I have a small bit of news: I can now say I’m a longlisted writer.
A short story I wrote earlier this year called ‘Another Man’s Treasure’ made
it onto the Frome Short Story Competition Long List 2023. You can click here to see
the list, but it’s nothing exciting - it doesn't even say my name.
However, a longlist is a glimmer of hope. It means that a judge liked
the story sufficiently to recognise it. It doesn’t mean that I’m published,
though it does mean that I can try the story elsewhere to see whether a
different judge in another competition would like it more.
It also means I can add this to my writing CV to hopefully make me stand out a little when querying agents for my novel. I don’t know whether I will have any success with the agent who is currently reading my full manuscript. I have to be prepared to be back in the usual position, with no agent, trying to reach out to others across the cybergulf. But if that’s where I am in a few months’ time, at least I’ll be able to tell agents that I am a longlisted writer.
