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What would you do with a time machine? Venture off

On writing: Ian McMillan

If you’re browsing in a bookshop, chances are you’ll read

How I got published

Children’s author Tom Becker creator of Darkside, explains how he

Beat the bestsellers

Trauma and survival are the themes of a writer whose

Shelf life: Antonia Hodgson

Dagger-winning historical crime author and editor-in-chief at Little, Brown, Antonia

Circles’ roundup

If your writing group would like to feature here, whether

“” Don’t Say a Word!

Improve your non-verbal communication for the good of your group

Crime file: Gilly MacMillan

Tackling family life when it turns toxic makes for a

Author profile: Tom Bale

Ordinary people being caught up in terrifying situations are what

My writing day: Kate Lord Brown

The romantic historical novelist lives in the desert and writes

Grumpy Old Bookman

Academia is all very well, but it overlooks the real

Just Write Compeition

After being shortlisted in our competition (WM, April), six writers

From the Other Side of the Desk

There is an old joke to the effect that if

DIY publishing: Doing it for the kids

Have you ever read a picture book to your child/grandchild/niece/friend’s

Talk it over: Socially aware

Jane Wenham Jones advises a writer reluctant to embrace today’s

Novel Ideas

New writers are often told they should write, or aim

The business of writing: Festival fever

In the thick of the summer festival season, Simon Whaley

Notes from the margin: Wine bluff

Jump at chances to broaden your writing experience but know

Before you write a word

Author and lecturer James McCreet addresses the passionate and frustrated

Star interview: Clare Mackintosh

Her instinct for observation and investigation inform former police officer

Fiction: The magic number

Commissioned to write a trilogy, children’s author Lari Don decided

Profile: 1 topic, 100 books

Linguist David Crystal, author of over 100 books on the

Ten top tips: Productivity tips of the pros

Organise your writing life with ten practical tips from Liz

Subscriber spotlight

Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing

Reader experiences: Back to school

Many of us dream of returning to uni for a

Fiction: Change for the better

Every story needs change, whether inciting incident or character growth

Beginners: Another brick in a wall

Think of words as the bricks in your wall, says

Under the microscope

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

Fiction focus: A matter of taste

Use your fictional characters’ responses to food to reveal complex

I wish I’d known…

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

Writing for children: Writing workout

Reinvigorate your writing and come up with fresh ideas for

Fantastic realms: Golden days

Is Golden Age SF still relevant for modern writers? Alex

Train your brain: Pen pushers – Themes

Examine the underlying themes of your fictional work in progress

Train your brain: Red editing pen

Each month, we give you a few sentences which would

Short stories: Read the winning entries from our 750-word short story competition

Laura Shipler Chico is a peacebuilder, facilitator and aspiring writer

Short stories: Second Place Lost

Colette Coen has twice been shortlisted for the Scottish Book

Short story: Read our No Dialogue Short Story Competition winner

My old adversary and I each stand in our adjacent

Open poetry competition winners

Adjudicator Alison Chisholm highlights her pick of the entries for

Poetry workshop: The whole picture

Poetry is the perfect medium to capture a brief moment

Poetry in practice

Use repetitive sounds to bring out the mood of your

Poetry from A-Z

The KYRIELLE is a French poetic form, its name based

Ghostwriting: The hidden art of the ghostwriter

Selling books with your name on the front isn’t the

Features desk: Reviewing the basics

We’ve all written fan or product reviews, but credible arts

Going to market

Do you enter competitions? They can be useful, they focus

Research tips: Ethical issues

Consider the ethical implications of your research, findings and what

UK TRAVEL MARKET

A leading publisher of travel and reference guides to over

Betty and Peter offer a big hand out

The Betty Box and Peter Rogers Comedy Writing Programme is

Think of a number

Starting with a good arrangement helps hone a finished piece

Get away from your desk

Get out of your garret for some upcoming activities and

Miscellany: The World of Writing

Writing advice broadcast by the BBC World Service recalled that

Letters to the Editor

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

Crimewriter and serving police officer Lisa Cutts answers your legal

Writers’ web watch

It’s not enough to say the internet has changed the

Computer clinic

PC trainer Greta Powell explains the latest Photoshop developments, with

Helpline: Your writing problems solved

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

Enter the world’s richest prize for a single short story

The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award 2017 is open

Incubate your kids fiction ideas

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition is open for entries

A canon of poetry

Live Canon is inviting entries for its 2016 International Poetry

Fertile soil for poets

The Plough Prize 2016 Open Poetry Competition is open for

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

BBC Countryfile magazine is closely linked to the very popular

Moth enter poems

The Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize, run by The Moth magazine,

