In 1999, returning to Britain from a. Trip to Australia, Drew bought the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook which confirmed that Women’s Weekly paid for stories. He wrote ‘Czech Mate’ and posted it on spec to the magazine. They accepted it and promptly sent a cheque for £100. A hundred quid in 1999 went a long way – it’s equivalent to around £230 today, which doesn’t go nearly as far. Drew doesn’t have a copy of the magazine of the story. But it’s sobering to think that it used to be this easy for a first-time author to get into print. As I write this I learn that the popular and hugely profitable UK magazine Take a Break is about to generate all its published fiction by using AI.
Drew tells me his very first short story in print was in his school magazine in around 1986. He wrote a series of crime stories called ‘Tod Towski Investigates’ which carried on into sixth form college. He resurrected Towski earlier this year, 40 years after his first appearance, in a flash fiction piece for Pistol Jim Press called ‘Zoran’s Flea Circus.’ You can read it here.
