Tweak them for any specific needs later on. I recommend formatting all your stories in the Shunn format as you write them. Some publications will have their own formatting requirements, but most will use standard manuscript format ( Shunn). FormattingĪgain, follow the guidelines for the publication you’re submitting to. It’s also less stressful to have one prepared before submission. It’ll be easier later on when you’ve forgotten the exact point of your story and you need to have a pitch. I do recommend you prepare one at this stage, though. If they don’t specifically say they want a premise, short summary, elevator pitch, etc. IMPORTANT: Not every publication will want this. You’ll also hear it called a premise, a summary, or a logline. You’ve got a couple more things to think about before you can send that manuscript: The Elevator PitchĪn elevator pitch is pretty much what it sounds like: A one- to two-sentence summary of your story (what you could get out in the time it takes to ride an elevator). Some publications pay a flat rate for the entire story rather than per word and some pay in contributor copies (free copies of the magazine or anthology mailed to you).$0.01 to $0.05 per word is considered semi-professional.
Short stories to write online professional#
Generally, $0.06 to $0.08 per word is considered a professional pay rate.Along those same lines, paid publications are great, but don’t expect to make eight cents a word out of the gate. Your chances of acceptance are better elsewhere (to start) and there’s nothing wrong with the little guys. You are researching to see if your piece seems to fit with what the story market normally publishes, but also what their acceptance rate is (that’s the chances of publication with that market), what their submission periods are, and what their pay rate is.ĭon’t focus all your attention on the larger, more well-known magazines. If you can’t buy an issue, try to do as much research as possible and read their submission guidelines for insight. What they’ve previously published are gems that can give great insight into what they like and don’t like. If you can afford to buy at least one of their past issues or anthologies, do so. Take the time to investigate before you settle on that particular publication. And don’t forget podcasts! I’d recommend starting with your favorites, but Clarkesworld Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, and Pseudopod (along with all their branch podcasts) are worth a look. Have a favorite magazine? They probably accept submissions. You can also look directly for publications. Here are a few sites where you can find publications with active calls for submission: And it never hurts to have your work in an award-winning publication! Some of those publications might win awards frequently, even if they don’t pay very well. But don’t ignore smaller publications because of the pay rate, either. The “professional” level of these publications varies widely, as does the pay rate.ĭon’t expect to get rich off of short stories. There’s a wide variety of short story markets out there, including ezines, literary magazines and literary journals (yes those still exist), and anthologies out there that take submissions. Here are the five steps to getting your short story traditionally published: Step 1: Look for publications This seems daunting to a lot of new writers, but this is actually relatively easy compared to writing the story, and is a great first step in your writing career. Stephen King famously had a nail on his office wall where he impaled every rejection letter he received. The vast majority of writers have gone through the submission process to short story markets. In this article, I’ll walk you through the process of publishing a short story so that this part of being a writer can be easy and not overwhelm you. The process of publishing isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and you have plenty of options in order to publish your short story (or collection of stories). Publishing seems so intimidating that it’s easy to just give up and write only for yourself.īut if you’re going to be a short story writer, or be any kind of published writer, you’re eventually going to have to share your work with the world. They know they want to have a writing career, but don’t know where to start. Most writers start out knowing next to nothing about the publishing side of the writing business.