More changes in Womagland

That is the land of women's magazines, esp fiction. Authors who write fiction for womags, esp Woman's Weekly, are up in arms at the moment because of recent changes that have been found out. They weren't happy before because their payment date was changed to when their story was published and not on acceptance like it used to be. Now they are even more unhappy as there are two more changes now that the company who owns the magazine has been taken over. The following changes are:

1. Stories accepted, whether by new or established authors, will have acceptances on an 'all rights' basis. This is not good at all. All rights means that they take all your rights away from you so you are no longer the copyright holder of the story, and you can't do anything else with that story yourself, inc submitting it to the ALCS. It also means the magazine can do what they like with it and maybe not pay you for it. Wrong on all accounts.

2. New authors who get their story accepted also have a pay cut. It used to be £150 but it's now £100, and possibly no chance to have a raise with more stories published.

So, if you do want to have a story accepted by Woman's Weekly, please think again. If you're not sure about the contract that comes with it, you could try to get it changed but it might not work. The only option is to refuse to sign and find another market for that story. or self-publish it.

The best blog to read about all this and more on writing for womags is https://womagwriter.blogspot.com/. Even the author who runs this blog says she would refuse to sign the contract on the all rights basis now.

What I really really want...to write

Over the last week I have been thinking a lot about writing for women's mags (womags) and how I feel about the market and how I have been getting on, or not. I have been trying to get stories accepted by both Woman's Weekly and The People's Friend, but have come up with rejection after rejection. I have now come to the conclusion that I am not cut out for those markets and am going to have a break from trying. The markets for women's short stories are getting fewer now, with Take A Break now only taking stories by their published authors. I have recently sent a Xmas story to an overseas magazine, so shall see what happens with that. I might try a few times with that magazine. I also might try to write a different genre, which I think I have mentioned before - sci-fi. I have a few ideas rattling around my brain for stories, just need to explore them more. I have sent a magical realism story to a digital magazine so shall see how that goes too.

I have realised there are a few genres that I do like writing: asper fiction (stories about children with Asperger's/autism who find confidence), ghosts and magical realism. So, I have already written and printed out a few stories for the first two genres, and have thought of the idea of putting them in a short story collection. Then they can go along and beside my other books and ebooks eg the shorts about ghosts can go beside my Geraldine's Gems ebook series that features a ghost, and can also be a prelude to a series I have about ghosts helping relatives. The Asper fiction shorts can go along side the Rainbow School series I am currently publishing and the other series' I have in mind. There will be a third genre - fiction that I think will be suitable for the overseas magazine. I have found one which I want to rewrite and cut half to get to the word count they want.

So, that is what I really really want to write. One other thing I found about trying to write for womags is that I didn't find it fun and enjoyable anymore. I like writing short stories but realising that maybe I wasn't cut out for it took that fun away for me. I want to get back to writing stories I want to write and have fun with.

I will let you know how it goes, esp with the stories I have out on submission.

Me and reading

Reading has been one of my favourite hobbies since I was a child at primary school. I remember being part of a reading group at school. We sat round a table in a separate room, reading our books, usually Janet and John. I can picture it now. I think it must have been in the library because I can visualise books on movable shelves at the side of the room. We would read out loud, and much to my parents' shock this carried on into home. lol. I had to read in another room when I did read. Thankfully, it didn't last and I soon read books silently to myself. I read Mr Men, Noddy, to Secret Seven and Famous Five, to horsey adventure books. Later on I went to the library and remember reading Catherine Cookson and Lena Kennedy.

I still read a lot, but both adult and children's fiction because I now write mainly for children. I also read women's magazines because I want to write stories for them, too. Oh, and yes, I do read silently still. The only time I would read aloud is when I read my stories for consistency, and then I have to be on my own.

So, do you remember reading at school? What did you read?

Writing short stories for womags - My journey so far

As well as wanting to be known as an indie children's author, I want to become a short story womag (women's magazine) writer. It is not as easy as some might think. For the last year I have bought the magazines and read the stories, but have only slightly taken in what they are really about and what the magazines like to publish. I continued this way until a couple of months ago when I posted one of my stories on the Strictly blog for comments. Boy, did I get comments or what. A couple of the writers, who have been successful at womag writing, said that I should take the time out to study the stories properly. So, that is what I started doing, one magazine at a time. I have started with Take a Break's Fiction Feast as that is the magazine that most of my stories I have been writing seem to go to eg quirky or spooky, stories that TaBFF publish a lot of. The only magazine that publish those sort of stories. I have been writing the studies in a nice pink book. I will study more later today. I have already sent 2 stories to this magazine; one in December and one last week.

