Monday, January 7, 2013

A Welcome Sight

Look what came in the mail today.

O, happy happy.

I was beginning to wonder if it had gotten lost, but there she is. Now if my January 24th issue would just get here already!!

26 comments:

Cynthia Sherrick said...

Very cool! Congrats. :)

Mary Jo said...

That's really a good lookin' check, Ms. Willoughby. Would that we all could get one of those in the mail. The sooner the better.

Is the next WW issue the one?

Fay Knowles said...

Fantastic, Kate! Congrats again :-) So that's what a Woman's World check looks like! I would love to receive one of those in the mail!

Kate Willoughby said...

I have faith that everyone can indeed get one of these. Keep writing. Keep studying the stories. Keep submitting. Keep honing your craft.

Mary Jo said...

Kate, there isn't any January 24th WW issue. Just to be clear, will your story be in the 21st or the 28th? From my limited experience, it seems that Johnene puts the wrong date of issue on the contract.

L said...

Great start to the year. Congratuations!

Tamara said...

Cloud 9 to Earth: I found a welcome sight in my mailbox yesterday as well. To my amazement, I got a contract for my Valentine story.

Betsi said...

Tamara, congratulations! Selling the Valentine story seems extra special, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Kate! It looks like your new year is off to a wonderful start.

Tressa

Mary Jo said...

Tamara, you did it! I will look forward to your Valentine story --which issue date is it in? Of course, I was hoping that they would buy mine, but it was so "different" it probably didn't have much chance anyway. I never did get it back. Congratulations to you.

Tamara said...

Yes, Betsi, it seemed special because I had the idea that the competition was greater for this one and also because I was convinced mine was lying on Johnene's desk awaiting the dreaded "doesn't work for me" pronouncement. I should add that I received a rejection of a mystery in the same envelope (she misplaced my SASE for the romance). Then, today, I received an email rejecting a story I sent to the umpteenth literary journal. So, it wasn't all good news -- but I'm still so excited and happy. I have only one mystery outstanding, so I have to get going with some new stories.

Tamara said...

Thanks, everyone, for the congratulations. Mary Jo, the story apears in the issue date 01/31, whatever that is.

Kate Willoughby said...

Yeah, MJ. I got my dates mixed up. It must be the January 29th issue.

Go Tamara!!! Excellent news. I look forward to reading it.

Mary Jo said...

Does anyone else have a printout of the publication dates for WW? From now until the end of February, the cover dates are 1/14, 1/21, 1/28, 2/04, 2/11, 2/18, and 2/25. I really don't know why Johnene puts a different cover date on the contracts. I will be looking for your stories anyway.

Tamara said...

Thanks, Kate. Mary Jo, I'll be curious to know when she returns yours. The timing on this one is so strange. I have this nagging hope that there is more than one Valentine story and yours will also be accepted. I think we talked about his before; can't remember whether we confirmed that there is only one Valentine story.

Mary Jo said...

Or maybe you have the issue NUMBER of the WW your story will be in. Johnene usually gets that right, doesn't she? From now until the end of February, they are #2 through #8.

Tamara said...

Yes, it's #6.

Mary Jo said...

Tamara, thank you for the words of encouragement, sweetie. I am holding on to a little hope, too, but it is a very, very slim one. I wrote the Valentine story years ago and just trimmed it way down for WW. I think the editors will say there is not enough romance in it as the hero appears only at the very beginning and the very end. I happen to believe it is VERY romantic, though. Yes, I will tell you if and when I get it back.

Tamara said...

Have you sent it to anyone else, Mary Jo? Maybe it's too sophisticated for WW.

Fay Knowles said...

Kate, thanks for your encouragement.

Tamara, congratulations! Will look out for your story.

In Nassau (Bahamas) Woman's World is usually available in Lowe's Pharmacy (Harbour Bay Shopping Plaza) or Bookworld (Palmdale), if anyone is ever passing through and wants to buy a copy!

Jody E. Lebel said...

Just to add my two cents...my contract says I'm #8 and my 'for sale date' is 2/14/13.

