1. •Thank you for your interest in The Yellow Room Magazine. I have to point out at the outset that reading a set of guidelines is no substitute for reading at least one copy of the publication you wish to write for. I encourage potential contributors to subscribe to The Yellow Room, not because I'm mercenary, but because I feel it is the only way a writer can get a feel for the magazine and the kind of things I enjoy reading and seeing in print. All new writers should make an effort to support the independent press, otherwise this ever-shrinking market for short fiction will disappear completely. 
   

           

1. •I do not publish poetry or articles and will only publish stories by UK women writers.
   

1. •There are differing opinions on what a short story is or should be. I am aiming to publish a predominantly literary collection, which will appeal to the intelligent female reader. The Yellow Room isn't a traditional 'women's story magazine' like The People's Friend.
   

1. •In The Yellow Room I hope that women writers can explore issues affecting women in particular, and show how women view the world.
   

           

1. •As the author, Janice Galloway, wrote in The Edinburgh Review: Simply for a woman to write as a woman, to be as honest about it as possible, is a statement; not falling into the conventions of assuming guy stuff is ‘real’ stuff and we’re a frill, a fuck or a boring bit that does housework or raises the kids around the edge.
   

           

1. •So everything a woman does, whether she wants to or not is important. Think about a young woman behind her trolley trying to decide whether to buy Bird’s Eye or Tesco frozen peas. Two children bicker and whine at her ankles. She’s worried one may be developing an ear-infection. Should she take him to the GP, a long journey through difficult traffic and there’s always a queue or should she wait and see? Then remembers she’s forgotten to post her mother-in-law’s birthday card and really she wants to go back to work but believes she’s not clever enough because she can’t even remember where she parked the car. She rushes out having forgotten to get the peas which are the only vegetable her youngest will eat. She’s in a state. She slaps both children and then bursts into tears. Is this a good subject for a short-story? Surely not, a man might say. It’s trivial and typical of women – getting into an emotional state over nothing. And where’s the drama? Where’s the deep serious intent, say, politics or war or football? Sorry about that last one; I couldn’t resist it. Where’s the deep psychological insight? Okay, so these details are not matters of life or death. The woman will get over it and the children won’t be deeply scarred for life. But it’s not trivial for that woman at that particular moment,although she may laugh about it afterwards. And that and other seemingly unimportant events from an ordinary life are not trivial to most women.
   

1. •Despite equality and women making up a large proportion of the work-place, women are more likely to be concerned with the small but time-consuming and wearying details of the domestic life. Men laugh about women’s ‘silly pre-occupations’, but such things loom large when you spend 90% of your time within the same four walls with little adult company, washing the same clothes and the same pots and pans day after day. Whether they want to or not, women always end up as the carers and the cement that binds families together. It is mainly women who look after their sick and elderly relatives or neighbours. And even women who hold down powerful jobs – or any kind of paid work – still do most of the housework, cooking and shopping and decide who to invite round for Christmas without having a nervous breakdown or World War Three breaking out.
   

The point is that women are different from men; their thoughts and concerns are different. And therefore their writing is different. That’s what I want to showcase. We want to publish stories where women’s lives are centre-stage, however trivial, however boring and ordinary.

1. •The short story form is probably one of the most difficult to master.  In her introduction to a volume of prize-winning short stories, Sarah Dunant puts it better than I ever could:
   

For many years as a writer I was terrified of the short story. It seemed to me - and it still does in many ways - the toughest of literary acts. There’s no place for the writer to hide in a short story, no room for failure, for sloppy writing or muddled thought. For a short story to succeed it must have everything; an arresting opening, a strong governing idea or emotion, convincing characters, style and a great end. In short a novel. Or rather a short novel. Very short. As I say, a tough act. Hard to write. Easy to read. That’s another part of the trick.

1. •In the short story there should be an action or point of conflict which culminates in a moment of insight. If possible the action should turn on specific qualities of character. I want to see character in action. Things are so because characters are so. A good short story writer will strengthen the narrative movement of the story by making plot and character indivisible. Ill-drawn, hollow characters make for an emptiness in the narrative, since the events belong to no one and both the readers and the characters remain uninvolved. A short story writer needs to be able to tug on the readers' emotions and appeal to their senses.
   

1. •I like a short story to have atmosphere. I want to be there; part of the scene. I want to be able to visualise the setting and to hear, see, and touch the things going on around me. A good writer will always be specific when describing people, places or objects. For example, 'He was reading a newspaper.' doesn't tell us as much about the person as 'He was reading The Guardian.'  Don't just say it's a 'red cup'. What sort of red? Deep crimson, scarlet; there are several shades of red and I have to know to be able to visualise this cup.  'A tomato red cup' tells the reader so much more.
   

