COMPETITION MONTHLY

Welcome back to Francesca Burgess with the latest in her Competition Monthly series.

First of all I am delighted to tell you that a couple of weeks ago I was shortlisted for The People's Friend Serial Writing Competition. It was something a little different for me so it just shows that sometimes you should chance writing outside the box. Writer Helen Yendall was the winner and I look forward to reading her story when it's published.

This month I'd like to mention record keeping. I'm certain I'd have got into a right mess with my submissions without my spreadsheets. I used to add the competition entries to the sheet for my magazine subs, but I recently created a new spreadsheet especially for the comps, which I have found much more useful. These are in date order. I also keep a paper system. This is an exercise book set out by story, which allows me to see exactly where each of them has been sent. It's also handy when your laptop crashes and you can't reload your spreadsheets. (Yes, it happened to me!)

There are a couple of unusual competitions this month. One has a writing retreat in Iceland as a prize (I've always longed to go there) and another is about points of view. Good luck!

**Closing soon** Iceland Writers' Retreat Northern Lights Competition

Theme: 'Northern Lights', up to 500 words.

Prize: Writing retreat in Rykjavik worth £1,500, including flights, 13-17 April 2016

Competition deadline: 3 January 2016

Entry: free

Details

Writing Magazine Annual Open Short Story Competition

Theme: Open, 1,500 – 1,700 words

Prize: 1^st £200 plus publication in magazine. 2^nd £50 plus publication online

Competition deadline: 14 January 2016

Entry: £3 subscribers, £5 others

Details

Grist Point of View Competition

Theme: Writing in one of five points of view: 'I', 'You', 'He', 'She' or 'It'. Maximum 5,000 words or 40 lines of poetry

Prize: 1^st £500, 2^nd £250, 3^rd £125 and publication

Competition deadline: 31 January 2016

Entry: £5

Details

Artificium fiction competitions

Competition for short stories:

Theme: Open, 2,000 – 8,000 words

Prize: 1^st £300, prize pot to be shared between 1 – 4 runners up

Competition deadline: 5 February 2016

Entry: £5

 'In Brief' Competition:

Theme: Open, can include flash fiction and poetry, 500 – 1,000 words

Prize: 1^st £150, prize pot to be shared between 1 – 4 runners up

Competition deadline: 5 February 2016

Entry: £5

Details

Exeter Writers Short Story Competition

Theme: Open, except children's. 3,000 word maximum.

Prize: 1^st £500, 2^nd £250, 3^rd £100, Prize for Devon writer £100

Competition Deadline: 28 February 2016

Entry: £6

Details

Bath Novel Awards

Theme: Open, any genre including Y/A but not children's.

Prize: 1^st £2,000, 2^nd Consultancy report from Cornerstones and follow up session

Competition Deadline: 10 April 2016

Entry: £22

Details

About Francesca:

Francesca Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Twyford Writers, Winchester Writers' Conference, Chorley and District Writers' Circle, Flash a Famous Phrase, Meridian Writing, People's Friend and those run by Writers' News and Writing Magazine. She's had stories published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls. She's been a member of the RNA New Writers' Scheme for five years.

Thank you, Francesca!

Don’t forget to let us know about your competition successes plus any comps you are organising.

The RNA blog is brought to you by,

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you’d like to write for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Chatting with Joanna Courtney

We are pleased to welcome Joanna Courtney to the blog today. We are sure that many of the answers to our questions will resonate with readers of the blog.

Welcome, Joanna, can you tell us how long you've been writing?

All my life. I was an avid reader from an early age and wrote Enid Blyton style boarding-school

books from 10. I kept long teenage diaries and wrote plays and stories for school events. I studied English Literature at university and once I was working I wrote fiction in the evenings. I’ve always wanted to be a writer so seeing my novel on the shelves is a dream come true.

What about your path to publication?

It’s been a long, hard road and my poor husband has had to deal with many a tearful ‘that’s it, I’m getting a proper job’ tantrum! I started out writing short stories for the women’s magazines when I had young children. I was first published by The People’s Friend in 1999 and over the years I’ve been published by all the major magazines, with serials as well as stories. One of these, ‘Running Against the Tide’ was published as a novel by Robert Hale in 2012 and I’d also been working on a contemporary romance for which I secured my agent, Kate Shaw, back in 2009. We didn’t manage to find a publisher for that but Kate was supportive of my desire to move to historical fiction. The first novel I wrote in the Saxon period was also turned down by publishers, though with enough nice comments to persuade me to write a second, and that one – The Chosen Queen – was finally taken up by Pan Macmillan who have been absolutely brilliant with it.

Do you find it confusing to move between your author name and ‘real’ name?

Courtney is my middle name and also my grandma’s name, so it already feels like part of me and I rather like having a pen name. It makes it easier to find the confidence to do events as I go in almost as an actor – as ‘Joanna Courtney, author’, rather than just as little old me!

