMPETITION GUIDE 2017

2016 New Subscribers’ Short Story Competition winner

Sweet Dreams

2016 New Subscribers’ Poetry Competition winner

Threnody for the sea

Swanwick Poetry winner

Swanwick WINNERS

Swanwick Short Story winner

THE GATOR

Swanwick Writing for Children winner

Spring