Fiction Ed’s Blog: Fifteen Tips For “Friend” Fiction Writers
Thinking of submitting fiction, poetry, or a pocket novel to the “Friend”? Lucy has put some tips together to help you succeed!
- Read the magazine regularly to get to know your audience, and stay up-to-date.
- Write for our readers.
- Published poets may submit poetry for consideration during the first week of each month. Contact Tracey at tsteel@dcthomson.co.uk.
- Pocket novels should be between 37, 000 and 39, 000 words. Email Tracey a brief synopsis plus first three chapters in the first instance.
- Fiction genres we accept are; general, young romance, mature romance, cosy crime, junior (from a young person’s viewpoint), and (occasionally) ghostly.
- Settings can be contemporary or historical, based in the UK or abroad.
- Stories should fall within 10% of the following word counts; 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000.
- Our Long Reads of around 9,500 words appear as an eight-page pull-out in every second Special. It’s often a cosy crime, but can be any genre/setting.
- Don’t be disheartened if you’re not immediately (or always) successful. Even our most successful authors receive rejections.
- No formatting please. No paragraph indents are necessary, and info such as the title should appear only once.
- Before you send a story in, ask – whose story do I want to tell? Will Friend readers enjoy this storyline? Do we get to know the characters? Does the dialogue sound natural?
- Submit six months in advance of publication if your story is seasonal. Christmas stories are welcome from April onwards.
- We read what we need, first. The word counts we use most are 3000 and 2000 words.
- The “Friend” will be 155 years old in January. For readers past and present, it’s so much more than a magazine – it’s a trusted friend, and a link to loved ones.
- We endeavour to treat all our contributors with fairness and respect. Please extend us the same courtesy. Contact us directly if you have a query.
