Shutterstock / Dmitry Demidovich©If you’re an established or would-be “Friend” author, here’s how our submissions and acceptance processes work.
Unpublished Authors
Writers who have not yet been published in the “Friend” send submissions to our dedicated email address.
You’ll receive an immediate email response to let you know your story has been submitted successfully.
If your story is read but is unsuccessful, you’ll receive an email within around 12 weeks to let you know,
If the member of the Team reading your story thinks it may be a good fit for the “Friend”, it will be passed over to Fiction Ed, Lucy.
Once Lucy’s read it, it will either be passed over to Angela for her consideration, or returned to you, if unsuccessful.
If your story is successful, the Team member who read your submission will become your assigned editor and will be in touch.
Published Authors
If you’ve had at least one story previously published in the “Friend”, all subsequent submissions are sent to your assigned editor.
Stories are read depending on what’s needed first, at that time – word counts, genres, etc.
If your assigned editor thinks your story may be suitable for the magazine, they’ll pass it over to Fiction Ed Lucy, for her consideration.
If Lucy thinks it’s a ‘no’ or needs more work, it’ll be passed back to your assigned editor; if it’s a possible, Lucy will pass it over to Angela at this stage.
And if it’s Angela-approved, your assigned editor will confirm this by email, and the payment process will begin.
A quick note: if you haven’t had a story accepted within the last year, we may ask you to submit via our dedicated email address as above.
Our Payment Process – For Published Authors
For published authors – your assigned editor will start the payment process straight away, generally the same day it comes back from Angela.
Depending on how many stories you’ve written for us, your payment will be £80, £95, or our top rate of £110.
Our Payment Process – For Unpublished Authors
For unpublished authors – you’ll be sent two copies of our standard contract. Please read carefully, before signing and returning one copy in the SAE provided, and keeping the other copy for your records.
Once your signed contract has been received, we’ll get your first acceptance moving – payment is £80 for your first six successful stories, rising to £95 on a seventh successful submittance. You’ll receive our top rate of £110 on a further seven successful submittance.
Next week, we’ll look at what happens to your story once it’s been bought.
Lucy Crichton Better known as “Fiction Editor Lucy”, I am always on the look-out for the very best short stories, poems and pocket novels. As well as sourcing enjoyable content, I enjoy working with our established contributors, encouraging new talent, and celebrating 155 years of “Friend” fiction!
