Short Story Tips: Choosing Where to Submit

I was asked some questions about submitting to short story markets recently, and I thought it would be a good topic for a blog post. There are a lot of markets out there, which means countless options for your stories. So how do you choose where to submit?

First, we'll get the obvious stuff out of the way. 

The number one item to look for is that the genre requested by the publication matches the genre of your story. Submitting a mystery to a speculative fiction market isn't going to fly, no matter how good that story might be. Publications will list this information on their submission guidelines pages, but it will likely also be obvious from other aspects of the web page.

Some other things to consider:

Magazine or anthology? 

This may not matter to everyone, but it's something to consider. With an anthology, your story is in an actual book. They're usually put out by small presses in an attempt to bring in more readers for the single author books they put out. Their readership may be lower than a magazine, but that certainly isn't a hard and fast rule, and it completely depends upon the publisher.

Hard copy, e-copy, or audio?

Some magazines are put out in a paper version, some as online/email only, and others are put out as podcasts. There are, of course, also publications that come out in all three or some variation of them. If this is an important detail for you, make sure you check out what format the publication will be in, and don't submit if you don't like the format.

Pay

Pay can vary widely, with the offering being anything from zero pay to pro pay. With zero pay, you may get a contributor copy or a discount on copies. Pay could be royalties or a profit share, with no guarantee of a minimum amount of payment. It's important to consider whether you're okay with the payment offered before submitting. It's completely up to you, but I have two specific recommendations here. First, start at the top. You'll never know if your story is good enough for pro pay if you don't submit to a pro pay market. As you get rejections, you can trickle down to semi-pro, then token. Just don't start by selling yourself short. Second, if you're going for a royalty-type payment, understand that you may never see a dime. For me, this isn't an automatic no. I make the decision based upon the publication itself, and whether I'd like to work with them, what their reputation is, etc. Some of my favorite publishers to work with have been those that paid royalty split or a token amount. I'd work with them over and over, even if I never saw a dime. A category I didn't mention previously is charity pay. In this case, you don't get paid, but any profits get donated to a specific charity. Make sure they list the charity in advance. If they don't, they may be trying to pull one over on you. Plus, you want to be sure you support where they're donating it.

Pay to Play

There are markets that charge for you to submit a story. My personal rule is to not submit to anyone I have to pay for the privilege. However, my personal opinion on it is by no means the be all and end all on the subject. Plenty of people choose to pay to submit. One thing you might consider is what reason they give for asking you to pay. For some, it's to support their ability to pay those they publish. For others there might be a different reason, such as the ability to pay their staff (most magazine staff is unpaid, and are doing it for the love.) make sure you're okay with their reason for asking you for money to submit. (Side note: some give the option to pay for a critique or a quicker response. I also don't opt for these, but you may want to, especially if you're just starting. You have to decide what's best for you. I personally believe you shouldn't pay to be published--your goal should be to GET paid.)

In addition to those things mentioned above, there are plenty of other things to consider. Look into the market you're submitting to and make sure you're okay with everything you see/hear/read. For example, as shallow as it sounds, I look at the covers of their other publications (and the one they're taking submissions for if it's posted in advance, which often happens with anthologies). If I don't like the quality of the covers, I may not submit. I want to be able to be proud of what I'm in, and that includes the exterior. Reputation is even more important. If you've seen authors complaining about working with them, you should consider whether you want to do so. At least if it seems like the author is giving valid reasons. Are they hard to work with? Did they cheat the author out of pay? Do they provide trustworthy contracts?

If there's anything that makes you doubt wanting to submit, maybe consider why that is. Even if it's just a bad feeling that you can't quite put a finger on. That means you've seen something that put you off, whether you realize what it was or not. This is something you'll be attached to as long as it's in print. Make sure you're okay with that.

Places to look for submissions:

Duotrope (paid service)

Submission Grinder

Ralan

Horror Tree

Published to Death

Authors Publish (sign up for the newsletter)

Search for Facebook groups with "open call" in the name.

Did I forget anything? Do you have any questions on this topic or have another you'd like to see answered? What are some reasons you've decided not to submit (or that you overlooked and wish you'd seen)? Do you know of any resources for finding publications that I haven't mentioned?

May you find your Muse.

Microphone Clipart, OCAL, clker.com

Nosmoke Clipart, OCAL, clker.com

Publication Resources

I've had a few people ask me where I get the links I post each Wednesday, so I thought I'd do a quick post about where to find publications. My focus is on short stories right now, so most of these are going to be short story publishers. I'm also going to list resources I've stumbled across, but don't use for my Wednesday blog posts, so you may find lots I'm not posting at those sites (found at the end of this post.)

