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Em’s short story club

If you know what this is, and just want to sign up already, you can skip to the non-scary form that signs you up for free.

A free and original short story sent to your inbox every month.

It’s very simple really. The idea is that in the first week of the month I post up a call for inspiration. Inspiration can take the form of:

Opening lines
A title
A theme
A question, e.g. “What would happen if…”
I suppose a picture would qualify, but I prefer the above…

There will be a page on the blog dedicated to this so that everyone can see all the ideas – and also say if they like someone’s suggestion.

After a week, I will read through the suggestions and announce the winner. Like everything to do with writing (and publishing) my decision will be entirely subjective and based on a gut feeling.

Over the middle two weeks of the month, I’ll write a short story of no more than 2,000 words in response to the theme. Then the winner will receive a copy of that story a week before everyone else on the list. Before anyone else in the world in fact – apart from my husband who gets to hear all my first drafts. (I like to think of it as compensation).

Then a week later, everyone else on the list gets to read it. It doesn’t appear on the blog, it’s e-mailed straight to you, just for you. Then the process begins all over again.

Sound like fun? I hope so!

When you sign up, you’ll get a story that hasn’t been seen anywhere else, just to say thanks.

I’m sure you know this already, but these stories are not allowed to be used by anyone but me, for any purpose. I retain all rights, as I'm planning to gather up an anthology and do all kinds of things with these stories – if I like some of them I may submit them to competitions. I just want to protect my future opportunities, whilst in the mean time, you get a story delivered to you every month.

If you love a story so much that you want to do something with it, then all you need to do is ask me. I’m really quite fluffy and will probably say yes anyway!

You’ll need to verify that you’ve signed up (that whole anti-spam reassurance thing so I can be sure you really want my stories) to receive the first story. I promise that I will never, ever in a million years give your details to anyone else.

If you have any concerns or questions you don’t want to ask in the comments below, you can e-mail me here: emma AT enewman.co.uk (take that spambots!) and I will do my very best to reassure you.

So here’s to month after month of short stories, inspired by you, written by me.

Love and great big fat sparkly things,

Em xx

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Oooh, sign me up baby! (You will need to verify your subscription so keep an eye out for a nice email from AWeber telling you what to do.)

P.S. In case you were wondering why on earth I’m doing this, please let me explain. In recent months I have fallen back in love with the short story. Since I decided to stop hiding and finally let other people read what I write I realised a painful truth:

Writing is made more exciting by readers.

I know it’s obvious, but it took me a long time to get here. Call me a late developer, pat me on the head with a pitying look and then read my next revelation:

I don’t want to publish every story I write in the open, here on my blog.

I won’t bore you with the reasons, it’s just the way it is. Then there’s the third really big realisation that leads me to forming this club:

I find it easier to write stories inspired by other people’s prompts. Like the Collective Inkwell contest. Plucking the central concept out of thin air usually means I have to wait for the muse, and she’s kind of busy with other things right now.

So, given that I want to spice up my writing experience by having readers, don’t want to publish all my stories here and need some more regular motivation, this idea was born.

Come on in, the Short Story Club is lovely!