Selling to British woman's weekly market

Ms.Write · Jan 28, 2006

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this Board but am finding it helpful. I am starting to write for the British woman's weekly market (My Weekly, Woman's Weekly, Take a Break, etc.) and wonder if any of you have sold to this market. If so, how many stories did you have to submit before breaking in?

Previously I sold 41 stories in the confessions field in North America (True Story, True Experience, etc.). I no longer wish to do this as the market has shrunk and they do not give bylines.

Thanks!

arrowqueen · Jan 28, 2006

I submitted about 40 before I sold my first, but I sell regularly now.

Good luck.

Carlene · Jan 28, 2006

Interesting...

I, too, have sold a lot of stories to the confession market, but don't bother any more. As Ms. Write said, the markets have shrunk, and when I manage to sell one, it takes a year to get it published! I googled all three of those magazines, but couldn't find any submission guidelines. Am I looking in the wrong spot?

Carlene
www.crdater.com

pdr · Jan 28, 2006

Women's Magazines

On Page two of this Writing Short Fiction studio there's a good thread called Submitting to UK Magazines. You'll find lots of British women's magazines and their details there courtesy of Arrowtown.

I will repeat the obvious. You need to read the magazines as they each have quite definite niches and styles. These magazines have been around for years because they know their readers and give them what they want. Your story must fit the magazine's pattern. You will often be asked to rewrite your story to the editor's precise requirements.

Also please remember these are British readers and they want stories about their lives. Rarely will an all American story be accepted. You aren't part of the Commonwealth so you're foreign! You will find your story needs to be set in the UK or have an English person as the major character.

It's a well paid market but difficult to break into.

Carlene · Jan 29, 2006

Thanks so much for the info! Yes, that's one thing I ALWAYS stress when people ask me how to break into free lance writing - read the magazines! How on earth can one expect to sell to a publication without first reading it? Course everyone wants to take a short cut.

Thanks again.

Carlene

Ms.Write · Jan 29, 2006

Arrowqueen - I admire your stamina (submitting 40). I am glad your persistance has paid off!

Carlene - The major confession mags have been taken over by Dorchester Media (used to be Sterling/Macfadden). You will find writer guidelines for True Story, True Love, True Confessions and True Romance at www.dorchestermedia.com. I just sold a story to True Experience (also Dorchester Media, but I didn't see any guidelines posted) after 3 months though I expected to wait much longer.

pdr - Thanks for your comments and reference to previous thread. Yes the setting must be in UK and that has been a bit of a challenge for me, living in Canada. I have gotten copies of the British mags and analyzed a number of stories before submitting. I appreciate your frankness about the difficulties. I will just work that much harder to perfect my work!

pdr · Jan 29, 2006

Um...just to point out...

Actually Canada is in the Commonwealth so a Canadian setting is fine.

Just make a major character a relative from the UK, a visitor on holiday, someone come to work or study in Canada. I try to spend a few months a year in Canada with my daughter so often use Canada as a story setting and don't have problems with my editors with that. Use the setting as a minor character.

Carlene · Jan 29, 2006

Hi - Yes, I'm familiar with Dorcester - I have a story in the February TRUE ROMANCE - that I submitted in May of 2005! Good for you getting accepted so fast. I have a short article and pet photo scheduled for April, too. Hey, it's money!

Carlene

Tilly · Jan 30, 2006

Take a Break, Bella and That's Life all share the same address. Does that mean a rejection from one is a rejection from all of them?

arrowqueen · Jan 30, 2006

Nope. They may be in the same building, but the mags are autonomous.

Tilly · Jan 30, 2006

Thank you

Ms.Write · Jan 30, 2006

pdr -Thanks for info on using a Canadian setting. I find your sentence intriguing - "use the setting as a minor character." I understand that to mean that it can add value to the story (as long as main character is from UK).

Carlene - Congratulations on your confessions sales. Yes, it IS money and also a way to practice our fiction skills.

pdr · Jan 31, 2006

If it's not your home...

