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Topic: Publishing a short story
| Author | Message |
| mushkambaryan | Posted – 9/10/2006 12:08:25 AM | show profile I wrote three short stories. Now, where do I have them published? The Writer's Digest has too much information. Do any of you know of any publications that would accept my work? I have never been published before. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. |
| mushkambaryan | Posted – 9/10/2006 12:10:06 AM | show profile Oh, one more thing. My target audience is mostly women. Your feedback would be much appreciated. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 9/10/2006 1:48:56 PM | show profile Short stories are a crapshoot, so no can predict who will want your stories. Just go to the Writer's Market directory or go a Google search for short story markets. Send them out and see what happens. |
| mushkambaryan | Posted – 9/10/2006 3:08:18 PM | show profile Dribble, thank you for getting back to me. In the writing business everything is a crapshoot. Shouldn't preclude you from trying. Actually, writing fiction is just a hobby. But you never know... |
| harryfred | Posted – 9/11/2006 7:27:40 AM | show profile Well, publishing fiction is a crapshoot and the best way to figure out where your story should go is to head to one of those large Barnes & Noble Cafes and peruse the magazines; find the ones that publish stories like yours: heart-felt drama, ironic navel-gazing, surreal lark. Stop by an independent store also, such as St Mark's Books, and check out the smaller mags too. With this list, send your stories out, each with a cover letter that has a one- to three- sentence bio. List any publications. Story Quarterly comes out once a year (LOL) and is excellent. In fact, purchase a copy. |
| featherock | Posted – 9/11/2006 10:20:30 AM | show profile short story market mush - i've published a dozen or so short stories. the best way to find a place for your story is to do exactly what the previous poster said -- go to a big chain bookstore, AND an independent like St. Marks (St. Marks has a much bigger selection) and look at all the literary journals that publish fiction. Find a journal that seems to match your aesthetic. That can't be stressed enough. There are scores and scores of literary journals out there, some that have been around a long time (Paris Review, Story Quarterly, etc) and some that seem to be published out of someone's basement. Oh, you won't get paid. You will get, at best, some free copies of the journal IF you get published. IF. The chances are generally less than 1% for virtually all literary journals, which get hundreds of submissions each week just like yours. Once you identify a journal that interests you, write a cover letter to the fiction editor saying who you are. Don't be wordy. Just the facts. And follow all the rules about printing your story -- you know, double-space, 1-inch margins, 12-pt. type. It's important. I used to read for a lit journal, too, and I can tell you, I'd throw away submissions that weren't typed or printed correctly. there are just too many to read to deal with that kind of crap. That should get you started. So, what's your story(s) about? |
| mushkambaryan | Posted – 9/11/2006 8:03:10 PM | show profile Thank you for your kind insights. Featherock, I write short stories about ambitious young women, trying to to get ahead in the professional arena. I know about Writer's Market and Short Stories Market, but there is too much information, and I do not even know where to look. There are hundreds of pages.... I guess going trough literary magazines is a better idea. PS: Each story runs about 25-30 pages. |
| catlondon | Posted – 9/11/2006 8:11:18 PM | show profile Also check out Poets & Writers submission calendar www.pw.org. They have listings of the lit journals accepting manuscripts and what they are looking for. They also have contest listings. Please be aware that being asked to pay a reading fee (usually $10 or $15) to submit a story to a lit journal fiction contest is NOT a scam--it's how they generate income. The fiction/creative nonfiction market is very different from the journalism/feature writing market and enough questions about it pop up on the MB board that MB might want to consider a separate topic listing for it. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 9/12/2006 12:03:47 AM | show profile Yes and no. It's a good idea to have a general idea of the journal, but my guess is you are not going to change your stories to try to fit a publication so there's not much harm in sending it off to anyone you think might be close. At worst, all it will cost you is a stamp. --Find a journal that seems to match your aesthetic. That can't be stressed enough. -- |
| mushkambaryan | Posted – 9/12/2006 3:40:24 PM | show profile Reading fee?? My advice to everyone: Stay away from con artists who charge a reading fee! Moreover, you will go bankrupt if each time you contact a publication or a journal and give away $10-$15. Not a good idea. The only expense you should incur is a stamp and an envelope. |
| featherock | Posted – 9/13/2006 11:52:22 AM | show profile dribble - finding a journal that matches your aesthetic is very important. if it appears to an editor that you're just mass mailing your story they will give it less, if any, attention. For example, an editor of a journal that publishes conventional short stories with realistic plots, stories that are character-driven (I can think of dozens off the top of my head) are not going to publish, ever, metafiction. There are journals that do publish metafiction. It's best if you can in your cover letter refer to a specific issue of the journal, perhaps a specific story, and tell the editor you enjoyed the story a lot, and that your story, your aesthetic, seems suited to the journal. That speaks volumes about your seriousness as a writer and reflects well on your work, trust me. Lit journal editors don't like to get impersonal mass-mailed stories from people who don't read their magazine, just as much as writers don't like to get impersonal, typed rejection slips. |
| mushkambaryan | Posted – 9/13/2006 4:40:06 PM | show profile You are right, Feather. The same applies to PR. Some PR professionals pitch stories without researching the publication. And as a result, come accross as incompetent or unprofessional. PS: What is "metafiction", by the way? I am not familiar with this term. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 9/13/2006 5:08:59 PM | show profile That hasn't been my experience. Often, I send my material in with no cover letter, or just a business card on which I scribbed, "For Your Consideration." The work speaks for itself. They either like it and buy it or don't. I mean, sure, you should no broadly what the publication's slant is. But when I write fiction, I just write it without a particular market in mind. If I think there's even the slightest chance an editor will buy it, I send it in. Why not? I've had the same experience humorous essays, selling tons to publications, which, by the looks and history of the publication, I should never have submitted to. --Posted ? 9/13/2006 11:52:22 AM | show profile dribble - finding a journal that matches your aesthetic is very important. if it appears to an editor that you're just mass mailing your story they will give it less, if any, attention. For example, an editor of a journal that publishes conventional short stories with realistic plots, stories that are character-driven (I can think of dozens off the top of my head) are not going to publish, ever, metafiction. There are journals that do publish metafiction. It's best if you can in your cover letter refer to a specific issue of the journal, perhaps a specific story, and tell the editor you enjoyed the story a lot, and that your story, your aesthetic, seems suited to the journal. That speaks volumes about your seriousness as a writer and reflects well on your work, trust me.-- |
