I have a short story looking for a home. It is a long time since I tried to have one published and I remember many women's magazines have regular writers and would not look at new ones. Has anyone up to date info as to where to try.
Thanks, Kat

Kat, the list I have is from 2002, but it's pretty comprehensive. You probably have the same list?

You can't beat contacting the Fiction Editors of specific magazines for up-to-date information, though.

In my experience, most magazines take unsolicited submissions, but it's a very tough market to break into. (I had some success with children's magazines, but these rarely publish fiction now.)

Good luck!
And I think Jem is the expert on this!

Luisa

I am a newbie myself and I'm sure others have more info, but to start you off The People's Friend seem to welcome unsolicited MS and have a very useful set of guidelines about what, and how, to submit. They have to fit a certain genre rather precisely which is all outlined on the site.

Hope that helps and good luck

<Added>

Also My Weekly and The Lady look hopeful!

Kat, it’s a very difficult market to break into, but they are always on the lookout for new writers.

Without knowing your story, it would be difficult to say where you could start. However, Fiction Feast – which is an offshoot of Take A Break or Take That or Take Something – seem to have more scope in what they’ll accept.

Here’s a tip I picked up on a course at Caerleon last year (which I abandoned after the first session when I realised it was not for me). Get a range of magazines and study the adverts. They are pitched to the type of reader. So if it’s stairlifts and lumbago rub, they're not likely to accept stories about pulling at the local rave.

Good luck

Dee

Does anyone know about how much they pay? Just out of interest, since I can't find any info on the matter from the ones that say they accept unsolicited admissions. (People's Friend, Lady, etc) I'm imagining 'not very much' (£20? £50? is that way off?) but since I'm whiling away the agonising wait while my Magnum Opus is being considered by a publisher, I'm writing short stories in the hope of keeping hope alive and lots of balls in the air - and I may as well get my first rejection from a a £50 outlet as a £20 one, I guess

merry

Dee
I did do that a couple of years ago and read the magazines too. The story is the Last Romantic on the romance section. I will write to the fiction editor of a few and see how I get on. Thanks for answering everyone.
Kat

try bonmarché magazine if your story is 600-700 words (pay £100)

Thanks I will take a look at it.
Kat

I did go to a talk by the editor of Woman's Weekly a couple of years ago. They do read everything and consider seriously new writers, though if they don't know you you have to go into the pile 3-4 months. They pay £100 (or did) for a short story whether this is 1000 words or 2,500, and will buy with a view to future publication in either their main magazine or their seasonal publications. At the time they were quite keen on serials - two to five instalments I understand. Like upbeat and warm well-written stories.

Once they have accepted one will be amenable to the next. I understand that after 6 or 7 acceptances they will negotiate a higher rate.

Thank you, Issy. That's very helpful. I'd really like to write short stories for women's mags if I can get the style and 'feel' right, and to give my itchy fingers something to do while waiting for my longer work to be considered. (agonising wait. 7 weeks to the day I sent the 'more' the editor asked for.)

Currently have two with People's Friend and one with Lady, but the minute I sent off the Lady one I reread the current issue's story and thought 'no, Merry, you didn't get that quite right did you'

I have a copy of Women's Weekly and will study the style.

Good luck to Kat too!

Hi all,

I write short stories for womens mags, the best ones to try are - My weekly, Womens weekly and their fiction special, Take a breaks fiction feast, and Bella who like twist in the tale type stories. Peoples friend is quite hard to get into as being for older readers, the tone has to be just right. Same as The Lady, it's an upmarket mag, so the tone has to be right. I have had something accepted by them recently.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Kat

Thanks Kat, that's very helpful. Really well done on getting something into the Lady! It really warms me to see people's successes as it's easy to think of success as being something only a handful of established 'names' have.

I think sometimes, you just strike lucky too. If a magazine is looking for something to fill an edition and they receive your short story or article, it could be just what they were looking for the complete the edition. Of course they get hundreds of submissions each week, which is why they are so damn hard to get into, but your work might just have that little difference that makes it stand out.

I will advise you to read your target mag well to make sure your story is suitable, and take a note of their word count.

Best of luck

Kat