Shutterstock / MinskDesign©A warm welcome to our weekly Fiction Ed’s blog, which appears on the website every Thursday morning.
This week, I’ve got some updates for authors who submit fiction to “The People’s Friend”.
There’s information on Christmas submissions, news about our Sneak Peeks, and what to do if you’re waiting for news of a story sent before 2022.
Christmas Stories
Thanks to everyone who submitted Christmas stories for consideration.
The Christmas stories for both our December bumper issues, and for our Christmas Special, have now been chosen.
Authors who have successfully submitted a Christmas story have now been contacted.
If you submitted a Christmas story and haven’t been contacted, your story has not been successful on this occasion. We’ll remove these stories from our reading lists, and you’re free to submit elsewhere, or submit to us again next year.
I’ll be reading for Christmas again from April 2024.
Fiction Sneak Peeks
Every Tuesday morning, I post a ‘Fiction Sneak Peek’ on the website, to let readers and writers know which stories will be appearing in each issue.
It’s a summary of all the fiction content in every issue – so, all seven stories, two serials, our series, and our soap, ‘Riverside’.
Every three weeks I also post a preview of all the stories appearing in our Special.
Recent changes mean that we are now a smaller Fiction Team – so naturally, we’re looking at ways we can free up time for reading submissions.
From our September 23 issue (and Special 248), I’ll no longer post Sneak Peeks for the weekly and the Special.
Instead, authors can check if their work will be appearing in each week’s issue by checking X/Twitter on Tuesdays – just before our Writing Hour at 11am.
Stories Submitted Before 2022
Thanks to all writers who sent in stories for consideration prior to January 2022.
Authors who sent in stories on or before December 2021, and whose stories were successful, have been contacted.
If you haven’t been contacted about a story submission which was sent before January 2022, it has not been successful.
Your assigned editor can help with queries.
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!
