I started writing for The People's Friend at the end of 2012 and, although it wasn't the first magazine I sold to, it was the one I had the quickest success with. Since then, with my wonderful editor, Alan, by my side making my writing better, I've sold around 140 stories to them.
You can read the post I wrote at the beginning of my People's Friend journey here.
When I wrote that post, I could never have imagined that four and a half years later, I would hear commissioning editor Shirley Blair say in an interview, 'We buy stories from regular writers... names that our readers will recognise such as Pamela Kavanagh, Wendy Clarke, Alison Carter and Lydia Jones.'
To have readers recognise my name is an absolute dream come true.
BUT it's not just regular writers Shirley buys from. In her podcast interview on the People's Friend Website, she says they also like to introduce new writers to the readers and bring these new writers on. That's exactly what the magazine did for me four years ago and I'm really pleased they're giving new writers a chance.
Shirley's podcast is a must for anyone wondering what goes on behind the scenes at the magazine and wanting an idea of what types of story the fiction team do and don't want.
On that note, I have a story in the next People's Friend Special so I'll be keeping a look out for that.
