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.

Short stories to write online