Storyville: Ten Tips for Successfully Publishing Your Stories

I know that we’ve talked about a wide variety of craft, process, and submission techniques here in Storyville, but what I’d like to do today is give you ten of my best tips to help you get your stories published. Based on five years of sending my work out, here are the most successful ideas I have for giving yourself a good shot at getting accepted. Obviously, it’s always about the writing, your compelling stories, your unique voice, well written, with emotional impact. But there are other factors that can help tip the deck in your favor.

ONE: READ THE PUBLICATION

I know this sounds obvious, but I’m willing to bet that half of all authors today are submitting stories to places they’ve never read. I know it’s expensive, but you don’t have to subscribe. Check out your local library, used bookstores, and even talk to friends about swapping copies. Send out a used copy of The Missouri Review and get back a copy of Black Warrior Review. Or swap a copy of Shock Totem for Shroud, or F&SF for Clarkesworld. And if the publication is online, you really don’t have any excuse. Read The Collagist, read Tor.com, read Word Riot—make the time. You can learn a lot this way. Not just the kind of stories they are publishing, but what’s current and trending for them. Did you know that The Cincinnati Review likes magical realism? What kind of horror and fantasy is Shimmer looking for? What does it mean when a place says “Lovecraftian?” I know, I’m not perfect, either, I’m sure I've sent lots of stories to publications that I’ve never read before, but I do try to see if I can find out something about each publication one way or another. For instance, the Yalobusha Review—is the cover art surreal, do I know any authors in there (and their voice), do their guidelines give me clues about what kind of literary fiction they’re looking for? Do your best, because the research will only help you be appropriate with your submissions, and that way you won’t waste their time, or your own.

TWO: FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES

You have to make sure you are following the guidelines. Most places are looking for the same thing, typically a document in Times New Roman, double-spaced. But some places want it as an .rtf, not a .doc format. Others want it IN the email, not attached. Is their policy simultaneous or no simultaneous submissions? Do you they allow multiple submissions? (Some do.) What are the parameters on length? You don’t want to send a 7,500-word story to a place that has a maximum of 4,000 words, right? Are there things they definitely don’t want—erotica, non-fiction, poetry, werewolves, vampires, graphic sex, graphic violence, rape, or any sort of abuse of children? I didn’t know Orson Scott Card’s publication was pretty much Rated-PG, with strict rules about content. OOPS! You don’t make that mistake twice. Some places will only let you submit twice a year, or make you wait a week, or a month, after your last submission. Just do your research so that you don’t screw up on something as simple as formatting or timing.

THREE: SUBMIT EARLY OR LATE

There are a couple of points I want to make here about timing. If there is a new publication, sometimes called “fledgling” on Duotrope, you may want to jump in before people find out about it. They still have to put out their first issue, and if the whole world isn’t aware of Foxing Quarterly, maybe you can sneak in before they start getting 500 submissions a month. You are taking a risk, but if a place pays .05/word, you are still getting paid professional rates no matter what, right? That’s $200 for a 4,000-word story. I’m also talking about open calls for submissions, whether it’s a journal or magazine re-opening, or a new anthology. Do you want to be one of the first stories an editor reads? Maybe. I can tell you that as I’ve been editing Exigencies (Dark House Press) I’ve taken certain stories, and once I had several horror stories that were set in a rural environment, I knew I probably wouldn’t take any more. Two stories had cameras in them, so no more cameras. If you submit early, maybe you can beat somebody to the punch. Imagine if there is a themed anthology, let’s just say vampires, and there are only SO MANY ideas about vampires out there. Do you want to be the first to present a story about energivores, vampires that feed on the misery of others instead of blood? Sure you do. Also, there’s the opposite of this approach. Be the last one in. If there is a deadline, and the anthology (or other publication) is still looking to fill a few slots, and hasn’t gotten the quality stories they want, maybe you’ll be that diamond in the rough, yeah?

FOUR: BE INNOVATIVE

If there is a theme for a particular journal, magazine, website or anthology, find a way to be fresh, to reinvent the genre, to be innovative. Like I just mentioned about vampires, instead of blood, what else could give your beast life and immortality? Tweak their characteristics, and make them new. If everybody else is writing hard tech science fiction, maybe go the opposite way, and do soft science fiction, something that’s more focused on politics, culture, or emotional truths. And while you’re at it, keep in mind your format—maybe your story is a list of the ten steps it takes a serial killer to become a murderer, or perhaps it’s nothing but a series of letters back and forth, or a diary entry, or maybe four different sides of the same story, none of them entirely honest. Think of ways to reinvent the genre, the expectations, the format, and the voice. Maybe you’ll stand out in a crowd of the same old story lines, the same monsters, the same settings.

