Why send your work to overseas lit mags?

I have an article up now on The Review Review - a fantastic resource of news, links and articles about literary magazines whose newsletter is really worth subscribing to. Becky asked me to write about setting up ShortStops and when i thought about how to make it appealing to non-UK writers and readers, I realised that the issue of submitting your work outside your own national borders was one that had played quite a major part in my own writing life. Here's a snippet:

When I was finally ready to send my short stories out, I thought first of all the American lit mags I'd been introduced to and loved. I was quite surprised to find (this was a while ago, remember) that many of them weren't set up for overseas submissions – there was much faffing around with postal subs and self-addressed envelopes/postal orders – and when I queried to ask if I might send stories by email, they seemed surprised to hear from a non-American. Surprised and yet delighted to help – some even changed their submissions guidelines to accommodate me and any other non-US-based writers.

Read the rest of the article here >> and check out ShortStops, of course!

Stories For Homes, Edgeways... And More New Writing

Look what came in the post today! My copy of the utterly fantastic Stories for Homes anthology, every copy of which (paperback or ebook) raises vital funds for Shelter, the UK's housing and homelessness charity. I have a short story, For Work, Yes in this wonderful book, alongside a fabulous roster of writers, and it is rare that we all get the chance to help in such a direct and concrete way through our writing. Please do buy a copy, in whatever format you like, I can't wait to get reading. The project is the brainchild of Sally Swingewood and Debi Alper and has already raised over £1000 - Debi explains a little about the background over at Shortstops.

I have had a couple of other new stories published recently, the first of which is Flavours in an e-anthology, Edgeways, published by Flight Press, the brand new short story publishing arm of the wonderful London writer's development agency Spread The Word. The anthology contains the winning stories from STW's short story prize, for which I was one of the judges, along with Bidisha and Courttia Newland. Bidisha and I were then commissioned to write new stories on the competition's theme, Ritual, for inclusion. I haven't got my copy yet but can't wait - I already know how brilliant the winning stories are...!  

It's been so long since I last blogged about any writing of mine, you might have thought there wasn't much happening, and you'd be mostly right, what with setting up ShortStops (which has taken off with a bang, it's been wonderful! Read more about that in my previous blog post), starting a PhD in Creative Writing inspired by particle physics (more on that in due course) and co-writing the Writers & Artists book on short story writing with Courttia N which will be published by Bloomsbury in Dec 2014. Busy busy busy.

But a few new very stories have sneaked in... Biography in the stunning Science & Numbers issue of Synaesthesia magazine (p72), Tunnelling in Timber Journal, and a poem, Meat Market, Smithfield, in Amaryllis. I've just this minute received the proofs of my short short story, Against Joy, which will be published in the excellent Stinging Fly next year, and was overjoyed to hear that one of my flash stories, Heavy Bones, will be included in the forthcoming Flash Fiction International anthology. This is just one in a series of anthologies edited by Robert Shapard and James Thomas over the past 20 years from which I first learned about Sudden Fiction and Flash Fiction 15 years ago -  and which are probably entirely responsible for me being in this mess in the first place ;) These are books I learn from over and over again and use in workshops - they are where I discovered Grace Paley and so many more amazing writers. This is a big big honour.   

Well, that's enough of a round-up for the time being. Seasons greetings and happy reading & writing to you all!

Tania x

ShortStops Is Launched!

I've been very quiet here for months, and one of the main reasons is that I've been working hard on my brand new online short story venture. I'm delighted to announce that today it went live! It's called ShortStops, and in a nutshell (because we like small containers around here) it's me getting excited about all the amazing short-story-related activity in the UK & Ireland, which I think deserves celebrating! So, you will find an enhanced version of my lit mags list, joined by a list of Live Lit events across the UK & Ireland at which short stories are read, by their authors or by actors, plus a list of as many contemporary short story authors as I can find, who have published short story collections.

These lists will grow and grow, I know they will. And the site will also feature blog posts by the editors of said magazines and organisers of events, telling you about new issues, calls for submission, upcoming events and pictures from past events etc... So head over to ShortStops, sign up for our mailing list, follow the blog by email, follow us on Twitter.com/ShortStopsUK and Facebook, and join the short story party!

I'm going to have a lie down now, it's all been a bit too exciting...