Saturday, August 6, 2011

HOPE FOR THE SHORT STORY

Many of us have been passionate about taking a proactive approach to the dwindling short story market and doing something about it. I have noticed that the consequences of our actions have reaped some positive outcomes:-

Articles, emails and messages left on magazine facebook pages of those who have dropped the fiction slot, have made magazines aware of our disappointment; not only as writers, but as readers. We have been acknowledged and assured that our feelings are heard.

Take a Break’s Fiction is still accepting the occasional story and Fiction Feast seems to be still going strong (sigh of relief). That’s Life and That’s Life Fast Fiction has not let us down! There are other magazines that I know of who accept unsolicited manuscripts; Womans Weekly, The Weekly News, Yours, Peoples Friend and Womans World. We all hope they will continue their fiction slots, so it is important for us to let them know that their fiction is read and enjoyed.

There has been a return of fiction to Best magazine. Hopefully this will prove to be a successful venture and the trend continues.

The Lady and Candis will read anything sent in and if it is ‘brilliant’ they’ll publish it. Which makes me wonder whether an exceptionally good story sent to any of the mags who have dropped fiction might stand a chance of getting published!

The facebook page, Bring Back Fiction to Women’s Magazines, has grown to 113 members and rising.

It’s fantastic how writers have united. We congratulate each other on our successes and we support each other through the hard times. How good is that? So, although the reality remains that we do need more markets and that our quest is far from over – there is hope for the short story!

Keep on writing ….

6 comments:

  1. It's truly amazing what can happen when writers support one another and the markets we care about!

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  2. So agree with you, the support and encouragement from other womag writers is invaluable.

    I'm not on facebook, but I have been writing to magazines requesting fiction (if they don't publish it) or telling them how much I enjoy the short stories (if they do). And I alway try to buy each issue of the magazines who do publish fiction (manageable financilly now there are so few - but not so easy to find time to read them all).

    XX

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  3. Rosemary - It is. One of the best things I ever did was get into blogging. I've met some really supportive people. You included of course. x

    Suzanne - that's great! If we all do our bit so much can be achieved. x

    Patsy - so true! I've gone into positive thinking mode and hoping that brings on the good vibes and I get something accepted this week. Fingers crossed! x

    Thanks ladies, for leaving a comment. I do appreciate knowing some people out there come over and read my blog.

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  4. Things are certainly looking up. Let's hope Best decide to keep a fiction slot!

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  5. Hi Amanda - it's good isn't it! Nice to hear some good news, hopefully lots more on its way.

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