FIVE: EMBRACE SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS

I never understand when I hear an author say, “Oh, yeah, I have that story out to three places right now.” Three? Is that all you can manage? Don’t strain yourself. Why not ten, or twenty? What are you waiting for? I can understand if you have ten stories out, and there are only so many places that are right for your story. I do get that. But, for instance, if you write literary fiction, there are HUNDREDS of journals you could submit to. Embrace the simultaneous submission—it’s your friend. Now, I know that some places don’t allow simultaneous submissions, and that’s your call—hit them up one at a time, or avoid them all together. Or, ignore the rule, that’s your choice. But if there are ten horror publications that all pay professional rates, and you only have one horror story to shop right now, why not send it to all ten? With acceptance rates so low these days, anywhere from 1% for the elite, to 10-20% for other quality magazines, the odds are against you. If there IS a publication that I really love, and they have a no simultaneous submission rule, I either hit them up first, if they have a short period, or take a chance if all of the places I’m submitting to are really difficult to get into (say 1% or below). What are the odds that TWO (or more) elite magazines will take your story at the same time? They are REALLY long. But if you only submit to places that allow simultaneous submissions, don’t be shy, send your stories far and wide. At one point this year I had eight stories out to over 100 publications—this was not a shotgun approach, I did my research, these were all appropriate submissions, I guarantee you. Life is too short—go for it.

SIX: WRITE IN DIFFERENT GENRES

This ties in directly to what I just talked about. Because I don’t write ONLY horror stories, I can send my writing to a large variety of magazines. What genres do I write? Well, I write fantasy, science fiction and horror. I write transgressive, grotesque, and magical realism. I write Southern gothic, neo-noir, and literary fiction. Yes, some publications overlap in genres, such as Shock Totem being open to horror, fantasy, and crime. But notice they don’t want science fiction. I even thought about writing a western, once I saw Nik Korpon post a story at a cool new online publication, The Big Adios. Stretch yourself, step outside your comfort zone, and write in many different genres. I can assure you that the same story that you sent to Cemetery Dance PROBABLY wouldn’t be a good fit for Ploughshares—unless you’re Brian Evenson or Stephen Graham Jones.

SEVEN: AIM HIGH, BUT BE REALISTIC AND PURSUE ALL OPTIONS

You don’t HAVE to send every story to the absolute best publications in the world. I can tell you that a year and a half of me doing EXACTLY that with my MFA thesis stories has just been CRUSHING at times. You can aim high, and work your way down, to “easier” and easier places. You can start with the best pay, and work your way down to little or no pay. You can start someplace in the middle, and just aim for publications that you think are cool. You can see where your friends are publishing, and submit to the same websites and journals, regardless of how elite they are. Do whatever you want—a win is still a win, an acceptance always feels good.

EIGHT: TRY DIFFERENT LENGTHS

Experiment with different length stories, as not all guidelines are the same. I’ve had stories published that were 50-words long, 300-words long, and 1,000-words long—all considered flash or micro-fiction. Most of my work is typically in the 2,000 to 4,000-word range. But I’ve also published some longer stories, 5,000+ words, and even 7,000-words long. I have written one novella, which is 20,000-words long (and boy are those tough to shop). Experiment with various lengths. That’s why I love the WAR battles here at LitReactor.com, I always come away with flash fiction, and short stories, of varying lengths. Have fun with it, it’s still your voice.

NINE: AIM FOR BOTH PRINT AND WEB

Typically, from my research, web publications are easier to get into than print. Now, that’s a general statement, it isn’t always true. But you’ll probably have better luck with online submissions than elite print journals. Also, one of the nice things about being online is people can read your work immediately, you can post a link, send friends and editors to your work, it’s a body of fiction that can be immediately accessed. So why not write some flash fiction and get it online? Maybe it’s just me, but I’m less protective of a 1,200 word bit of flash fiction than I am about a 5,000-word story. It’s the time and effort that I’ve put into the story. Doesn’t mean the longer story is better, just different. But really, if you spend one day writing a 500-word bit of flash, and three months on a 4,500-word story, which one are you going to want to place at a more elite publication? I think you know the answer. (Unless that online publication is paying pro rates, then go for it, right?)

TEN: THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, AS FAR AS PLACEMENT

You have a story, it’s the perfect length of 2,500-words, and you don’t know where to send it. Of course you started with elite print journals and magazines. Then what—elite online publications? Then what? Well, how about checking out all of the anthologies that are looking for work, if your story fits the theme. What about audio rights, why not submit to a podcasting website? What about self-publishing your story as an eSingle on Amazon and sell it for a dollar or two?

IN CONCLUSION

Obviously, you just want to write the best story you can. But when you are ready to submit, you have a lot of options. Do your research, read the magazines, and follow the guidelines. Try to stretch yourself, expand your genres, and mix up the formats of your stories, as well as the length. Aim high, but also be realistic, and find someplace cool to place your work, sometimes thinking outside the box. Embrace simultaneous submissions, putting in the time you need to in order to send each story to five, ten, or fifteen places—you’ll thank me for this, I promise. But in the end, the last piece of advice I can give you is to never settle—make sure that no matter where you send your story, elite print journal or cool online website, that you’ll be happy with the placement. The rewards come in dollars, exposure, the company of your fellow authors, accessibility to your work, as well as the art and product that surrounds your words—there are so many ways to be compensated. You can always write more, yeah?


