Publishing Short Stories Question?

[TV Zombie]

OK I have finished a short story, now what? I sent it out to some trusted readers and received good feedback with very minor critiques. So here's the question now, where do I publish? I know it's a loaded question which is why I'm asking you for help.

First off, my end goal is to get a book publishing deal. I can either turn the short story into a full-fledged novel or write more short stories for a full anthology.

I'm really not interested in thumbing through hundreds of magazine submission criteria; I was thinking of posting the story for a free read online to develop a fan base, but I don't know if potential publishers would frown upon that.

So should I find a literary agent to help me?
Is there a website where I could upload/submit?

Any help/guidance is much appreciated.

[Jef UK]

Go buy / take notes from a copy of the Novel & Short Story Wirters Market 2009.

http://novelandshortstory.com/

[Jef UK]

Most agents won't look at any thing other than a finished novel manuscript, which means second draft or more. There have been exceptions of course, but that is the rule. If you want to submit a short story collection, you would need to submit the entire, finished collection, and try to get some published first. You should not hire an agent to get your shorts published.

[TV Zombie]

Go buy / take notes from a copy of the Novel & Short Story Wirters Market 2009.

http://novelandshortstory.com/

Cool, thanks. I heard of the Writer's Market - I just didn't want to get lost in hundreds of pages worth of nothing. But if this book is recommended as the place to go I'll go grab a copy.

[Jef UK]

I'm really not interested in thumbing through hundreds of magazine submission criteria

While it's unlikely that there are hundreds of magazines that would be fit for publication of your story, you should prepare yourself to read plenty of magazine submissions criteria.

[Jef UK]

Cool, thanks. I heard of the Writer's Market - I just didn't want to get lost in hundreds of pages worth of nothing. But if this book is recommended as the place to go I'll go grab a copy.

It's a great resource and will answer a lot of the questions you ask.

[TV Zombie]

Most agents won't look at any thing other than a finished novel manuscript, which means second draft or more. There have been exceptions of course, but that is the rule. If you want to submit a short story collection, you would need to submit the entire, finished collection, and try to get some published first. You should not hire an agent to get your shorts published.

Again thanks Jef UK. I'm moving into the realm of Short Stories. I've written a lot, but finally I feel I'm at a place where my work is publishable, and ready for the next step.

[Jef UK]

Again thanks Jef UK. I'm moving into the realm of Short Stories. I've written a lot, but finally I feel I'm at a place where my work is publishable, and ready for the next step.

No problem. I've had the opportunity to talk to several agents, editors and published big-name writers, and that is the general consensus. Finish. Revise. Submit. Know rejection. Submit again.

[Jef UK]

Realize that a lot of the magazines for which you might think your story fits don't accept cold submissions from new writers. You have to start small to raise awareness, and there's no telling sometimes why your story doesn't make it over somebody else's. I was the fiction editor for an annual literary mag one year, and I myself was pretty fickle.

[TV Zombie]

Hey Jef,

What are your thoughts on free reads online? For example, lets say I submit and no one wants to publish would I be out of place posting for free online for whoever wants to read it, all in the attempt of building a name and small following for myself?

[Jef UK]

Hey Jef,

What are your thoughts on free reads online? For example, lets say I submit and no one wants to publish would I be out of place posting for free online for whoever wants to read it, all in the attempt of building a name and small following for myself?

I do it. www.jefwrites.com

And I submit the stories posted. Although, "The Better Head" has a different ending these days. :) But yeah, I just got a nibble on "Portrait of a Zombie as a Young Scientist," and I don't see any harm in my having it on my own website. They'll probably never even notice.

[TV Zombie]

Jef another question,

I just noticed that the new 2010 version of the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market is being released Jul 29, 2009. Should I wait for that one? I guess it boils down to the changes each year. Are they basically the same publication with minor changes or would I be better off waiting for the newer version? Thanks.

[Jef UK]

Jef another question,

I just noticed that the new 2010 version of the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market is being released Jul 29, 2009. Should I wait for that one? I guess it boils down to the changes each year. Are they basically the same publication with minor changes or would I be better off waiting for the newer version? Thanks.

Might as well wait. I'd go to Barnes & Noble and start taking notes on which publications for which you think you'd be a good fit from the 2009 edition. But since it's a yearly, print publication, there's no way to know which of the smaller outfits still even exist, or have maybe moved entirely to the web, etc. But it would be easy to cross reference your notes with a quick google search too.

[MrClown]

I do it. www.jefwrites.com

And I submit the stories posted. Although, "The Better Head" has a different ending these days. :) But yeah, I just got a nibble on "Portrait of a Zombie as a Young Scientist," and I don't see any harm in my having it on my own website. They'll probably never even notice.

Keep in mind that doing so constitutes publication, so anything you've posted online and are trying to submit will have to be sold as a reprint--and reprints are always a hard sell. Also, there are scads of publications that accept submissions from new writers. It's just that you have to stand out from the pack and be at the top of your game in order to sell. Just submit and submit and submit and keep in mind that rejection is the rule. If you keep at it and pay attention to your craft, eventually, you'll sell. If you get discouraged, then, well, them's the breaks.

Couple more things: You need to read voraciously inside and outside the field where you're submitting. And try not to submit to any publication you haven't actually read. Adhere to the guidelines, and you'll have one up over a lot of people. Good luck.

[Kurt Russell Crowe]

Jed UK covered it, but everything I've read from various writers says finished novel manuscript, research agents, query them, some small press publishers might not require an agent. As far as a short story anthology, they made even Chuck Palahniuk turn his into a connected novel, so I don't think theres much hope for any newbie writer there unless your short stories have really caught fire in publications and/pr around the web.

What genre is your story? Sci-fi try sending it off to Asimov's, if it can fall anywhere under mystery, Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock's are high bars to aspire to trying to crack into.

[MrClown]

Yeah, publishers tend to lose money on short-story anthologies. If you really want to publish novels, write some and start submitting. The wait times are kind of a bitch, but you just have to keep working. Short stories won't land you an agent or a book deal, really, but they will help you build the skills you'll need to produce a novel.