1. •This brings me on to imagery.To effectively describe objects etc in as much detail as possible, it helps to liken them to other things. Incorporating imagery into one's work makes it at once more arresting and memorable. One image, which has stayed with me since I first read it a couple of years ago, appears in Sally Zigmond's story, ‘Dispossession’, published in QWF Issue 5. Sally was describing a couple of Asian women walking down a suburban street and observed that, “the bright hems of their robes peep like shy brides from under drab, shapeless coats,”.One can visualise this so easily, and it is an image the reader can identify with immediately. It also conjures up and encapsulates a whole culture.
   

1. •A writer should be able to manipulate language to create colourful, vibrant prose and not be afraid to experiment.  Forget tired old clichés; the reader wants something new.  Most readers are in love with language and want to see it used to its best possible advantage.  Who likes to see their lover dressed in shabby, worn-out clothes every day?
   

1. •A short story should have texture.  As Graham Allen says, “The meaning of a short story could be expressed in all the manifold details of style, its imagery, symbolism - in short, its texture.” If possible, form should reflect content. A story's structure should reflect what it is the writer wants to say.  Structure can alter a story considerably, and again a writer shouldn't shy away from experimenting with a variety of sentence and paragraph construction. One sentence paragraphs, for example, can pull the reader up sharp and create such an impact.
   

1. •A good short story writer uses subtlety and doesn't feel the need to hammer the point home. What is left out is often just as important, if not more important, as what is included.  Leave something to the reader's imagination; credit your reader with intelligence.  Avoid the temptation of spelling everything out to the reader. A reader's imagination will always fill in the gaps. Give your reader food for thought.  Allow her to question and ponder what you've written. A good short story is one you're sorry to finish and one which stays with you, always. Make it memorable. You have to hold the reader from the first line to the last. Don't allow her attention to wander for a moment.
   

1. •“To get published, you have to do what every writer in history has done. You have to sit for thousands of hours and hundreds of days in solitude. You have to read and write on a daily basis. You have to be utterly vulnerable on the page, and utterly ruthless in revision. To write something good, you have to want it so bad that nothing else matters.”
   

Chris Offutt interviewed in Writers Ask published by Glimmer Train Press, Inc (www.glimmertrain.com)

1. •“A literary short story should have emotional depth and a level of truth reached. It contains, for example, astute observations about the emotional complexity of life, which we immediately recognise, and in recognising them, we become more involved with a character and gain insight into their life.”
   

Sue Lowings, 1999

1. •I am actively seeking new talent and aim to publish many writers whose short fiction hasn't appeared in print before. And whether a writer has published a hundred stories, or none, makes no difference. It’s the quality of the writing that counts with us.
   

2. •Male viewpoint characters are fine. I’ll accept stories with a male main character, as long as it female readers can relate to the central conflict and emotional content of the story.
   

3. •What about erotica? I am not averse to something a bit racy but the story must be more than a quick turn-on. It must have all the ingredients of a good short story.
   

4. •Don’t feel you have to wrap everything up neatly with string at the end. Endings can be enigmatic; things can be seen to carry on much the same as before – but however open the ending, there must have been that progression and readers should be left thinking about the future of the story. There should be some sort of signpost as to what the future holds, even if the reader comes to a conclusion that the writer didn’t envisage.
   

5. •It’s a cliché, I know, but the old ‘show, don’t tell’ advice should always be borne in mind when writing fiction. Allow the reader space to see, hear, smell and taste the world you are creating. No-one likes being told what to think. A good writer can still steer a reader along the path she has chosen, but it should be a voyage of discovery for both. That’s what keeps a story fresh.
   

6. •And please, please, no trick endings or twists in the tale. The very best twist stories can make for a satisfying read but usually they don’t work because the twist is arbitrary and doesn’t arise from character and character motivation. When Guy de Maupassant, and more recently Roald Dahl for example wrote stories with a twist in the tale, they never forgot that character is at the heart of a story. Make sure your characters, however ordinary on the surface, are interesting either in what they do or in the words you choose to write about them.
   

7. •If I have any general criticisms of many of the manuscripts I’m sent, it is that much is first draft material. I’m not just talking about grammatical and spelling errors, I mean fundamental decisions like viewpoint, pacing and structure. I often get the impression that many writers get an idea, sit down and dash off a story, check quickly for spelling errors and then send it off.
   

This isn’t the time and place to discuss the craft of pre-submission editing, so my good friend, Sally, has written a separate piece called How to Self-Edit Your Story Before Submission. Either click the link or navigate your way to it on the site.

