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February: In which I leapt ahead
February was a strong month in terms of submissions and pitches. I had a weekend getaway early on which coincided with an exciting opportunity resulting from last months mass LOI send out. I was commissioned for an wrote an article which will be published and paid for in March. Freelance Pitches and follow-ups sent: 4…
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5 markets that pay for previously published short stories
** the markets and opportunities discussed in this article are largely for speculative fiction short stories. When you’ve been lucky enough to have a short story published you might think that’s the end of it. It’s not. Previously published short stories still have plenty of life left in them. There are opportunities for these stories…
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January: In which a plan was made
The first month of 2023 has come to a close. How are we all feeling? Somehow I already feel burnt out. But I’m also invigorated and excited about the year ahead. I spent most of this month setting goals and targets, formulating a five year plan and creating spreadsheets. As a result I’ve updated the…
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How many spreadsheets does it take to get published?
Truth be told, the answer to that question is none. When I was first published I had zero spreadsheets. No submission tracker or pitch tracker. Nothing. I didn’t even know how much I liked spreadsheets yet. These days my love affair with spreadsheets is in full flight (I had one for my son’s first foods…
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December + 2022 in review
Another month has come to a close and so has 2022. For many in Australia 2022 was another extremely hard year in a string of hard years with ongoing floods affecting much of the east coast. If you’ve been reading my monthly recaps you’ll know we’ve been hit hard by repeated illnesses throughout the year…
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Cathryn Free on Writing for Children’s Magazines
Ever since I set my goal for 2023 (breaking into writing for children’s magazine) I’ve been looking for resources and experience from other writers who have achieved this. I was beginning to despair when I stumbled upon Cathryn Free. Cathryn Free is a teacher and writer with numerous publications in magazines for both children and…
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5 types of short story ideas
These are the five types of short story ideas I have experienced over the years… *Calculations are a guestimate based on a gut feeling of what it true. I’d love to know what kind of story ideas you’ve encountered. And if you’d like to know the types of short story drafts I’ve written I’d be…
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November: In which I took a step back and moved forward
At the start of November I decided to go on ‘leave’ from writing until the new year. I did this so I could focus on life and farm admin without being overwhelmed. I’m sure many writers can agree, that whenever you decide to take a break from writing you inevitably get pulled back in. So,…
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Goal Setting for Writers
Goal setting is goal setting, right? You just pick something you want and work towards it. Well, maybe it’s just me, but recently I found completely lost for what to do next in my writing career. This year I’ve been throwing myself into writing. Both freelance and fiction, for both children and adults. So, you…
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Angela Slatter on Authority in Fiction
Recently I’ve been trawling back through some of my most admired author’s blogs to try and piece together their literary career. So I can replicate it exactly and ride their coattails to success of course. One of those author’s is the fabulous fabulist Angela Slatter. When I was in my late teens possibly early twenties…