British womags

I write for them all, under 'Catherine Ferguson'. (In fact, I'm in this weeks TaB.)

It took me 40 submissions before I got my first accepted, so persevere.

By 'subscribing' do you mean 'buying a subscription' or just reading the mags? If it's the first, no I doubt that would make any difference, but if it's the latter, yes it does. You have to read them to know the kind of thing they publish - but that applies to any market you're trying to break into.

Best of luck.

UK Women's Magazines

Yes, I sell to UK magazines. The competition is keen, the pay is good.
Yes, you need to read the magazines you are submitting to frequently and know their style and tone really well. Do your research. Get the tip sheets. Make a very polished and professional approach and pay attention to what's written on your rejection slips. I found the comments most helpful.

Yep. The writing world is quite incestuous really. Give it time and somebody on here will be saying the same thing to you.

BTW, does anyone know of a way of getting them abroad (apart from newsagents -- here in France they're useless)? I find it very annoying they don't accept foreign subscriptions... but maybe some of them do?

Forty submissions, wow. That says something.

Wish I could help, but I haven't got a clue. Someone else on here was saying exactly the same thing about trying to get magazines in France, so it seems to be a common problem.

And yes it does. It says 'Stubborn b*tch'

Obtaining UK mags abroad

I am nearly sure there will be a bookstore in Paris that will sell foreign mags. There usually is in every country I've visited, but France is a big country if you don't live in Paris!

What I did and do is to join up with UK writers and writers' groups and exchange my OZ and NZ mags for theirs. This has become such a good trading system that I now have writer friends in many countries and we exchange e-mail info on the markets we find and know are useful to each other.

Look at the BBC Writing site (www.bbc.co.uk) which had a list of writers' groups. (I'm not sure if it's still functioning.) www.writersnews.co.uk is the website of 'Writer's News' an excellent markets magazine but they also have a message board and it would be a good place to leave details of what you want and what you will swap. May I suggest you start with a: "I'd like to trade my country's magazine for yours.." type statement rather than a "I need..." one because more people will read a 'trade' notice I've found!

You can also check www.AskJeeves.co.uk for UK writers' groups.
Happy Hunting, it's a lot of effort but it works and then you can target your markets successfully.

pdr, thanks a lot for your advice, I'll check them. Happy writing!