Bath-time for kids

The Bath Children’s Novel Award is open for entries to

FLASHES

Explore History is a new magazine that gives history travel

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL MARKET

Orion calls itself America’s finest environmental magazine with a ‘mission

Stan’s the poetry man

The Stanley Spencer Poetry Competition is being run by Cookham

Art is a mirror

The 2016/17 Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism is open

UK BOOK MARKET

London Books is an independent company that ‘flies the flag

It’s a Funny Old World

‘According to popular myth,’ said the completelynovel website, ‘a 1938

FLASHES

Steve Bennett edits specialist Porsche magazine 911 & Porsche World

GLOBAL SF MARKET

Red Sun Magazine is a new US speculative fiction magazine

Be creative for Kelpies

The Kelpies Prize 2017 is open for submissions of children’s

Submit sparkling spiritual snippets

Designed for girls aged 6-9, Sparkle is published by GEMS

Big winners

Simon Mawer has won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

LitMag is a new American print journal publishing fiction, poetry

GLOBAL DARK FICTION MARKET

The Dark is a US-based web and digital magazine of

FLASHES

Sara Wright edits Your Dog magazine and accepts submissions of

ONLINE SF MARKET

Persistent Visions is a soon-to-launch online SF weekly. Editor Heather

ISBNs the easy way

Acquiring an ISBN – International Standard Book Number – has

Write out of the shadow

Writing Out of the HD Shadow is a national writing

A light in the dark for young writers

Phosphene is an international non-profit journal ‘giving young writers a

UK BOOK MARKET

Urbane Publications is an enthusiastic indie press founded two years

And another thing...

‘Online platforms are not going to go away. Who knows

FLASHES

Margaret Gaskin is features editor of bimonthly glossy Antiquexplorer. Contact

GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

OmicronWorld is a multimedia company which publishes books, produces films,

Prole up

The Prolitzer Prize for Prose Writing 2016 is open for

Look at pic and write hist fic

The Creative Competitor is holding a Historical Fiction Writing Competition

Write round Warrington

Stockton Heath Writers Group, based in Warrington, Cheshire, has launched

INTRODUCTIONS

Writing Magazine presents a selection of sustainable living titles currently

FLASHES

The Field monthly rural and country sports magazine is edited

GLOBAL ROMANCE MARKET

US small press Roane specialises in romance, including fantasy and

Smart options for poets from Eyewear

Poetry collection submissions are invited for the 2016 Melita Hume

Ghosts gather

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the ghost story contest

Journal for disabled writers

The brilliantly titled Deaf Poets’ Society is a new bimonthly

UK BOOK MARKET

Alma Books is a London-based independent that publishes contemporary literary

Aesthetically inclined

The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award is open for entries until

Notice this novel comp

The Exeter Novel Prize is open for entries to the

FLASHES

The Royal Horticultural Society Photographic Competition, open to amateurs and

GLOBAL BOOK MARKET

Soul Bay is a small underground press split between London,

SoA prize talent new and old

• The £10,000 Betty Trask Prize, for a first novel

INTERNATIONAL ZINE SCENE

Whirlwind Magazine is a quarterly journal, limited edition in print

ONLINE SPECULATIVE MARKET

Recompose is a new digital magazine of interstitial short works

FLASHES

Mike Haworth is editor of 24, a new ‘national’ newspaper

GLOBAL LITERARY MARKETS

Published in print and online by Griffith University, Griffith Review

True travel tales for Ouen Press comp

The Journey is the 2016 short story competition from Ouen

It’s the business

Aiming to discover and encourage young authors and researchers, the

Mentoring opportunity

Scottish Book Trust is inviting applications for Mentoring 2017. In

FLASHES

Coach is a new free weekly men’s sports and fitness

GLOBAL FANTASY MARKET

Shimmer is an attractive magazine, both in print and online,

Enlist the crowd to get your book published

A new company, Social Publishing, has launched a platform aiming

GLOBAL SPECFIC MARKET

Quirky US indie Fuzzy Hedgehog Press likes ‘weird speculative fiction

UK MAGAZINE MARKET

Classic Bike Guide is a magazine for bikers everywhere who

Get lucky at Galley Beggar

Galley Beggar Press is inviting entries for its 2016/2017 Short

Book Talk

I’ve read somewhere that the very first named writer was