Unfortunately, I don't have any magic bullets. For the most part, I get my links from LinkedIn groups and Facebook groups I've joined that are related to writing. People post markets they've heard about, or the publishers themselves post. I check these out as people post to be sure they're paying markets that don't cost for submissions, and then I add them to a spreadsheet in date order so I can post them. I recommend you do searches in these two places for groups related to your genre. Once you add some groups in LinkedIn, they send you other recommended groups. For Facebook groups, I typically find them through friends who belong to them when they share something. Or they get recommended by Facebook. I'm in several that are specifically for posting paying markets. I try to share back since I get so many links from them, but sometimes I forget.

When I find a link posted on someone else's blog, Twitter, or Facebook, or if someone posts it in my comments, I mention them with the link to give credit. I don't get so many this way, but I do get a few here and there.

Occasionally, I just do random internet searches for "submission guidelines" and "horror," so this would work for others in their genres. However, this one can be a waste of time, so it's rare.

I've also gone through the back of "Best of" type collections to see what markets those stories were originally published in. Then I'll look them up online to see what their guidelines are. Check out "Best of" collections in your genre. Or see where someone who writes similar content is getting published.

A lot of my links are updated deadlines for markets I've posted before, or new editions/themes/anthologies from publishers I check in with occasionally. If I do a post for an anthology from a specific market, but it also has a list of future anthologies and their deadlines, I add those to my spreadsheet to come back to closer to that time.

Not terribly helpful, right?  But hopefully something below will be more helpful.

While these are not places I usually get links from, these are excellent resources if you're looking for updates on new markets:

The big daddy of them all is Duotrope. I don't go through Duotrope to find the links for my publications posts, but I'm pretty sure most of the links I stumble across are listed on Duotrope, and that's where I go when I have a story to submit. There have been some I've submitted to after finding them elsewhere that were not on Duotrope, so don't depend on it exclusively, but boy does it make life easier. There is a $50 annual fee, or you can pay $5 monthly. I don't just find markets here; I track my submissions through the website. (I also have a spreadsheet, so it's okay that not all the markets are listed there.) It breaks down how many days you can expect to wait before hearing back, as well as other helpful stats, such as average time for rejections and acceptances for that market. They also send a monthly newsletter with new markets. Note: You can find publishers interested in novels here, too.

If you don't want to pay, you can go to the Submission Grinder. It does the same things as Duotrope, though it may have fewer markets, as it's newer and is still in BETA. Plus, it's free. I tried to start tracking on each, but I was doubling my efforts. So possibly when I'm not as active with short stories.

The following are resources I've kept the link to with the intention of visiting them more often. I suck at doing so, and I'm terrible at getting around to reading newsletters, but when I do, they have tons of helpful information.

My Little Corner is a blog where Sandra Seamans posts open markets. I think her main focus is mystery/thriller, but she may post other genres (and I may have misread that as being her focus). She sometimes does multiple posts per day. Each post is for a single market.

Ralan.com posts various markets. There may be a focus on speculative fiction, but I'm not positive. They have an index so you can search by pay and type.

Coffintree Hill is a blog that posts speculative fiction markets. I believe it's also one market per post, like My Little Corner.

I don't know if this one is currently being updated, but a list I ran across at some point and copied the link to is Mary Soon Lee's Speculative Fiction Markets. It is just a list of markets. Simple and straight forward. They're separated by pay.

Horror Tree posts ongoing markets irregularly. Despite its name, I think it focuses on speculative fiction, not just horror.

Writingcareer.com posts multiple posts per day with open calls. I think it's all genres. They have an index on the right that breaks the categories down into fiction, poetry, anthology, and nonfiction.

For those who write primarily flash fiction, there's a Yahoo Group with a regular newsletter. It's Pamelyn Casto's Flash Fiction Newsletter. Her newsletter has publishing information, news, and links to contests and publications.

Another Yahoo Group is The Practicing Writer. They list grants, publications, and contests. All genres, I think.

Hope Clark runs FundsforWriters. You can subscribe and get a free email with writing information, news, grants, contests, freelance markets, and writing jobs. I think this is another that does all genres, though it appears to tend toward literary.

A lot of times, the same market will pop up in a bunch of places at once. These markets want you to be able to find them. As you can see, there are a lot of resources to get you closer to them. I only posted one paying site, though I'm sure there are more out there, but I find Duotrope to be invaluable. If you are submitting a lot, it's worth the cost. If you aren't, and are just dipping your toes in, I'd stick with the free resources if they work for you.

Good luck, and happy submitting!

Do you have other go to resources for markets you're willing to share? What is your favorite one? Do you use Duotrope or Submission Grinder? Are there any other similar sites? 

