Spark Young Writers Magazine

 Here is the latest information:

Spark Young Writers Magazine Is Out Now       Issue 28: April 2024 of Spark Young Writers Magazine is now out   The magazine features some of the best writing produced by children and young people aged 8 to 20 who live in the West Midlands region.   Editor’s pick this issue is a piece by Sabine titled "Delphi"   To read Issue 28, click here. To access it as a pdf, click here.   Read the magazine     Letter From Our Editor     Sometimes if I’m in a school or running a writing session and the young writers look like I’ve set them something impossible, I will say: “Would I ask you to do something I couldn’t do myself?”    The smart ones always say yes – and of course they’re right, of course I would. There’s no point having a group of writers if you can’t get them to write more or better than you.    But for this issue of Spark Young Writers Magazine, there is one piece I truly do not comprehend how it could be done. Take a look at “Winter Renga": it’s the magazine’s first-ever group-written piece and it’s tremendous.   I’d say that so many of this issue’s pieces are tremendous, but then that’s the point: they have to be or they don’t get in.    Yet of them all, it was still easy to pick “Delphi” by Sabine as the Editor’s Choice. It’s intentionally simple and stark, but O’Mahoney clearly knows that writing is both about the words you use and the words you don’t, because it’s the unspoken sense of loss that will stay with you.   William Gallagher Editor   Editor's Choice: Delfi       Read Issue 28   Submit Now For Our Winter Magazine   Submissions for the winter edition of the Spark magazine are now open. The deadline for receipt of writing is: 6pm, November 11, 2024.    Magazine submission guidelines ·     Submit up to 3 pieces (any form of creative writing) of no more than 500 words.  ·     Name of child. Full name preferred, but we will accept just a first name. ·     Title for piece. ·     No extracts – complete pieces only. ·     You must either attend a Spark Young Writers group, or live or study in the West Midlands.   We ask for a parent’s email address which we will use to ask for consent to publish any writers who are under 18. For parents completing the form, if the young writer has an email address please include it and we will also send confirmation to that address.   Issue 29 of Spark Young Writers Magazine will be published in December 2024. This issue of the magazine has no prescribed theme.   Not all pieces submitted will be accepted. However, all submissions are acknowledged with constructive criticism offered by our professional editor. We will make minor edits to spelling, punctuation and grammar, to improve readability where necessary.    Submit Now       Did you know that Spark Young Writers is on Instagram, Facebook and X (Twitter)?   Each week we will be posting a new piece from the magazine. Follow us now to stay up to date with competitions, opportunities, and sneak peaks of Spark Young Writers' upcoming sessions.   Instagram - @thesparkwriters   Facebook - Spark Young Writers - Writing West Mids    X (Twitter) - @TheSparkWriters

Writing West Midlands | Studio 130, Zellig, Gibb Street, Birmingham, B9 4AT United Kingdom 01212462770

 

Writers HQ Catriona Ward on Desert Island Books, Tuesday 23 April 7pm (BST)

 Full details of the Zoom below:

Hey there,    Just a cheeky reminder that we have the inimitable Catriona Ward on Desert Island Books TONIGHT.   Let us exclaim an appropriate amount:   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Here’s the full details: Catriona Ward Desert Island Books   Tuesday 23 April, 7pm BST (that’s tonight!) Live on Zoom Free for Writers’ HQ Gold Star Members Catriona Ward is one of the biggest names writing in gothic horror today, and the author of five novels, Rawblood, Little Eve, The Last House on Needless Street, Sundail and Looking Glass Sound. She is also the winner of A LOT of awards, including the Shirley Jackson Award and the British Fantasy Award.   Plus, her first book was published in 2015 and her latest one in 2023. How is she writing so much good stuff so fast?! We’ll find out tonight!   Join us for a brilliant evening as we find out what books have made Catriona the author she is today and nosey around all her trade secrets.    Got it? Great! Now go book your place!    Sarah and Team WHQ “Reading is a sustained act of telepathy or empathy, and reading horror is even more profound than that: it’s asking people to share real vulnerabilities of yours and open themselves up to their own.” - Catriona Ward Writers' HQ · Oast Business Centre, North Frith Farm · Ashes Lane · Tonbridge, Kent, England TN11 9QU · United Kingdom

Writer's Digest University Mastering POV and How to Sell Books on a Shoestring Budget courses

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Writer's Digest Online | Writer's Digest Shop | Online Education     BRAND NEW COURSE: Mastering POV   Point of view is THE essential element that ties together all other components of any type or genre of story. It is, in fact, the very heart of story. Master POV, and you'll ensure that all the other elements will work together for a compelling read. Your characters will come to life on the page and your flow at just the right pace. But botch POV view, and your characters will not ring true, your plot will feel forced, your pace will be off... no matter how beautifully written your descriptions are or how great the story concept.  In this online writing course, you will learn the nuances of POV and how to avoid POV pitfalls, how time is an essential part of POV, how POV intersects with character, how to choose the right POV for each story, and how to handle unusual or tricky POVs.  Your deepened understanding of POV will help you create compelling stories that will enchant your readers, including agents and editors.          Learn How to Sell Your Work   You're an author on a tight budget. Or, maybe you've got some money, but you're tired of wasting it on marketing that didn't work. You've poured everything into writing your book hoping to move thousands of readers with your words. You've dreamed, hoped, maybe even prayed, that your book sales would take off. But, that reality has yet to come true. It doesn't seem fair for your dream to die just because you don't have thousands of dollars to spend on marketing. Is selling a lot of books only reserved for the elite authors with big budgets? No. Each tactic works for selling novels and nonfiction. Each tactic works for self-published and traditionally-published authors. Each tactic even works if you're a first-time author or an established writer. Not familiar with BookBub ads? They're easy to create and a lot less expensive than money-guzzling Facebook advertising. And, unlike Amazon ads which are only available to KDP or Advantage users, BookBub ads are available to all authors. You don't have to spend crazy sums of money to get crazy good results. Even on a shoestring budget, you can take your book sales to a higher level.       Active Interest Media 2143 Grand Ave Des Moines, IA 50312 USA