I mentioned a few cool online journals, so I'm linking to those stories. Here is Nik Korpon's western up at The Big Adios, "A Hundred for the Crows." How about The Collagist? Here's one by xTx entitled, "The 33rd Word for Cold." And how about Tor? Here is Rachel Swirsky and "Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia."

Richard Thomas

Column by Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas is the award-winning author of eight books—Disintegration and Breaker (Penguin Random House Alibi), Transubstantiate, Staring Into the Abyss, Herniated Roots, Tribulations, Spontaneous Human Combustion (Turner Publishing), and The Soul Standard (Dzanc Books). His over 175 stories in print include The Best Horror of the Year (Volume Eleven), Cemetery Dance (twice), Behold!: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders (Bram Stoker winner), Lightspeed, PANK, storySouth, Gargoyle, Weird Fiction Review, Midwestern Gothic, Shallow Creek, The Seven Deadliest, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Qualia Nous, Chiral Mad (numbers 2-4), PRISMS, Pantheon, and Shivers VI. He was also the editor of four anthologies: The New Black and Exigencies (Dark House Press), The Lineup: 20 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press) and Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press) with Chuck Palahniuk. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker (twice), Shirley Jackson, Thriller, and Audie awards. In his spare time he is a columnist at Lit Reactor. He was the Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press and Gamut Magazine. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com or contact Paula Munier at Talcott Notch.

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Comments

angelic007's picture
angelic007 from Washington is reading Possessed August 8, 2013 - 11:26am

Tip #3 is everything. Thanks for another great article!

Richard's picture
Richard from St. Louis is reading various anthologies August 8, 2013 - 12:43pm

thanks!

Kelby Losack's picture
Kelby Losack from Texas is reading Muerte Con Carne; The Summer Job; Bizarro Bizarro August 8, 2013 - 3:12pm

How do you go about searching for anthology submissions? 

DaveShepherd's picture
DaveShepherd from Calgary is reading No Country for Old Men August 8, 2013 - 3:22pm

@ Kelby:

Honestly, for me, Twitter has been solid when it comes to anthologies. Find editors of publications you like, and if they're on Twitter, follow them. The next time they're looking for submissions, they'll usually do a bunch of posts. Though I haven't gone agent hunting, I imagine the same principle applies.

Twitter's been great for a bunch of things. I sold my short story (at $0.12 a word) to a new magazine (tip 3 in action!) that I heard about on Twitter. I've also had a ton of great books recommended to me courtesy of Twitter.

Kelby Losack's picture
Kelby Losack from Texas is reading Muerte Con Carne; The Summer Job; Bizarro Bizarro August 8, 2013 - 5:46pm

What about for someone who isn't into social networking? (blasphemy, I know.) 

EdVaughn's picture
EdVaughn from Louisville, Ky is reading a whole bunch of different stuff August 8, 2013 - 6:46pm

I really need to start doing number 5. I'm always afraid I'll forget where I sent stuff or something. And I wish everybody had a universal formatting guidline. I've seen some odd requests. Georgia font? Don't put your name on the manuscript? But yeah number 2 is important. Good article.

Richard's picture
Richard from St. Louis is reading various anthologies August 8, 2013 - 6:54pm

@kelby and @dave: i have two suggestions for finding anthologies. first, join Duotrope.com and pay $50 a year (it's a bargain) and you can search for "anthologies" under one of the tabs and buttons. second, join a Facebook group that is for open calls. i belong to an open call FB page for horror and another for f/sf, and another for crime/noir.

get over your fear and dislike of social media if you want to be a successful writer. you don't have to be on there all of the time, but if you want to build your network, get fans, and spread the word about your writing, you should (IMO) be on Twitter, Facebook, and have a blog/website, at least. i'd also suggest a Goodreads profile (author profile, if you have work out), an Amazon profile (if you have published work), and maybe Google+ (not sure if that one is really sticking around). some people dig Tumblr too, and Pinterest, I don't know.

voodoo_em's picture
voodoo_em from England is reading All the books by Ira Levin August 9, 2013 - 4:02am

Great article Richard.

I second the "join Duotrope" it's pretty essential. You also get the "weekly wire" email that includes all the markets opened/reopened to submission, new markets added, markets that are defunct and a calendar of deadlines for themed submissions ~ every week! 

 

 

Richard's picture
Richard from St. Louis is reading various anthologies August 9, 2013 - 7:27am

thanks, em. i mean, $50 a year? what's that, .13 cents a day? $4 a month? that's a pint of beer. i mean, come on. it's the best site out there for this. i couldn't function without it. 

Sofia's picture
Sofia from London, UK is reading everything May 14, 2014 - 3:38am

As well as Duotrope, check out newpages.com.

Madeline Mcewen-Asker's picture
Madeline Mcewen... December 9, 2018 - 5:21pm

FIVE - still not confident about this one. I always check [on Duotrope] whether they accept simultaneous submissions. Occasionally, I've been brave enough to submit simultaneously, but I'm not sure it is worth the rise in blood pressure.

Richard's picture
Richard from St. Louis is reading various anthologies December 9, 2018 - 9:59pm

Well, a lot of them do allow simultaneous.