Yes, your setting is a minor character. Think about your UK readers. Canada is exotic and foreign and far away. So take those cliches they know about hearing train whistles a hundred miles in the winter, the northern lights, the wide wide prairies, the many Lakes, the fantastic Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the snowy far north and polar bears, the fantastic animals. Choose one that will affect your character and make it matter to the character and the reader.

Of course if you will live in Toronto then it's just another ruddy city but Montreal and Vancouver, Quebec, the Prairie cities and the Maritime cities all have their own Canadian charm.

Just don't hide the Canadian-ness, use it.

Ms.Write · Feb 1, 2006

Thanks so much, pdr! My first three stories were set in the UK, but for my next one I will put it in my home town, Montreal. Of course my main character will be British and I will keep to British spelling and expressions as much as I can.

Of the stories I read, though, all I've seen were UK settings; I guess Canadian is much less common.

P.S. - I wonder how often the fiction "specials" are published - i.e. My Weekly Special (seasonal; my guess is 4 times a year), or Woman's Weekly Fiction Special? Take a Break Fiction Feast?

pdr · Feb 1, 2006

Actually...

I can't remember as some of my stories were used in them and some in the weekly magazines but I did not specifically submit to the specials. Maybe ArrowQueen knows?

arrowqueen · Feb 2, 2006

'Fiction Feast' is definitely monthly and I'm not sure, but I think the 'Woman's Weekly Special' one is as well. I'll check for you next time I'm in the newsagent's. I think you're right about 'My Weekly' though.

arrowqueen · Feb 2, 2006

As for setting your story in Montreal, I can't see there being a problem. Just have your Brit heroine there on holiday/visiting relatives/winning the trip in a competition - something of that ilk.

Good luck.

Ms.Write · Feb 2, 2006

reprint rights

pdr and arrowqueen:
Many thanks for the helpful advice and encouragement!

You may already be aware of this, but there are agents in the UK who handle reprint rights to sell UK-published stories to magazines in Norway, Sweden, Australia, etc. Unfortunately I don't know the name of the agent(s). What this means is that you get paid several times for the same story. Sounds good to me! Any thoughts?

pdr · Feb 2, 2006

Expensive!

I prefer to do it myself as it's very easy to get information about Oz, NZ, SA markets and the EU has some great markets you can access. I hate paying agents for something so simple.

arrowqueen · Feb 3, 2006

I sell to Oz myself, but I do have a foreign agent who flogs me to the likes of Norway, Sweden, South Africa, etc. It's a bit like free money when an unexpected cheque arrives in the post.

Ms.Write · Feb 4, 2006

Thanks! This is so much better than writing for the confessions, where I sold ALL my rights.

Another question: do you consider most of your stories in this market to be romantic? I see them more as "relationship" stories, which can cover all kinds of relationships, not just romantic ones.

Also - what is your favourite length? I am aiming for between 1,000 and 2,000 words, which is probably easier to sell.

I wrote two "tales with a twist" but found them confining in terms of length and needing to mislead the reader until the end.

arrowqueen · Feb 4, 2006

The weeklies like 1,000 - 1,200 but the specials take longer ones. The longest I've sold (apart from a serial) has been about 6,000 to 'Fiction Feast'.

Ms.Write · Feb 6, 2006

I think I will go for 2,000 words. I find the shorter length very confining, and I am used to writing stories of 4,000+ words.

Do you write romantic short stories, or ???

arrowqueen · Feb 6, 2006

Humourous 'Twist-in-the-tale' ones for the weeklies. Ghost/murder/romance/crime/humour for the others, since they take a much wider variety.

Tilly · Feb 7, 2006

arrowqueen said:
Ghost/murder/romance/crime/humour for the others, since they take a much wider variety.

Do you mean the fiction specials?
I've only been getting the weeklies for my market research so far. And have you ever written for the People's Friend? I was thinking of giving them a go.

Selling to British woman's weekly market

Ms.Write

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

Carlene

New kid, be gentle!

pdr

Carlene

New kid, be gentle!

Ms.Write

pdr

Carlene

New kid, be gentle!

Tilly

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

Tilly

Ms.Write

pdr

Ms.Write

pdr

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

Ms.Write

pdr

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

Ms.Write

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

Ms.Write

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

Tilly