Marketing and promotion is a big part of an author’s life. How do you cope with this?

I enjoy a lot of it and I find it easy when I’m editing or researching but when I’m deep in writing a novel it’s much harder to pull myself away from my imaginary world to do all the ‘real’ stuff. That said, though, connecting with readers is wonderful and nothing makes your day like a tweet from someone you don’t know saying how much they’ve loved your book so I could never complain about that.

How do fit your writing around your day to day life?

I have children so on the whole I write during the school day. Up until recently that stopped painfully early at 3.15 but now they are both at secondary school I thankfully have much longer days. I also, however, have to fit in my work as an Open University Creative Writing tutor and have two dogs who need walking – though that’s fantastic thinking time.

What is the next big thing in your writing life?

I’m in the middle of writing the third book of the trilogy. Book 2, The Constant Queen, is finished and edited and due out next May, so I’m now writing the Norman side of the 1066 story for Book 3, The Conqueror’s Queen. It’s proving really interesting as until now they’ve been the ‘baddies’ so it’s lovely getting under their skin and seeing it all from another point of view.

Author Bio:

Ever since Joanna sat up in her cot with a book, she’s wanted to be a writer. She’s had many stories and serials published in women’s magazines and The Chosen Queen is the first novel in her historical trilogy, The Queens of the Conquest, about the women of 1066.

Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chosen-Queen-Queens-Conquest/dp/144728190X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429540417&sr=8-1&keywords=joanna+courtney

Facebook: joannacourtneyauthor

Twitter: @joannacourtney1

My website: www.joannacourtney.com

My blog: www.joannacourtney.com/blog/

Thank you so much for visiting the blog today, Joanna. We eagerly await publication day for The Constant Queen.

The RNA blog is brought to you by,

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to write for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Wendy Clarke: Serial Writer!

Have you thought about writing a short story? How about a serial? Today a very busy Wendy Clarke visits the blog to explain about these different styles of fiction writing.

Welcome, Wendy. How long have you been writing? Is it a full time job for you?

I started writing in the spring on 2011. I had been an English teacher at a small private primary school and had recently received the news that it would sadly have to close due to the recession. Unsure of what the future held, and unable to make any decisions, I enrolled on a writing course for something to do. To my surprise I loved it and when it finished, did a second. The following year, I

was brave enough to send out some stories to magazines and three months later, had my first sale. After much discussion with my supportive husband, I decided that writing would be my new career and have been writing for magazines ever since. It is not a full time job, though – I try and balance my writing life with other things.

You write short fiction for the women’s magazine market. How many stories have you sold and do you have a preference for a certain style of short story?

I recently had a count and found that I had sold one hundred and twenty and I am very grateful to the magazines for liking my work. I write in a range of styles and genres, twist, humour, historical... but I write a lot more romance than anything else and my stories have often been described as having emotional depth – which I hope is true.

At what point did you decide it was time to write a serial?

Until I started writing, I’d never thought of myself as someone who liked a challenge but each year, I seem to be striving for something new and a serial seemed a logical progression. I had been writing regularly for The People’s Friend and my editor had been encouraging me to write a serial for a while, but I kept resisting. Then one day, I was trying to write a short story about the German occupation in Guernsey, and realised that the characters and storylines were too many and too complex to fit into 3000 words. It was my light bulb moment and my first serial, Charlotte’s War, was born.

How does a magazine serial differ from a short story? Is there a certain word length?

There are several differences between short stories and serials - the most obvious being that a serial, especially a longer one, takes more stamina! The plot needs to be more complex, with several stories interweaving, and each instalment must end with a cliff-hanger. This is because a serial has to keep the reader interested for a longer amount of time and at the end of each instalment they must be left desperate to know what is going to happen next.

There will also be more characters in a serial. Whereas a short story will usually have one or two main characters, a serial will have a whole cast – each with their own unique problems which will become sub-plots. Unlike a short story the serial will be told from the viewpoint of two or three characters.

One of the biggest differences, for me anyway, is that a serial needs to be planned out. It’s essential to keep the storyline tight and on track and the magazines won’t accept one without a synopsis. I never plan my short stories, I just get an idea and start writing but, although daunting, being made to plot out the storyline for the serial really helped me get to grips with it before I started.

As for word count, I can only speak for The People’s Friend, as they are the only magazine I have written serials for. They accept stories of between four and ten instalments, the first one being 6000 words and the following ones 5000. Quite a lot longer than a short story.

The bottom line is serials are more intense... but very rewarding.

Are you given free reign to write the whole serial or is the idea pitched to the fiction editor.

How it works is you pitch your idea along with the first instalment, a synopsis and a character list, to the fiction editor. If they like the idea, they will assign you an editor to work with. You then write one instalment at a time which has to be checked (and maybe edited) before you write the next. Patience is a virtue in the serial game!

How long does it take you to write a serial?

