6 UK Women’s Magazines to submit short stories to.
I have been seeking out publications to submit short stories to. This is a new thing for me, so I thought I’d share my research with you. By the way, you don’t have to be a woman to submit stories to women’s.
Some of the information I’ve been coming across is a little outdated, so I thought it would be good to let you know what I am finding as I go along.
Always check the publishing rights to ensure you protect your copyright.
These are summaries; please visit the title links for more detailed information.
Sometimes I think I was born knowing about The People’s Friend; it seems to have been etched in my consciousness for all time! It’s a family-friendly read that’s wholesome and heartwarming. The editorial team are super strict about hitting the right tone.
While it may be perceived as a book for older people, they don’t only want stories about the older generation. Avoid stereotypical depictions.
You may find it tricky (like I did; I recently received my first rejection) to adjust to their style, but this is a highly regarded magazine, so it’s worth persisting to achieve publication. They pay pretty well too; payment rates start at £80.
The submission process is really good. They are clear and concise about what they want. It’s well worth reading all their guidelines before you submit. They state a 12-week response time, but I had a response within 24 hours. (Better to get a quick no, I always think.)
You might want to read this article to find out about another writer’s experience submitting to The People’s Friend.
2. Yours Magazine and Yours Fiction
This is a new one to me. It was vaguely on my radar, but I didn’t realise this magazine publishes short fiction. It is a women’s magazine targeted at women over 50. They publish 26 stories per issue.
They publish on a limited licence agreement, which is good news as this means that although the editors can make changes to your story, the copyright remains with you.
Stories can be any length, from 450 to 2,700 words.
I can’t see any information about payment on their site, but I am sure they must pay a fee for stories published. Please check with them before you submit. There is an email address on the site.
Submitting to this magazine comes with a warning: the publishers retain all rights to your story. This is something you may want to think very carefully about. It’s worth reading this article on the Author’s Society website by Joanne Harris (of Chocolat fame) before you go ahead and submit.
It may be that you aren’t bothered about your rights going forward, but most authors are. Even if you write lots of stories, one of them may well be the next Chocolat, and let’s just say you don’t want to sign away your film rights, or any other rights for that matter. Some people write for pleasure and simply enjoy seeing their story and name in print, and I guess that’s what this publication trades on.
There is no mention of what Women’s Weekly pays for short stories, so you may want to drop them an email before you consider submitting.
I included this magazine because it is a popular magazine with a circulation of 178,680. See below for a chart of all UK women’s magazines circulation data.
The title link is to Womag’s blog, which is a great resource for information. This magazine pays pretty well in comparison with many others (at the time of writing).
700 words are £200, 1200 words are £250, and 2000 words are £325 to £400.
They are explicit about the types of stories they don’t want. You need to be very original. They don’t even like nosy neighbour stories (that’s me done!) Kidding apart, it’s worth a look, but again, check the deal on rights. The information on this blog link is from 2016.
The Bauer Group owns Take a Break and claims it to be ‘the biggest-selling UK women’s magazine for over a quarter of a century’.
It’s probably worth taking a break to take a closer look.
This is an exciting new discovery for me. For original, unpublished, standalone stories of no more than 1000 words, stylists pay £200 per story.
Submissions are invited from those over 18 from the UK and Ireland.
If you can write a story that ‘surprises, intrigues, and surprises’ the editorial team, you are in with a chance.
You will only get a reply if your story is selected.
For 50,000-word novels, My Weekly pays £350. Send three chapters and a synopsis. They are looking for tension, passion (don’t get too carried away), and romance. All genres are considered.
Writing a 50k novel is quite a commitment. While I know this article is primarily for short story submissions, I did think this may be of interest to some readers.
The best advice for all publications is to buy and read a copy before you submit.
Let me know how you get on. I will write further articles on magazine submissions, so please follow if you want to be updated.
Knowing circulation figures is always useful. I think this table is around 2 years old.