And my romance that was in the 'for sale date' of 12/20 appeared in the 12/31/12 issue, and that contract said I was #53.

There aren't 53 weeks in the year.

Kate, do you know?

Mary Jo said...

Jody, if you look in the Woman's World 2012 Issue Dates, you will see that there were issues starting on January 2nd and ending on December 31st (yours), so 52 weeks, but 53 issues. This year it began on January 7th and ends on December 30th. That is 52 issues in 52 weeks.

It seems you have had immediate success with Woman's World. Congratulations to you, too. I have read your great blog, and now I am wondering what else you have written. Do you have any books?

Chris said...

Congratulations, ladies, well done! Gives me hope that it IS possible to get one of those elusive contracts through from Woman's World. Still no news about my three sent in October, but it's early days.

At least last year ended well with my first Scandinavian success, a story in a Norwegian mag. And 2013's off to a good start with two acceptances from You magazine in S. Africa. Like WW, it's one I've been trying for years to get into. They use stories up to 1,500 words and pay R1,25 per word. The fiction editor there is Cecilia van Zyl. (Hope it's okay to mention other mags here, Kate? Anyone who's sold to WW has to be a strong contender for selling their work elsewhere too.)

By the way, Canadian mag Pages of Stories is to be relaunched under the title Ficta Fabula, with the first edition hoped to be out in July. Editor Darlene Poier is looking for fiction between 1,000 and 8,000 words. Payment for accepted stories is CD100. For full guidelines and T&Cs email Darlene on info@pagesofstories.com

Mary Jo said...

Chris, how many languages do you have to know to get published around the world? Also, I do not understand some of your abbreviations. What is T&C? Also, what is R1,25 in American money?

Market information is always appreciated. Thank you.

Chris said...

Hi Mary Jo,

You don't need to speak any other languages to sell abroad. Look in markets listings for mags that are published in the English language - usually for ex-pats. In Australia, New Zealand, Canada, S.Africa and, of course, the States, English is among the spoken languages, so it's no problem. The biggest issue for me as a Brit selling to America is getting the right tone. We may speak the same language but we have lots of different ways of using it. In fact, that's the main reason Jimmy Meiss used to give for rejecting my work - too English in tone. Thank goodness for authors like Janet Evanovich, whose novels help me get into 'American-speak'!

If your story is set very obviously in America then either blur those references or use your search engine to see if you can find a suitable location in the country you are aiming it at. Also, here in the UK cell-phones are called mobile phones, gas is petrol, the sidewalk is the pavement, and so on. It's a rapid learning curve but fun!

It was a different situation with my recent sale to Norway as this was done through an agent and the story then translated by the magazine before publication. In that instance it did take a lot of submissions before we found the half-dozen that she felt were right to submit, so maybe not the best market to try first.

T&Cs are terms and conditions, usually with a lot of legalese. Not every magazine bothers to lay it all on the line before accepting a story, but when they do it's best to make sure your submission meets all the requirements.

To work out what your payment would be, Google (or whatever search engine you use) 'currency converter'. In S. Africa the currency is the rand. My 1,500 word story netted me R1,875 which is around £130. Converted into dollars it would be just under 215. Clearly we're not talking the same money as Woman's World, but then they are unusually good payers! I have both a PayPal account (easy-peasy to set up) and also a separate bank account for those mags that prefer to pay by electronic transfer. You'll need to be able to supply an IBAN number and Swift Code too, so check what these are with your bank. Some magazines do still pay by cheque but it's a lot less hassle electronically. Either way your bank will probably charge a small handling fee but it's money you wouldn't have otherwise so still worth having.

I'm not saying it's easy to sell overseas - foreign markets are just as particular about what they use as our own. But if your work is good enough to be accepted in your home country, why not try elsewhere too?

Good luck and tell us how you get on, won't you?

Kate Willoughby said...

Chris, sure, it's okay to mention other magazines. I'm not affiliated with Woman's World and am happy if my blog can help writers find other venues for their work.