WRITERS’ NEWS
http://www.writers-online.co.uk APRIL 2020^93The Lady, the UK’s longest running weekly
magazine for women, is reinventing itself for
a wide-ranging modern readership.
‘I think what we’re trying to do is
reach a slightly younger audience than
people assume – people assume it’s for
60-somethings,’ said editor Maxine
Firth. ‘I’m 47, and trying to aim for my
demographic and above, fifty-somethings.
And not assuming it’s all people with
children. Our readers are individuals. Liz
Hodgkinson, who writes for us, really fits
our demographic. She’s 72, has children,
grandchildren, but she still works, and needs
to. She’s fit and healthy, is always doing
things, not sitting at home.’
Maxine is passionate that her readers aren’t
pigeonholed or stereotyped. ‘How do youpin down an age, now? I think we need to
talk about age in a new way, and that’s why
The Lady has survived. We get readers who
are in their nineties, and write in about
having got their first job as a nanny or
cleaner through The Lady. And then you get
young people who love it because they’ll get
jobs through the small ads. And then there
are the forty and fifty-year-olds, so we stand
between Grazia and Good Housekeeping.’
The Lady’s coverage is as wide-ranging
as its readers’ interests. ‘We cover literally
anything,’ said Maxine. ‘Everything that
you’d have in a women’s magazine. This issue
we’ve got Miranda Hart on the cover – she’s
a perfect person for us – very intelligent,
talented, had a bit of a problem in her
thirties and forties with what she wanted
to do. And then she came back, and she’s
talking about friends and friendships and the
people who supported her. We don’t want to
be Vogue or Grazia or Hello! We want to say,
this is what normal life is like, and it can be
difficult. It’s okay to say, I’ve been depressed,
I’ve gone through the menopause.’
Health and wellbeing coverage is realistic
and practical. ‘The new issue of has Britt
Ekland talking about having Botox in her
sixties. So our health message is, if you want
to have the tweakments, this is our advice.
And these are the alternatives. I think what
we’re trying to do is say that age doesn’t have
to be a number. How we think about age no
is so different.’
The Lady’s jobs ads are a unique selling
point for readers interested in widening
their horizons. ‘Most of our readers are
people who have done the most amazing
things,’ said Maxine. ‘Lots of our readers
answered an advert in The Lady whichmeant they could work abroad. The
Lady opens doors. People see it as an old
fashioned magazine because it’s been going
since 1885 but the reason it’s lasted as long
as it has is that it’s got people appeal. I never
want to patronise those readers. You can be
100 years old, you can be forty or fifty or
twenty, and you can be having an incredible
life. That’s the unique thing about The
Lady. Our readers want to live and see the
world and do their own thing. If I were a
nineteen, twenty-year-old woman then why
not look at The Lady and say, I’m going to
be a housekeeper for a really rich person in
London, or Russia, or Italy?’
A good feature for The Lady gets to the
heart of the issue. ‘It should be well-written,
very honest, and prepared, if it’s first
person, to talk about their lives and include
something that would make the feature
personal,’ said Maxine. Factual accuracy and
grounding the piece in relatable detail are
also important. ‘Back it up with some facts!
Find some good facts and figures and add a
little bit of emotion as well.’
Maxine is happy to accept freelance
contributions. ‘As long as the writer has a
good idea, and a good pitch. Be very specific
about what you can do, and what you want
to write about. The thing that really annoys
me is people who email me and haven’t read
the magazine – pitch something specific
that you think the editor will actually like.
Write for women who are probably 45 and
upwards – 45 to 75. Write as you feel. And
also, interview people as you feel. We need
interesting stories about how people feel.’
The starting rate is 20p a word.
Email: [email protected]; website:
https://lady.co.ukFinding new ways of being a Lady
UK MAGAZINE MARKET
Tina JacksonAudience participation
with Punchdrunk
The Third Day, the world’s first immersive TV drama from
Punchdrunk, will air on Sky and HBO in May.
The first episode of The Third Day to be screened will
be Summer, which sees Sam (played by Jude Law) drawn
to a mysterious island whose inhabitants are determined to
preserve their traditions.
Following Summer, there will be an immersive live
theatre event from world-renowned company Punchdrunk
where audience members will be able to inhabit the story
as it happens. Audiences will also be able to follow the events online.
The Third Day will conclude with three episodes of Winter, starring Naomie Harris and
written by Kit de Waal, Dean O’Loughlin and Dennis Kelly.
The Third Day has been created by writer Dennis Kelly and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix
Barrett. It will screen in May on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK and Ireland, and HBO
in the US.
Website: http://www.punchdrunk.com/project/the-third-day/
Vision thing
The theme for the HG Wells Short Story
Competition 2020 is ‘Vision’.
The competition is for original,
unpublished short stories between
1,500 and 5,000 words on the theme.
There are two prize categories. The
£1,000 Margaret and Reg Turnhill
Prize is for writers under 21. The
Grand Prize for writers over 21 is
£500. Winners and runners-up will be
published in an anthology.
There is no entry fee for writers under- In the over-21s category, the entry
fee is £10 per story, and £5 for students.
The closing date is 6 July.
Website: https://hgwellscompetition.
com/