Our magazine review section deals specifically with magazines
for writers. These are not those which feature writers’ work, but the ones
that are directed at writers themselves, to help them improve their writing
and get published. We hope this series might help you decide which one might
suit you, before you opt for a year’s subscription.
Writers’ News is a large-circulation British writers’
magazine. It is owned by Warners Group Publications, of Bourne, Lincolnshire. This magazine offers good value, since the
monthly Writers’ News is now combined with a whole separate
publication, Writing Magazine.
Writers’ News offers just what the title suggests. It’s
full of snappily presented news stories, with the emphasis being very
practical and focused on what is of interest to writers. It is
market-oriented, with clearly signposted news items relating to markets for
a wide range of writing, extending recently from Horror, Science Fiction and
Fantasy to Ski Industry Spotlight, and from Classic American cars to
Virgin Books’ Nexus erotica imprint. This range makes it especially
useful to writers working in different fields, including those writing
magazine articles, poetry and short stories as well as book-length material.
This strong market orientation is followed through with regular columns
of news from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. There are also lots of
updates on prizes, competitions and other opportunities for writers.
The ‘Spotlight on’ series might cover anything from the Children’s
Writers and Illustrators Group to the Annual Writers Summer School in
Swanwick. This section of the magazine is enlivened by the ‘Flashes’ column
of short snippets and comments from a range of sources.
Two pages in the centre are full of Members’ News from members in more
than 70 countries, often comprising success stories relating to publishing
their books, frequently through self-publishing or some other special
effort.
In the second part of the magazine there is the Writers’ News Helpline
feature, a helpful place where readers can have their questions, ranging
from copyright to how to get started with freelance writing, answered by
Diana Cambridge.
This is also where you will find the various competition results, with
the winning short stories and poems published in full and ‘Nairn Notes’, the
wide-ranging column from the magazine’s founder, David St John Thomas.
Writing Magazine has recently gone monthly, so the
subscriber to Writers’ News also gets a separate monthly magazine
with a series of longer articles which might cover anything from Production
and Planning for self-publishers, How to Just Tell it Like it is, making
your fantasy landscape viable and convincing, and articles on
photojournalism, copywriting and a computer clinic.
There are a series of excellent regular columns from Judith
Spellman (as well as her series of interviews with writers of interest,
recently including Mark Billingham and Jane Wenham-Jones), Margaret James,
Crysse Morrison, Richard Bell, poetry correspondent Alison Chisholm and
Michael Legat on what is going on in publishing. These range very widely and
would help a good number of writers, having recently included articles on Go
with the Flow, the Opening Gambit in screenwriting and writing fantasy for
children.
Taken together the two magazines do a good job of keeping the writer
up-to-date and helping you to improve your writing across a wide field.
The news from other countries might make the magazine a good bet if you live
in Australia, South Africa or New Zealand but want something more
international. Because the subscriber gets two monthly magazines for the
price of one, Writers’ News two-in-one package also represents excellent
value and is recommended for writers who want to keep in touch, find out
about markets and improve their writing.
Writers' News
website
Review of Writers' Forum
Review of Writer's Digest
Review of
Mslexia
Review
of ScriptWriter
Magazine review index