I suppose it depends whether you mean how long does it take to physically write it or how long does the whole process take? What I did was to set aside a week to write an instalment then would send it to my editor, who might get back to me with some proposed changes. This would then be looked at by the fiction editor and then the magazine editor before I’d be given the go ahead for the next instalment – maybe several weeks later. While I was waiting to hear, I would spend my time writing short stories which suited me very well. To put it into perspective, I started writing my first serial in July 2013 and it has just been published this month. In that time I have written a second serial.

You write articles for writing magazines. Can you tell us about this?

That was another of my challenges! I fancied trying my hand at writing a feature and wanted to write about things that affected me personally. At the time, my blog Wendy’s Writing Now, was getting more followers and I was starting to have guests (either by request or invitation) on it. I was also being asked to write my own guest posts for others and it made me think about the guest/host relationship and how it could be beneficial to both... as long as certain steps were followed to make things run smoothly. With this in mind, I wrote my first articles for Writing Magazine, ‘How to Be a Good Blog Guest’ and ‘How to be a Good Blog Host’. This was followed by a Writing Magazine article which talked the reader through my experience of putting my first short story collection together using KDP. Finally, I have an article in this month’s magazine where I talk to People’s Friend fiction editor, Shirley Blair and other serial writers about writing serials for the magazine.

You are now a member of the RNA New Writers’ Scheme. How do you balance your writing time between short stories, serials, your novel and articles?

Let’s just say I’d never be any good in a circus, as juggling might not be my strong point! My problem is, I love writing all of these things and don’t want to give anything up. I have to be sensible though and because I have started a novel (and it would be nice to have something to submit to the reader in August!) I have said that I won’t write any more serials until it is finished. The plan is also to cut down on the articles too but I am still writing short stories alongside the novel – after all, they are my income!

How do you see your future as a writer?
I seem to be following a path that others have taken before me – moving from short story, to serial, to novel. I suppose, like everyone else, I would like to see myself as a published novelist... but we’ll just have to wait and see!

About Wendy:

Wendy Clarke is a full time writer of women's fiction. Her work regularly appears in national women's magazines such as The People's Friend, Take a Break Fiction Feast and Woman's Weekly. She has also written serials and a number of non-fiction magazine articles.

Wendy has published two collections of short stories, Room in Your Heart and The Last Rose. Wendy lives with her husband, cat and step-dog in Sussex.

Links:

Amazon

Facebook

Blog

Thank you so much for visiting the blog, Wendy and good luck with your NWS submission.

The RNA blog is brought to you by,

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman

If you would like to write something for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

What's in your Pocket?

Today we are delighted to welcome Tracey Steel who works as part The People’s Friend fiction team, with special responsibility for Pocket Novels. We asked her about these books, complete in their own right but following a very different path to publication from the ‘norm’.

Did you work for DC Thomson before taking on your current job?
I joined DC Thomson straight from school at the tender age of 18! That was way back in 1987 and my first job was writing the horoscopes on Jackie magazine. It’s true….they’re made up! From there I worked on most of the teenage titles then I had the brilliant job of serialising books for the Dundee Courier. One month it was John Grisham and the next, Joan Collins!

How many Pocket Novels are published each year?

Twenty-four. Two a month.

Where can we purchase Pocket Novels? Twenty-four novels a year is a huge amount. Can you tell us something about their ‘shelf life’?

Each Pocket Novel is available for a fortnight. They are available from most supermarkets or you can order them on line at www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk

What happens then, after you withdraw them?

The author can then self-publish or sell to Large Print AFTER we’ve published it. They also have to use their own original manuscript i.e. not the one we’ve edited.

What would you say is the best word count for a People’s Friend Pocket Novel

With our new larger print they tend to come in between 40,000 and 43,000 words.

How does an author submit and does she/he have to have written for the People’s Friend Magazine?

Anyone can submit a Pocket Novel manuscript. All I need is a synopsis and the opening three chapters…anyone can have a go!

What would be the normal lead time before you can reply with an answer?

It really does vary as I’m part of the weekly Fiction team as well, so please bear with me! We have rather a lot of manuscripts

How long does it take from acceptance to publication?

It can be anything up to around six months.

Is there a genre that readers prefer?

We had a pretty detailed survey done a couple of years ago and no one genre came out on top. As long as the story’s engaging it doesn’t matter where or when it’s set.

What are you looking for at the moment?

Family sagas, ‘gentle’ crimes, but not murder, and romance!

What do you enjoy reading and how do you spend your leisure time when not working on Pocket Novels?

I’m a crime fan! I love forensic-based books and thrillers!

Thank you so much for joining us today. I hope there’s room in you inbox after our followers have read this.

To submit your novel to Tracey, please contact her by email on tsteel@dcthomson.co.uk

And here are the People's Friend guidelines for those of you who would like to see them. http://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/footer/guidelines/

This blog is brought to you by Elaine Everest and Natalie Kleinman. If you would like to write about the craft of writing or perhaps be interviewed about your writing life please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com