Getting Published isn't easy! but you've just taken the first step by finding the best creative writing community on the web!
We're all about helping each other with publishing short stories, poems and articles and ... getting them paid for!
We do this by publishing our work in progress on the Arena area of the site where other members comment and star rate our efforts.
When our short stories, poems, book chapters or articles get SPOTLIGHTED we can then submit to the RESOURCE section of the site. Selected submissions are published and paid for.
The RESOURCES give us up to date information on paying markets for our short fiction, poetry and articles.
They also list current creative writing competitions including poetry contests, short story contests and non-fiction contests. Many of these also offer publication either on the web or in print.
Mustn't forget our terrific Events Diary listing which has around 20 UK events added on a monthly basis, taking place 6 months ahead so you can get your pitches before editors well before hand.
Oh and did I tell you about the Forums? Our members come from all over the globe and you can chat about a whole range of writing issues and some off-topic subjects too! A great way to get front line help and make new friends too.
Register now as a WRITER to join in all our community activities including full access to the Arena where you can publish your short stories, poems, articles and book chapters for review and critique.
To join us just click the Join The Writelink Community banner at the top of the page and select the WRITER option.
Alternatively, is you'd like to look around first, Register as a READER to explore our community at reader level.
Hope you'll stay around and join the other published authors on the site!
Sue Kendrick
Editor, Writelink
ALTERNATIVE HISTORIES
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Guy Fawks and his cronies had succeeded in blowing up the Houses of Parliament? Or if it was William that got one in the eye instead of Harold?
Well here’s your chance to turn back the clock and re-write history! Our latest Arena competition calls for an alternative account of what took place during any of the momentous turning points of world history!
Stories must be no-longer than 250 words and told in the first person through the eyes of a real or imaginary character.
You can enter as many times as you like, but post entries directly to the site before the closing date, 10th July.
As usual the best entry will receive £20.
http://www.writelink.co.uk/alternativehistories
FUTURE PROSPECTS BRIGHT FOR DUCKYPOOS!
We’re a little late with the results of our May Arena competition mainly due to holidays, but better late than never! As you’ll see from our adjudicator’s report, we had some outstanding entries with Duckypoos taking the top spot with Honouring the Dead. This, I believe, is a first Writelink win for Duckypoos so congratulations!
Our current Arena contest is Write Angles, a shape poetry competition. Lots of entries all ready on the site, but still plenty of time for yours as entries open until the 10th June. Take a look, but don’t forget to read the Future Prospects report first!
http://www.writelink.co.uk/arena_main.php?cat=a_writeangles
Adjudicator’s Report by Dai Blachford
Offering a view of the future through fiction is always a little like offering a hostage to fortune. Get it wrong, and it can look plain silly; get it right and a host of imitators will jump on the bandwagon claiming they had the story all along, it’s just that they didn’t get around to writing it down. Well the some 30 or so Writelink members who entered the FutureProspects competition did get around to writing it down, and across the board made an excellent fist of it.
From an adjudication perspective the process of choosing a winner turned out to be a depressing one. Not because of the quality of writing, invention or structural technique; almost without exception these aspects were exemplary. It is simply that the overall picture of what awaits us all, in some cases just around the corner, was unremittingly bleak. From the advent of the human body part chop shop, through the return of humankind to the primeval soup from which it once emerged, and on to a nightmarish picture of old age that encouraged me to swiftly linseed the trusty old willow, the curse of today was clearly laying its dead hand on the hope that springs eternal.
From a strong field an honourable mention must go to ‘Oxford Street’ by raimoles for the all too believable picture of a devastated London, the mood cleverly lifted by a hopeful final twist in the tale. ‘Water Birth’ by jcmoore went uncomfortably close to the bone with a nod to our aquatic ancestry and evolutionary theory, and ‘1984 and All That’ by glenlee left the reader with an image of the ever open telephone line that was as chilling as Orwell’s “foot stamping on a human face – forever.”
But there has to be a winner and a very worthy one it is, ‘Honouring The Dead (Language)’ by duckypoos. What sealed it for this particular entry was its combination of erudition, irreverence and thick vein of deliciously dark humour. Entertainment there is in abundance, and in such a small space. I particularly liked the killer concluding line given to a fictional Pope, “there are some things that will never change.” You got that right, your Holiness.
Congratulations to the winning entrant and to everyone else who made the job of choosing the winning entry such a difficult one.
