People’s Friend

 

The first edition, 1869

One of the magazines for which I write is The People’s Friend. I have been fortunate to have several short stories and articles published with them.

The magazine has been officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s longest-running women’s weekly magazine: first published in 1869, that is 150 years continued publication of short stories!

J Campbell Purr, maybe?

As part of the anniversary celebrations it has fitted out the ground floor reception area of its Fleet Street offices as a cosy living room, complete with a very purry cat. 

I called in on Friday afternoon and had a cuddle with the as yet unnamed feline.

Unlike many other magazines in the Womag market, ‘The Friend’, as it is affectionately known, still accepts unsolicited submissions, the editorial staff are renowned for their willingness to engage and work with their writers, and it does not demand copyright. 

My first Friend publication, 2014

They are though very exacting in their requirements and you would be well advised to follow their guidelines with care and to read several copies of the magazine before submitting any stories to ensure you understand precisely what it is they are looking for.

It is wonderful to see that there is still a market for short story fiction. And as magazines are often shared between friends it means your writing may be read by over a third of a million people. 

Long may The People’s Friend continue to flourish! (And long may I continue to be one of its writers!)

Over to Sharon Bee : Guest Post

Copyright Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Inkygirl.com

I’m delighted to welcome long-standing writer chum Sharon Bee to my blog today.

Sharon runs Fiction Addiction, a writing group of established Womag writers who meet remotely via email.

I have been a member of Sharon’s group for several years and have appreciated the practical help, support and friendship shared between members.



Over to Sharon:

Calling all Womag Writers!

Are you a published short story writer for women's magazines?

Would you like to receive honest (yet kind) feedback on your work to help increase your rate of sales?

Then why not join Fiction Addiction?

Fiction Addition is a free to join email critique group. 

We are a small group of womag writers with a high record of publication, therefore we warmly welcome published writers.

The idea of the group is test our work on members, and with their feedback, we adjust our work before subbing it to magazines. 

And it works!

For more information, please visit my website: 

http://sbee.orgfree.com

I look forward to hearing from you!

National ‘Something-Or-Other’ Day

World Book Day, 7th March

I have volunteered to contribute a weekly blog post for the wonderful Jesmond Library. My focus is to explore happenings in the wider community which may be of interest to the library’s many users.

Other volunteers add regular posts about forthcoming events and activities within the library.

Researching for interesting topics I have been amazed at the number and variety of awareness days, weeks and months that exist. 

St David’s Day, 1st March

In March alone there are saints’ days (St David and St Patrick), various charities’ fundraising days (eg Comic Relief), social/political days (today is International Women’s Day), and there are foodie days (National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day, anyone?). There are so many interests clamouring for attention.

Topics relevant to readers and writers this month include:

World Book Day - 7th March (outside the UK this is celebrated on 23rd April)

World Poetry Day - 21st March (but the UK celebrates poetry on 3rd October)

World Storytelling Day - 20th March (the UK conforms to the international diary for this one!)

National Stay-in-bed Day?

What do you think? Are there too many awareness days?

Any new topic days you want to suggest?

Mine? - No, It’s Yours’

It’s not mine - it’s Yours
(and yes, this photograph is offensive)

A story ‘what I wrote’ is currently on sale in the Yours Fiction Special. Normally I would be very excited about this and to some measure I suppose I am. ‘Guess Who From’, is printed alongside one written by Celia Imrie. To have my story listed next to hers is thrilling.

Except ‘Guess Who From’ is not my story. Yes, I wrote it. But it is no longer mine because when I sold it to Yours (part of Bauer Media) in 2016 I sold it with all rights. This means that the story belongs to Bauer.

Delighted to see there is a demand for short
story fiction. If only writers were better regarded.

Because it is theirs they can reprint it whenever they wish, without my permission, without my knowledge and without any further payment - as is the case here. They can use another name, or even no name at all. I understood this when I accepted their payment three years ago so I am not in any way moaning about the consequences.