Other things I have found out about writing short stories for womags, the main character has to relate to the reader, and the story has to flow. More linear. I tried one with flashbacks, but now thinking about it, it did take the reader away from the story a bit. It is now more linear, going from day to day.

The next magazine I will study I think will be Yours. They have one story in the magazine every issue, which is fortnightly. I do know they are stories that have families in, esp grandparents and nostalgia. I usually study stories written by regulars (writers who have had more than 1 published) first then the rest of the stories.

Will be back in a couple of weeks to let you know how I am getting on.

2016 Writing goals

So, here is my main writing goals for this new year. Where did 2015 go?

1. To finish the pocket novel I have been rewriting since last October, get it professionally edited, then send it to the editor of My Weekly Pocket Novels. I feel I am on my way with this one, as I am adding a lot to the plot still and getting near the ideal word count of 50K.

2. Continue writing short stories aimed at the women's magazines. Get at least 5 accepted for publication. This one runs over from last year. I have 4 stories out there already; two with The Weekly News, 1 with Woman's Weekly, and 1 with Take a Break's Fiction Feast. I am currently rewriting another aimed for People's Friend, and have another nearly finished for Yours. I am happier about writing these as I found a blog esp for womag writers to put their stories on there for feedback. I have learnt to go with what I have been told by these writers as most of them have been successful with their stories. The one I'm revising now is from their comments about it on the blog.

3. Finish 'Geraldine's Gem's' series. Have one more ebook to write and publish, which I plan to do soon.

4. Possibly start publishing my Asperkids series of ebooks. Want to give the first one 'Billy' a few tweaks before getting it edited. Have ideas on what I want to do with this.

5. Finish 'Mermaid' trilogy. Plan to do this as well later this year.

6. Start publishing my children's ebooks that aren't in print, into print, starting with 'Railway Angel'. This was decided last year when my client told me that his granddaughter likes my books and wanted more of them. So, I will do.

7. Might publish the 'Angels' series as a box set at a cheap price.

8. Starting next week, I am going to record in my new diary planner what I write and type each day, then blog about it all the following week. A public record you could say.

I have a special diary planner to write all these down.

So, what are you writing goals for 2016? Let me know and maybe we can be accountable to each other. Good luck.

Writing goals for 2015 - how I did.

So, 2015 is nearly at an end. Where did that time go? I can remember a few of the goals I set myself to do this year, and here is how I did.

1. Get 5 short stories accepted by women's magazines. Not done yet. I have three out there with two magazines, have completed another and about to finish another.

2. Publish the last in the 'Guardian Angels' series. Tick. I did that earlier this month. Out now on all platforms.

3. Publish the last in the Geraldine's series. Not yet. Plan to do that next year.

4. Publish the last of the mermaid stories. Not done yet either. Again, next year.

5. Become a full member of the RNA. Feel I'm on the way to it as I submitted an ms to the scheme this year, and am working on revising it now. Plan to get it edited next year and send to My Weekly Pocket Novel.

So, what goals did you manage to do this year? And what ones are still to be reached? Let me know.

My NaNoWriMo plan

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? It stands for 'National Novel Write a Month'. You have to write/draft 50K of a novel or just 50K words without editing it. I did my own version last year, writing as many short stories as I could, which weren't many at all. I plan to do the same this year. The best way forward for this is to plan what you want to write. Here is my plan: I am going to write a short story for the 5 women's magazines markets I know about ie Woman's Weekly, Take a Break's Fiction Feast, The People's Friend and The Weekly News and Yours. I have jotted down which story I want to write for them except for WW, as I haven't worked that one out yet, but I will in time. It won't reach 50K as most of them will be under 2000 words. I might also plot out chapter summaries for my next adult romance ebook, and I will be working on my Pocket Novel. Lots to write, so thank goodness I have only one appointment in November, as yet.

So, are you doing NaNoWriMo? Let me know if you are and what you plan to write.

If you would like a preview of writing exercises I've been working on for a book, then why not sign up to my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bwuQav

New goals - the update

Do you remember my goals for this year that I posted in January? Here they are. Here is the update on how I am getting on with them:

1. To complete my YA fantasy series 'The Guardian Angels'. I am working on this one. Started writing this in May on the retreat, continued with it during last week whilst waiting for edits. Will finish it this year.

 2. To complete my mermaid trilogy. Not started the last one yet. Don't think I will have time, unless I do this in the afternoon when I've finished my Pocket Novel partial and Billy.

 3. To complete my adult romance series 'Geraldine's Gems'. Hope to do this after I've finished last of my Angel ebooks.

 4. To write 1 or 2 more of my Singleton village series. Working on edits for this one, as lots of comments from my editor and lots to learn still about pacing.