All entries can be read here:
http://www.writelink.co.uk/arena_main.php?cat=a_writeangles
WRITE ANGLES!
Shape poems are great fun to do and call for an extra bit of ingenuity so for our latest Arena contest we want you to write a poem in the shape of a right angle triangle!
The subject matter is entirely up to you, but your poem must consist of 12 lines and form the typical triangular shape of a right angled triangle. (We’ll stretch a point and allow inverted triangles as well!).
You can enter as many times as you like, but post entries directly to the site before the closing date, 10th June.
As usual the best entry will receive £20.
http://www.writelink.co.uk/arena_main.php?cat=a_writeangles
Spring Fever Poetry Competition 2008 – Results
Sarah James almost re-wrote the history of Writelink’s open poetry competition by entering three poems and taking First and Third places and Highly Commended with the third! Only the ever consistent Jay Smedley prevented Sarah from making a clean sweep!
According to judge, Diane Simkin, these three entries “jumped out” at her and only minor details separated them. The three poems were, Cumulus and The Tree Surgeon by Sarah James and Remembering Uncle Norman by Jay Smedley. The poems, along with all the results and reports can be read on the competition website.
http://www.writelink.co.uk/springfever
Spring Fever proved to be the best ever this year with some very high quality entries. We posted a range of spring like photographs to the competition site and the effect they had on the standard of entries was hugely impressive and will definitely be something we will be looking to repeat next year.
Our next open competition is Novel Beginnings calling for the first chapter of a novel.
http://www.writelink.co.uk/novelbeginnings
FUTURE PROSPECTS
Crystal balls at the ready! Our latest Arena competition wants you to put your protagonist into the not too distance future and give us a glimpse of the world through their eyes.
Global warming, genetically modified food, cloning, stem cell treatment, political spin, terrorism or a brave new world of peace, prosperity and spiritual enlightenment. Your take rests with your imagination and your ability to tell it as a piece of short fiction in no more than 300 words.
You can enter as many times as you like, but please post directly to the competition page:
http://www.writelink.co.uk/arena_main.php?cat=a_futureprospects
Entries close 10th May.
Cash prize of £20 for the winner.
Markets Our markets listings have been compiled by, Sue Kendrick.
All the listings accept freelance submissions and are bona fida paying markets.
All have a web presence and most have on-line writers guidelines.
Competitions Our competition database is continually updated.
All contests are current and offer cash prizes and in many cases publication.
The most recent additions appear on the page but don't forget there are many more in the database!
Just use the search box.
You can also add your own writing contest but please remember, all competitions MUST offer cash prizes.
No prizes in kind, publication only or percentage of entry fees. No listings of contests linking to sites offering adult content!
Events Diary Every month our Events Diary is updated with listings taking place six months ahead.
This is to give you plenty of time to research and pitch ideas for articles to editors who often have a lead time of anywhere between 3-6 months.
This month Maureen Vincent-Northam has compiled our listings.
Fallen Into A Rut?
As a short story writer it's easy to lose track of all you've learnt. It's time to get back to basics and give your writing a refit. These questions are designed to give you the motivation you need.
By: steerpike - March 3, 2008
Light... Camera...
Photography means ‘drawing with light’, and light is a critical element that separates a so-so photograph from a great one: how much, and where from.
By: audu55 - March 23, 2007
Tunnel Vision
There is nothing quite like a deadline to focus the mind. But when the deadline is one set by a publisher for a book still to be written, focus can easily switch to tunnel vision.
By: Elizabeth Hutcheson - May 15, 2008
What - tears?
An exercise in good old-fashioned Byronese.
By: oceanmission - June 4, 2008
DANNY DON’T PLAY HERE NO MORE
No mate, we don’t get no buskers round here. Least ways not since I’ve been working this patch, but then I’m new so I don’t know much anyway.
By: Sue Kendrick - June 30, 2008
Confounded Commas!
Our latest online quiz will soon have you whipping those confounded commas into shape!
Software Software for writers comes in all shapes and sizes.
Sophisticated plotting tools to help you write your novel or packages simply designed to help you organise your files.
Most allow 30 day free trial and some are completely free.
Publishers All the publishers listed here are main stream publishers.Many specialise in different types of books so check their requirements carefully.
The most recent additions to the database are shown on this page but you can also search for a specific genre by using the search box.
WE DO NOT LIST POD OR SELF PUBLISHING COMPANIES
