Mslexia

Mslexia, the magazine for women who write | www.mslexia.co.uk

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Contributors' Guidelines

Mslexia welcomes previously unpublished submissions from women for every part of the magazine. We commission work by prominent authors and artists as well as talented newcomers. For a clear idea of the full range of material we publish, why not take advantage of our SAVE 25% offer and subscribe.

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Meanwhile, we’re inviting submissions for the following regular slots and competitions:

New Writing

This is a substantial section of new poetry and/or prose in the magazine, written by published and unpublished authors, selected and introduced by our New Writing Guest Editor or Competition Judge. Previous Mystery Guests and Judges include Fay Weldon, Carol Ann Duffy, Michèle Roberts, Helen Simpson, Wendy Cope, Jackie Kay, Fleur Adcock and Val McDermid. We publish two magazines a year of themed new writing, and two containing the winners of our annual writing competitions. The themes/competitions and deadlines for the upcoming issues are:

ISSUE 54: Mslexia Women's Short Story Competition

is for stories of up to 2,200 words on any topic. Judge: Tessa Hadley. 1st prize: £2,000 plus a week's writing retreat at Chawton House Library and a day with a Virago editor; 2nd prize: £500; 3rd prize: £250; Three other finalists win £100 each. All winning stories will be published in the New Writing section of Mslexia. There is also a critiquing service available for stories entered into the competition. Find out more.

Closing date: 19 March 2012

Competition Rules | Enter the competition

ISSUE 55: Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition

Full details will be announced early 2012.

Closing date: 18 June 2012

OTHER SUBMISSIONS

The deadline for all 'OTHER SUBMISSIONS' (including the blog) for consideration for Issue 54 (Jun/Jul/Aug 2012) – and the associated quarter – is 16 April 2012. Any submissions received after this date will be considered for the following quarter.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are sending submissions to multiple submission slots, please email each one separately with the appropriate topic in the subject line: e.g., if you are sending us a Vox Pop and a Rave, send each one in a separate email with 'Vox Pop' and 'Rave', as appropriate, in the subject line. We also need your land address and telephone number with each submission.

Feature articles

Ideas for one-off features are welcome, as a 200-word proposal plus a brief CV and a published or unpublished example of your writing.

Poetry and Short Story reviews

We now commission these reviews. If you would like to be considered as a Mslexia reviewer, please send a 200-word description of what you would like to review for us and why, plus a brief writing CV and a published or unpublished sample of your writing.

Monologue

For writers of script: send up to 200 words on any topic in a single character’s voice. This quarter we're looking for monologues in the voice of a dog.

Four Lines that Rhyme

ABAB, AAAA or AABB, ABCA, any combination, serious or flippant, we don’t mind; but no more than 40 words, please.

A Week of Tweets

Monday through Sunday, tell us about your writing – and your life – in seven flavour-packed slices of up to 140 characters apiece.

Pen Portrait

Convey a character in second or third person – and in no more than 120 words. This quarter we're looking for a pen portrait of a fat man.

Rants

Grumpy Old Women, this is your chance to vent a bit of spleen, in 80 words or less, about something that really irritates or enrages you.

Raves

Calling all Polyannas, raise our spirits by telling us about something or someone you applaud, enjoy or admire in up to 80 words.

Writing group

In 200 words, please explain how you run your meetings, and describe a recent exercise for other groups to follow.

Reading group

If you belong to a reading group and would like to review a book for us, get in touch - and get the books for free!

How I Did It

Back due to popular demand! Send us 200 words on how you achieved publication of your book with the subtitles 'The Book', 'The Long Haul' and 'The Advice' (roughly 65 words in each section).

Mslexia Blog

We’re looking for guest bloggers for the Mslexia blog. Are you working on an interesting short-term writing project or in a key role in publishing? Perhaps you’re researching your novel or finalising your first poetry collection; freelancing as a journalist or reading submissions at a literary agency?

We're opening out our blog to a limited number of women writers with something interesting to say about the writing process, writing projects they're involved in, the publishing industry, their particularly inspiring journey on the rocky road to publication or anything writing-related that other authors, published or not, will be inspired by.

If you'd like to apply for a three-month guest appearance on the Mslexia blog, send us a pitch of up to 100 words telling us what you'd write about for us – and how that might differ from what you're already doing, potentially, on your own blog – plus a link to your own blog (and/or a link to blogs you've appeared on) and your full contact details.

You’ll need a working knowledge of Wordpress and we’ll expect you to blog at least twice a month throughout your ‘residency’. It’s a great opportunity to raise your profile and have your say to an audience of likeminded writers. Email submissions@mslexia.co.uk with your pitch, putting 'Guest Blog' in the subject line. We look forward to hearing from you!

Deadline for consideration as a blogger for a three month residency starting from April-June 2012: 16 April 2012

>>The Mslexia Blog

ALL SUBMISSIONS:

Sorry, we can’t accept email submissions for New Writing except from overseas writers. If posting, you only need to enclose an SAE if you want an acknowledgement. If emailing OTHER SUBMISSIONS, please put ‘Rants’, ‘Tweets’, ‘Reading Group’ etc. in the subject line, as appropriate. Please note: if you are sending submissions to multiple submission slots, please email each one separately with the appropriate topic in the subject line: e.g., if you are sending a Four Lines that Rhyme and a Rave, send each one in a separate email with 'Four Lines that Rhyme' and 'Rave', as appropriate, in the subject line. We also need your land address and telephone number with each submission. Deadline for possible inclusion in ISSUE 54: 16 April 2012

Payment:

We pay for published submissions. The basic rates for New Writing are £25 per poem, and £15 per thousand words of prose. For Rant we pay £20; Rave £20; Pen Portrait £20; Writing Group 'What We Do' Exercise £20; Four Lines that Rhyme £20; Monologue £20; Week of Tweets £20; and £100 for a three-month guest blog. Feature articles, reviews and illustrations are commissioned.

Send submissions to:

Mslexia
PO Box 656
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE99 1PZ

submissions@mslexia.co.uk

PLEASE NOTE: we now accept email submissions from all writers for anything in the 'OTHER SUBMISSIONS' category. However, we are unable to accept email submissions for themed New Writing.

For further information, contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.

DIRECTORY

Mslexia publishes a comprehensive literature listings section, including the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Further Afield. If you know of – or are involved in – anything that might be of interest to Mslexia readers, please contact us, and we will do our best to include you in the magazine or on the website.

Deadline for issue 53 (Mar/Apr/May 2012): 2 February 2012 for events from 10 March 2012 to the end of June 2012.

For a more prominent position in the magazine, why not advertise with Mslexia, or insert your flier?