 5. To maybe write another of my Asperkids series. Need to revise part of Billy first. So not this year.

 6. To publish my first Asperkids books about Boring Billy. Maybe by end of the year as I want to revise part of it from what I learnt at the retreat in May.

 7. To get at least 5 short stories accepted and published by women's magazines. Work in progress. lol. Have had rejections so far. One out with Woman's Weekly and working on another for Yours. I have found a blog esp for womag writers who give feedback to your stories, so have been using that for help.

 8. To earn at least £500 from no 7. Not sure if I will get there by end of year. Another work in progress.

 9. To break even with my writing expenses this year. I've been working at a loss the last few years. Getting there. Half way there but only thanks to my new business, my 1-2-1 author service.

 10. The main one I feel is... to graduate from the RNA's New Writer's Scheme, hopefully with a Pocket Novel script. Working on this now. Am rewriting a script that I submitted a few years ago and did nothing with. This is a slow work in progress as I only work on it when I have time late afternoon. Decided that I won't have time to do all of it by end of August, so have been working on the first three chapters and will rewrite the synopsis for it, and send the rest of the ms as a draft.

My other goal, which was new, instead of writing Pocket Novels, is to work on my author service. That is going really well and I have four clients so far, one of whom is v appreciative of my help to him.

So, how are you goals going? Will post again at the end of November with my progress.

Name your favourite book of 2014

At the last RNA meeting in Holborn last Saturday we were asked to bring our fave book of last year. Here are mine:

1. How to write and sell short stories by Della Galton. I got this as a Xmas present in 2013. I started reading it but then got other non-fiction stuff to read. Then I went to a Women's Weekly Fiction Workshop last October where Della was the main speaker and I was inspired. I read the rest of the book, and it made me decide, that yes, I do want to become a womag fiction writer.

2. Having read the above, I wanted more knowledge about writing for womag's. So I bought and read How to write short stories and How to write ghost stories by Kath McGurl. I now want to write ghost stories too for womag's.

3. As an indie author who wanted to be more business-like this year, I read 'Write Livelihood - How to create a business plan for authors ' by Ryan Petty. This is the book that I have been working the last few posts on about creating your plan.

4. I also read the first ebook in the 3-for-1 set 'Indie Author Power Pack' which is called 'Write. Publish. Repeat' by Johnny B Truant, Dave... and I can't remember the name of the third author. Buy it, cos it includes the second version of 'Let's Get Digital' by David Gaughran, and the second version of 'How to market your book' by Joanna Penn. All a v good.

5. Business books for authors by Joanna Penn. Straight forward talking for authors.

So, what have you read last year and what was your favourite book/ebook? Let me know.

Step 4 - Your goals for the year

So, here is the final step to your plan and the most important one I feel - writing down your goals for this year. To motivate you, here are mine:

1. To complete my YA fantasy series 'The Guardian Angels'
2. To complete my mermaid trilogy
3. To complete my adult romance series 'Geraldine's Gems'
4. To write 1 or 2 more of my Singleton village series (working on that now)
5. To maybe write another of my Asperkids series
6. To publish my first Asperkids books about Boring Billy
7. To get at least 5 short stories accepted and published by women's magazines
8. To earn at least £500 from no 7
9. To break even with my writing expenses this year. I've been working at a loss the last few years.#
10. The main one I feel is... to graduate from the RNA's New Writer's Scheme, hopefully with a Pocket Novel script. Working on this now. Am rewriting a script that I submitted a few years ago and did nothing with.

So there you have my ten goals for this year. I've been working on numbers 4, 7, 8 and 10 so far. Will give you an update on how I'm going with these in a few months time. So, what goals have you made for this year? Let me know how you are going with them.

Creating a business plan - Step 3

This is a third step, which you don't have to do, but I read it in an ebook I am reading by Ryan Petty about Creating a Writing Livelihood. It is to write down an inventory of all your assets eg stories that you have got to write, written and not done anything with or have ideas for. As I write ebooks for both adults and children, and have started writing short stories for women's magazines, I am only going to put on here the list for adult mss. Here we go:

To Complete: 1 x Geraldine's Gems to include a short story that will conclude the series
4 x Secret of Singleton short stories
Checkmate - old ms which I will be working into a My Weekly Pocket Novel

Written and not done anything with (ie their old mss in my wardrobe)
1. Forgotten Memories
2. Stay With Me (thinking of turning into a pocket novel)
3. A Matter of Time

Ideas for:
A series of 5 ebooks about superwomen heroes who fall in love with men who don't, to stop villains from creating monsters out of children with powers.
Lots of notes with ideas on for both contemporary and romantic suspense books.
Eden's World - might turn this into a serial outline for Woman's Weekly