Welcome to the Christopher Fielden Website
I’m an award-winning fiction author, an award winning editor of books and flash fiction / short story anthologies, and an independent publisher.
This website showcases my short stories and books. I also offer writing services and advice to help authors develop their writing skills and achieve publishing success.
The services I offer cater to writers and publishers of all levels - beginners through to professionals. I'm with you every word of the way.
I run the To Hull And Back humorous short story competition, which was launched in 2013. I am also a drummer in rock bands and a rider of motorbikes.
christopherfielden.com was established in 2011. The current design was launched in 2024. Below, you will find a menu that provides information about all the different services and resources that my website has to offer.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I reply to every genuine email I receive.
If you'd like to receive regular updates about new publishing opportunities and writing resources, please sign up to my email newsletter.
Menu of Services & Resources for Authors
Writing Services
I offer a wide range of writing services. I work with a small team of experts to provide writing critiques (for flash fiction, non-fiction, novels, poetry, short stories and all other forms of creative writing), editing services, eBook and print formatting services, and proofreading services. I also undertake author talks, presentations and workshops.
Books
This section of the website provides information about all the books I have written, edited and published. This includes my own award-winning books and the anthologies I publish via the To Hull And Back humorous short story competition and the flash fiction writing challenges.
To Hull And Back
The To Hull And Back humorous short story competition was launched in 2013. Since then, hundreds of writers have been published in the To Hull And Back short story anthologies.
The contest is open to anyone. There are multiple cash prizes. The winner receives the greatest literary prize on the planet. Admittedly, I'm slightly biased, but it is awesome.
Writing Courses
My short story writing course comprises professionally produced videos, supporting documentation, writing exercises, in-depth short story critiques, one-to-one mentoring sessions, contributions from experts – professional writers, editors and competition judges – and case studies that clearly illustrate how all the advice given has been used in practice to achieve publishing success.
I also offer a free short story writing course, so students can see if they like my teaching style before purchasing the full course.
About Christopher Fielden
Find out more about me, Christopher Fielden, and what this website has to offer.
This section of the website also allows you to meet the team and learn more about the authors, publishers and writing experts I work with to provide all the services and resources on this website.
Short Stories
In this section of the website, I use my published short stories as case studies to help other writers become published authors.
You will also find short stories written by other authors, alongside articles about their real-life experiences of winning writing competitions and seeing their words in print.
Writing Challenges
I run a variety of flash fiction writing challenges to help writers develop their knowledge and skills, and have some fun with words. You can submit for free and see your short stories published in support of charity.
Writing Advice
The writing advice section of the website offers hundreds of writing resources, including extensive lists of writing competitions and other publishing opportunities.
Some of the resources are written by me. Some of them are by guest writers.
Each resource contains lots of practical advice and tips based on the author's real-life experiences within the publishing industry.
Music
Since 1987, I've been writing songs, releasing records and playing drums in rock bands. The bands include AD/HD, Airbus, Little Villains, Three Day Week and Ye Gods.
From time to time, I also do a bit of session drumming. You can learn more about all of the bands I've played in and the albums I've performed on in this section of the website.
Submission Guidelines
Are you interested in writing for me and seeing your work published on the Christopher Fielden website? If so, please review my submission guidelines.
My Email Newsletter
I run an email newsletter that contains lots of writing news, including details of new publishing opportunities, writing competition updates and much more. If you'd like to sign up, you can learn how to do so here.
Donate
Most of the writing resources on this website are provided free of charge. To ensure that the content remains available to everyone, please consider making a donation.
If you would like to support me, you can learn how to do so on the donate page. Any amount received, no matter how big or small, is greatly appreciated.
Contact Christopher Fielden
If you'd like to contact me, you can learn how to do so here. I respond to every genuine email I receive.
An Introduction to the Christopher Fielden Website
I launched this website in 2011. Originally, it was a simple author website, which is why I used "Christopher Fielden" as the brand.
Over time, the website has become much more than an author site.
I offer writing services, run my own successful short story competition, publish thousands of authors via the flash fiction writing challenges in support of literary charities, offer writing courses and much more.
How to get a Short Story Published
Here is some starter advice. You will find much, much more in the Advice section of the website.
Being a new writer...
...and facing rejection can sometimes leave inspiration cremated like a forgotten sausage on a barbecue. But then the observation of any event can inspire a story, creating a positive way forward.
If you’re like me, when inspiration strikes, you’ll find yourself staring at a computer screen at 3am, trying to work out how a demon and a legless soldier might interact convincingly.
Books are difficult to sell if you’re an unknown writer. Agents are hard to come by. Gaining the attention of reputable publishers is also a challenge. So, you might ask...
How can one become a successful writer?
Short stories are a good place to start.
In a despondent moment, after an attempt to write a 300-word synopsis that was turning out to be harder to finish than an 80,000-word novel, I found myself wondering what I could offer the world of creative writing that might be a little different. I’m not famous. Outside of friends and family, few people know who Christopher Fielden is. How might I stand out?
Short stories are a lot easier to complete than full-length books. Once finished, unlike novels, there are many opportunities for publishing short fiction and you don’t have to write a synopsis. Bonus.
There are many respected short story competitions out there, which can gain a winning writer kudos and credibility. Roald Dahl, Terry Pratchett, Stephen King, Philip K Dick and many other successful authors started out writing short stories.
So, I started writing lots of short stories. Since then, that's the only type of fiction I've written. Short stories have become my favourite form of creative writing.
Through writing short fiction, I’ve experienced rejection and learnt how to deal with it in a positive way. I've developed a style that works. I achieved my first competition win early in 2011.
How could I utilise this achievement to further my writing career?
Currently, the internet offers many ways of gaining exposure and readers. The tricky bit is standing out and offering something unique. There are so many good writing resources already out there, and lots of excellent self-published authors to compete with. Being noticed is difficult, but not impossible.
I worked for many years in digital marketing and learnt a lot about websites. Offering useful, interesting content is the best way of engaging with communities, gaining credibility and giving yourself the opportunity of being noticed.
So, that’s what I decided to do.
Rather than having a website that simply showcased my work, I thought I’d use my published stories as case studies to provide other writers with useful writing advice and tips about how to get their own work published.
What this website offers today
Today, the Christopher Fielden website offers writing advice, case studies, writing resources, writing services, writing competitions, publishing opportunities, writing newsletters, short story writing courses and much more.
All of the short stories featured on the Christopher Fielden website have been published or been shortlisted or won prizes in short story competitions. By sharing my experiences, and asking other authors to share theirs, I help writers achieve publishing success.
I also provide information on the pros and cons of the various writing competitions I’ve entered. Where I’ve been given permission to use their words, you’ll find comments from editors and short story competition judges, explaining why the stories were chosen and published.
I hope you find the website helpful. Comments are welcomed - you can share your thoughts and ask questions below.
Christopher Fielden
Comments
This website was established in 2011. In 2024, it was redesigned. Between 2011 and 2024, thousands of people left comments. I’d like to thank every person for their engagement – it’s greatly appreciated.
When the website was rebuilt, transferring comments comprising hundreds of thousands of words was not feasible. I may re-publish the old Christopher Fielden homepage comments on this page at some point. In the meantime, new comments can be left below.
Smart new website, Christopher! Thanks for all you do in the interests of flash fiction.
Thank you, Andrew, very much appreciated! All the best to you. Cheers, Chris