May you find your Muse.

Bullet Bill image, clker.com, OCAL
Calendar with Note, clker.com, OCAL
Big Bag of Money, clker.com, OCAL

Cyber Stalking & I'm Back!

Okay, I'm not talking about the serious bad kind of cyber stalking. I'm talking about what happens when a story I've submitted is out past Duotrope's listed average time for a response (*see below if you aren't sure what Duotrope is.) Specifically, it's what I end up doing when I've submitted to an anthology, which has a more concrete run time.

And I'm doing it right now.

I try to not visit Duotrope more than once per week, if that frequently (it depends on what publications I've submitted to, and how fast they are at responding.) If I've got nothing nearing when I should be hearing, I'll go much longer without checking it. But submitting is such a hands off thing once you put that work out there, that I end up feeling a bit helpless. When I have something out to an anthology, I have that minute amount of control by looking at the website, blog, Facebook, etc. of that publication. Many anthologies will keep a running update on where they are in the submissions process, and it helps me to know if I've had something out long enough to really start feeling hopeful.

On Duotrope, you can see recent responses from the market, so if your story has been out for 45 days, but there are a bunch of rejections within two weeks of when they are submitted, you have an idea that perhaps yours is being held for extra consideration. This is by no means a definitive thing, but sometimes it gets me through a little bit longer as I wait to hear back. They also show the average response time for acceptances vs. rejections. All helpful data when you're obsessing about whether your piece stands a chance.

Hello, my name is Shannon, and I'm a Duotrope cyber stalker.

By the way, hi! I've been absent quite a bit lately due to chronic migraines. However, I changed my medical treatment for them and am feeling much more human now. Though it doesn't completely rid me of the permanent migraine I have, it radically reduces the level of pain and discomfort. It also helps significantly with my insomnia, which makes everything better, right? So hopefully I'm back to regular posting now!

*For those who don't know what Duotrope is, it's a database of publication listings. I highly recommend it if you're actively submitting. There is an annual cost associated, so if you aren't submitting it probably isn't worth it. In that case, however, there is a free database called The Submission Grinder.

Do you cyber stalk Duotrope? Publications you have stories out to? Or are you able to walk away and forget about it until that email comes in?

May you find your Muse.

Image by OCAL, clker.com

Is it Flash, Short, or a Vignette?

By OCAL, clker.com

Once upon a time, people wrote stuff and published it on their own or sent it to places and hoped they would publish it. When did they start defining type of story by length? Was it in the beginning, or did it develop over time?

These days, you have to figure out your word count to define what you just wrote before you can submit it. Is it flash fiction, a vignette, a short story, a novelette, a novella, a novel? Is it one of a billion things I probably didn't think of when I wrote that list?

I've seen some confusion between flash fiction, short stories and vignettes. In fact, I've been confused on what makes a vignette versus a short story or flash fiction piece. So I decided to look into it and write a couple to try it out.

In general terms (with the understanding that different publications define them their own way):

Flash Fiction - There's a vast array of length definitions for flash fiction, but it is generally 1000 words or less. I don't think I've seen anything above 1000 words defined as flash fiction. Flash is also called a short-short, postcard fiction, and micro-fiction. Micro-flash is sometimes used as a term to define a super short piece of flash fiction (say, 100 words). Again, this is a general definition, that varies wildly between publications.

Short Story - Just as with flash, the length varies between publications. In general, we can say a short story is less than 10,000 words. Just to give you an idea. I've seen 2000-8000 words as a common basis in publications.

In both short stories and flash fiction, you are intended to write a full story, just with brevity. It's intended to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. There is meant to be some sort of character and/or story arc.

Vignette - Vignettes tend to be shorter, more like flash fiction lengths. However, the primary difference between a vignette and a flash piece is that a flash piece is still expected to have a beginning, middle, and end, just like a short story or longer work. But a vignette is more a snapshot in time, an idea, an impression or a moment in time versus a complete story that wishes to convey a story and/or character arc. It's a scene instead of an entire story. It can often be more elegant and descriptive, more intent to show an emotional sense than a story.

By Hanna Ghermay, clker.com

Vignettes are far less common than flash and short fiction. In fact, there is no classification for it at Duotrope, as they are more dependent on length for your submission type, and with vignettes it isn't all that simple. (Also, Duotrope defines short fiction as 1000-7500 words, with a novelette being 7500-15,000). A lot of places don't consider the vignette to be a real story, due to that lack of accepted structure, and a search will reveal a bunch of places with their own very specific definitions.

