Fiction Ed’s Blog: The Magic Of Christmas


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At the time of writing, it’s March, and snowy in many parts of the UK, but there’s a feeling that spring isn’t far off.

Crocuses are out, Mother’s Day is approaching, and Easter is just next month.

Which means the Fiction Team are starting to think about the first of our Christmas fiction for 2023 – for “The Magic Of Christmas”.

The Magic Of Christmas

For anyone who doesn’t know, “The Magic Of Christmas” is a bookazine published annually by “The People’s Friend”.

It goes on sale around September and is full of feel-good festive fiction and features.

Contemporary Settings

All our “Magic Of Christmas” stories have a contemporary setting.

When Should You Submit?

Christmas stories for “The Magic Of Christmas” can be submitted now.

Please let your editor know your story is aimed at the bookazine by including ‘The Magic Of Christmas’ in your story’s file name.

Unpublished authors can submit in the usual way, via friendfiction.co.uk. Please also add ‘Magic Of Christmas’ to your file name.

Word Counts

The word counts we feature in “The Magic Of Christmas” are, 1000, 2000 and 3000.

Our Other Christmas Fiction

We feature Christmas fiction in our Specials, which we consider from April until July.

Word counts are as per usual for the specials.

Our Bumper Issues

Last but very definitely not least, we feature Christmas fiction in our two weekly bumper December issues.

Each bumper issues carries a mix of word counts between 1100 and 4000 words, and remember we allow 10% either way.

Weekly and special Christmas issues carry a mix of contemporary and historical settings.

For the weekly and specials, you can submit from April onwards.

And as always, whatever the season, keeping the reader in mind is key.

Lucy Crichton

Fiction Editor Lucy is always on the look-out for the very best short stories, poems and pocket novels. As well as sourcing enjoyable content, she enjoys working with our established contributors, encouraging new talent, and celebrating 155 years of 'Friend' fiction!