There was a time when only a few magazines demanded all rights, Yours being one of them. Sadly TIMedia changed their terms last year and all stories now purchased by Woman’s Weekly are under an ‘all rights’ contract. This week news has broken of another Bauer magazine, ‘Spirit & Destiny’, demanding all rights.

Despite complaints and adverse publicity, the unfair bargaining position means that individual writers are faced with accepting such unfair terms imposed by large corporations or to stop submitting and selling. It’s not a good position to be in.

What was once mine is mine no longer. It’s Yours.

Library Humour

The stereotype of a Librarian as staid, dour and frowning upon noise of any kind is a classic trope of film and fiction.

Display at Tavistock Library
Photo: Stephen Lloyd

But follow various libraries on Twitter and you will find that is far from the truth. Accounts such as @OrkneyLibrary will soon alter your view and convince you that librarians have a very good sense of humour.

I particularly look forward to their Bookface photographs, always intending to create one of my own. Tales of Booky McBookface, their travelling library van, are the stuff of legend. And the song lyrics they replicate using various book titles are ingenious.

In stark contrast to such levity, Tavistock Library is embracing the darker side. In October 2019 they are playing host to Tavistock’s ‘first Gothic and Neo-Gothic Celebration, including Literature, Art, Architecture, Theatre, Film and Creative Fun.’ As part of that event there is to be a short story and poetry competition which I thought I might enter.

Later today I am travelling to Devon to visit my brother. While there I hope to do some research into local mythology to provide me with suitable background knowledge.

Thanks to Tavistock Library for letting me use this
photograph of their bodice-ripper display.

Mind you, when not embroiled in the gothic, the folks @tavilibrary have a keen sense of humour too. Having had fun with their “Have you seen my shirt?” display, they promised a similar collection of bodice-ripper fiction under the title “Anyone know a good seamstress?”. 

Does anyone have more examples of library humour?

Keep it up!

Photo: The People’s Friend, used with my article
“A History of Women’s Football” published Nov 2014

2019 has only just begun, the ink on the New Year Resolutions barely dry. It is too soon to celebrate the long-term successes, or bewail the failure, of those good intentions. 

In general terms my resolutions for the year are: to blog regularly; write everyday; aim to have something published every month; to join a critique group.

A philosophical take on the prompt “swing”

Let me share what I have begun.

Blog regularly: Well, here I am, blogging! Week one achieved.

Write everyday: #vss365 Each morning I have written a tweet-length very short story using the daily prompt. It’s a good warm-up exercise. Six days achieved, only 359 to go.

Paragraph Planet, 4th January 2019.

Publication: Paragraph Planet publishes a different 75 word story every day. In the past I aimed for one per month, and for a while was successful but then let my submissions slip. My first submission of 2019, made on 1st January, was published on the 4th. Eleven more needed.

Critique group - I have reconnected with some experienced writing buddies and have already shared my first story, and received some helpful suggestions. Achieved!

Now all I need to do is keep up the good work.

Just in time

Just in time...

It is the last day of December: time to reflect on 2018 before the midnight chimes sound the death knell of the old year and a new year begins. 

Writing:

I’ve not written as much as I had planned this time last year. But I have written. And I have started to submit my work again. I count that as a good thing. 

Successes:

I have seen stories published in Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special and the Yours 2019 Annual.

Several of my letters have been printed in various magazines.

I have had a couple of shoutouts in the Mslexia subscribers’ newsletter, littlems.

I was a runner-up in a competition run by Writers’ Forum which resulted in a sale.

Writing friends:

In June I visited Helen and Mike Walters at their glorious Solus Or Writing Retreat.

In August I went to the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School where I met several writing buddies, both old and new.

My desk at Solus Or with its incredible view

New Year plans:

I hesitate to state in a public forum exactly what I hope to achieve in 2019. Real life too often intervenes to knock us off our chartered course. I have though privately committed some intentions to paper to give me a focus.

I definitely want to write more, submit more, enter more competitions, and be published more often. 

I intend to return to Solus Or.

I hope also to return to Swanwick.

Happy New Year to all and may all your writing dreams come true in 2019.