If you're curious about trying out the form, I highly recommend Vine Leaves Literary Journal to get a better understanding. You can read it free online, which is always a great way to get an understanding of a form of writing (read it, read it, read it!). While I don't pretend to be an expert on it, or even to have a full understanding of it, I'm working on it, and I find it interesting to write. It feels less restricted, and you can write what you feel instead of thinking it through too hard. Not a bad way to get into some writing mojo.

Have you ever written a vignette? Heard of one? Any publications interested in vignettes you'd like to pass along?

May you find your Muse.

Writer Pay Options

In searching for contests and publications taking submissions, I come across a lot of different ways a writer can be paid (or not). The most common types are:

1. Per word payment
Author is paid per word in their piece, sometimes varying per length (as in, one rate for short stories, one rate for poetry, one rate for novellas). Duotrope breaks it down into token (<$ .01/word), semi-pro ($.01-.049/word), and pro (>$.05/word).

2. Flat payment
One flat monetary payment per piece, no matter how many words. This flat payment usually varies per overall story length (i.e. short, flash, poetry, novella, etc.), but doesn't take into count exact word count. Example would be $25 per short story.

3. Royalty-based payment
Typically, you are promised a % share for the amount that comes in for the sale of the book or magazine. Some do a tier system, while others offer all authors in the piece an equal share. This is after costs of publication are met, and means you will only be paid if a profit is turned.

4. Charity
With this option, you submit with the understanding that your piece will make you no money, and that all proceeds go to a charity that has been pre-selected. If no charity is selected, and it just says that it will go to charity, I recommend avoiding it.

5. No payment
This is often found with upstart magazines that are trying to gain a foothold in the market. They may promise exposure, free advertising, your name on their website, etc., but you will not receive money. Some may state that they will revisit lack of payment should they bring in enough money.

There are many other options and mish-mashes of the above (for instance, I recently found one that paid a small flat rate to start, followed by royalties should any be received). So far, my personal experience has been with a charity anthology, a per-word magazine, and flat-rate per article payments. I haven't submitted to anyone saying they pay by royalties yet.

I'm seeking opinions and experiences with the various types of pay. If you've worked for royalties, how has that gone? Do you prefer one of the above methods of payment? Which one, and why? What way(s) would you never consider submitting to?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG & Linkies

Today's the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Do you ever feel like the only thing holding you in the publishing rigmarole is that you've put yourself out there and declared yourself a writer, so you feel like you have to go through with it?  

I love writing, so that isn't the issue.  But there are days where I look at all the work that goes into publication and wonder if it's worth it.  Do I want to jump through all these hoops?  Is publication that important to me?  Is this what I want?  Did I kill the joy of it?

Then I stumble across a blog where someone's posting that they've been accepted, agented, published or optioned.  Or I pick up a new book at the store and I get a tingle of excitement that starts in my gut, and I think "Some day this could be me."

And then I remember what I want and why, and I get excited and inspired all over again.

Really quickly, before we get to the links, I've posted over at the A-to-Z Challenge Blog asking for feedback on questions you'd like the A-to-Z co-hosts to answer during our introductions when the new A-to-Z "season" begins.  Let us know!

Links!

Accepting Submissions:

Assent Publishing is accepting submissions at various imprints.  See the tabs along the top to check out the different types of stories they are seeking. 

Giveaways:

Konstanz Silverbow of No Thought 2 Small is running a giveaway for those who help her cheer up her friend by commenting on her blog, as well as other fun duties that will earn you additional entries.

Jeremy Bates is giving away 20 free Kindle copies of his book The Taste of Fear to celebrate the holidays.  Stop by and enter!

Workshops:

Savvy Authors has tons of awesome workshops/classes online.  They appear to average about $15-20 per class.  If there's something you're struggling with, chances are they've got a class in the next year to cover it.  Great option if you can't attend in-person workshops.  

Other:

Need help getting your social media organized and linked together?  RebelMouse looks like an easy and interesting way to do it.  I haven't tried it yet, though.

Pretty sure I've passed this website along before, but they've got great resources, so I'm doing it again.  At FundsforWriters you can find submissions being accepted, grants, active markets and contests.

Duotrope is switching to a paid service, due to not having the funds to continue providing the data for free.  If you don't know what Duotrope is, it's a phenomenal resource for open markets of all kinds.  There will be some data available free, I believe, but it will be limited.  Cost will be $5 per month or $50 annually.

Jodi Renner at Crime Fiction Collective put together a great resource for writer's conferences.  The Pikes Peak Writers Conference is in there!

Anything to pass along?  Anyone tried RebelMouse?  Have experience with FundsforWriters?  How do you feel about Duotrope going paid? What makes you insecure as a writer?

May you find your Muse.