1. •So . . . . we come full circle. ‘Grown-up stories for grown-up women.’ What exactly does that mean? Most of our subscribers are over twenty and have left the problems of puberty behind them. Even these days, women of all ages have to cope with many problems, sometimes at one and the same time. Sexual and emotional relationships, family, motherhood, divorce, coping with ageing parents or adolescents, maybe, juggling work and home demands.  But women climb the highest mountains, row across the oceans single-handedly, run big businesses. Look through the newspapers and see what’s going on but do exercise some imagination. Women who have chosen to stay at home with their children are not automatically bored, down-trodden and unfulfilled. Business-women are not always cold-hearted bitches with long red nails who eat men for breakfast. Couples who have been together for twenty, thirty, forty years aren’t necessarily bored with each other and never have sex.
   

2. •If this sounds too worthy, remember we love humour too. Unfortunately we rarely find it in the stories we are sent. Humour is difficult and whilst we all weep at the same things, what makes one person laugh can leave another cold. So if it’s any help, I like my humour to raise a wry smile not instant belly laughs. And please no Benny Hill stereotypes. And don’t think that knocking men for being men is funny. It’s as bad as mother-in-law jokes.
   

3. •The Yellow Room celebrates women. So, please, not too many stories about women who are dying, abused, misunderstood and generally miserable. I’m not an ostrich. Bad things do happen to women but The Yellow Room wants to celebrate women and their infinite variety. For every Cleopatra, there’s a Portia. For every Titania, there’s a Helena. For every patient Penelope, there’s a Helen of Troy.
   

4. •When I read a story I want the language to delight me first and foremost. Appropriate and original imagery; sharp dialogue; variety in pace and tone will win every time even if the plot is not all that original.
   

I am a big fan of Sarah Waters, Julie Myerson, Maggie O'Farrell, Helen Dunmore, Carol Shields, Alice Munro, William Trevor, Vanessa Gebbie, Alison MacLeod, Tania Hershmann, Anita Shreve, Anne Tyler, Wendy Perriam, Kate Atkinson, Lorrie Moore, Rose Tremain and Helen Simpson, to name but a few. I love both Persephone books. (www.persephonebooks.co.uk) and the short story collections published by Salt. These once-neglected books by women are a revelation. Perfectly delightful to handle as well as to read. Real grown-up books for grown-up women.

 

TECHNICAL STUFF/PRACTICALITIES

Word count

Up to 5,000 words. I don’t accept anything longer even if it is the greatest story ever written. There isn’t room in the magazine. Most stories are between 2,000 and 3,500 words, but ‘fillers’ of around 1,500 words are always useful, too. Even shorter pieces are accepted but, the shorter the piece, the more stunning it has to be.

Payment

£10 per story and a copy of the magazine in which your story appears. We’re self-funded and the magazine is run on a shoe-string relying on subscriptions to survive.

Presentation of manuscript

must be double spaced

black ink on white paper

printed on one side only

don’t use faded ink cartridge or typewriter ribbon

12pt  or 14pt font (Arial or Times New Roman)

pages must be numbered and feature title of story and author’s name

stapled at top left

cover sheet with title of story, word count, author’s name, address, email and phone number

authors must state whether First British Serial Rights are offered

authors retain copyright of their story

covering letter (be brief – don’t want CV or synopsis)

MSS must be mailed flat, using a large envelope

Don’t use Recorded Delivery

Don’t use folders, dressmaker pins, pieces of cardboard, reels of tape

If you don’t have an email address, please include SAE for response.

If you require acknowledgement of receipt of your manuscript, please enclose a stamped postcard with your address on it.

Multiple submissions

No thank you! One story at a time!

Simultaneous submissions

If you send your story to another magazine as well as The Yellow Room, please say you have done so. If another magazine accepts it before we’ve had chance to reply, please let us know.

Turnaround time

Usually a month, up to 3 months if workload is heavy. I prefer to respond to a story by email, so always include an email address or SAE if you haven’t got one.

Rejection

Authors will receive feedback. As a writer myself, I know how unhelpful a meaningless rejection slip can be. I always give a reason for rejection. This may consist of one or two paragraphs of what I hope is constructive advice. However, I don’t shrink from plain speaking and I don’t flatter. That way, if I say nice things, you can really believe them. If you don’t require this service or feel it might upset you (and it has been known) then say so and I’ll give you a straight yes or no.

Don’t resubmit a story if it has already been rejected, even if you’ve edited it.

Acceptance

If your story is accepted for publication, please send in story as an email attachment in RTF or Word.

Please attach a few lines about yourself at the end of the story.

Don't be too disheartened if you receive a rejection.  Remember I accept very few stories per year in relation to the number sent in.  Keep trying to improve your work; read, read, read and practise your craft everyday.

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Good luck with your writing.

Jo Derrick

The Yellow Room

1 Blake Close

Bilton

Rugby

CV22 7LJ

Tel: 01788 334302  

Email:  yellowjo@me.com