Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Short Stories And Self-Promotion

One of the other bonuses that comes with publishing a short story is that it gets you a bit of publicity. These days, whether you're dealing with a print magazine or an online publication, titles and authors are usually posted on the internet, making you visible as a writer if someone were to search for you. In the case of online publications, your entire story is also made available, giving people a view of your writing without having to wait for a book.

The editors of literary magazines--places where short stories are usually published--tend not to make big profits, if any at all. That's actually an advantage for us writers. First off, people who run lit mags aren't just trying to make a buck. Most of the time they are in it because they want to help promote writers and writing. That means terms like "marketability" are not calculated into their acceptance decisions. Also, the people who run these publications tend to be other writers, rather than agents and editors. Again, for us, I think that means the art side of the writing will be emphasized over the profit potential.

Whether you are self-publishing or publishing through other means, having accessible short stories helps to build your platform. Readers, agents, and publishers who are unsure of whether or not your stories have an audience can at least see that other people already love your work enough to make space for it in their journal. And, your ability to get published sort of snowballs as a result. Whether this system is fair or not, the more publications you get, I think the more publications you are capable of getting. The people who make it their job to judge writing, often rely on other judges before deciding if your writing is worthwhile.

For a discussion of whether or not you should send your stories to online publications or print publications, check out this old post.

26 comments:

  1. Yes... this is why I love Writer's Market.

    Also, I've been getting a lot of fun writing practice from a book I just bought called The Writer's Idea Book. It's full of prompts and ideas to help you write short stories and eventually longer ones. It's good stuff!

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  2. Excellent post, Davin. Another post that might help others see what short story writing can do for us can be found here:

    why you should be writing something besides your manuscript

    Getting our name and our work out there not only gets us recognized, but it builds confidence and even helps us deal with the querying stage later with our novels - if that's what we're aiming for. It's about experience, both in writing and publishing.

    I'm planning on writing some more shorts sometime soon. They ideas are hatching at the moment.

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  3. Excellent post. I also second Short in that Writer's Market is so valuable.

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  4. Shorty, have you heard of Duotrope? I think it may provide similar services as Writer's Market, and maybe both of them together would be double the fun.

    Michelle, thanks for that link. I remember you showing it to me last week. It's a great one!

    Martin, excellent point. Yes, book reviews are a great way to get your name out there, and in some cases they are easier to publish than a short story.

    Thanks, scobberlotcher! I'm not too familiar with Writer's Market. I'll check it out.

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  5. Do you read THE INTERN blog? She just did a post about this very thing, how publishers are looking at short stories and magazine articles to find authors.

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  6. *sheepish look* That's the same link Glam just posted. Ah well, she beat me to the punch ;)

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  7. Thanks, beth. And, not to worry. Michelle's fast. She sleeps with her boxing gloves on.

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  8. I think I just lost my boxing gloves, though. Don't expect much beating to the punches soon. Have at it, Beth!

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  9. It does seem like a good thing to get those short stories out there. Maybe I should write me some more of those.

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  10. I agree and think you have brought up some great points here, Davin.

    I'd like to add a discussion question on your point :

    "... your ability to get published sort of snowballs as a result ....the more publications you get, the more publications you are capable of getting."

    Here is the question: is it the publication that gets you more pubs or is it that your writing has finally reached a point where it is worthy and desired by publishers?

    True, editors are googling our names and seeing what we've written. But, won't they still need to love what they see?

    Pub credits alone are meaningless on their own. It is always the quality of writing that sells.

    Just looking for some good banter on this. It interests me.

    And, Friday is coming soon...what will the big reveal be? My guess: a new addition to your team???

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  11. Lois, I think it's great to keep writing, but at least for me, it doesn't matter if you're working on shorts or a novel. I'm personally in a novel mode these days. I'd love to write a short story, but that well is dry for some reason. I'm not pushing it though. :)

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  12. Tess, GREAT topic! Let me start by saying I'm not sure. So, these are just my opinions on the matter, and I'm curious to see what you and others think. In my opinion, I think it's about the writing, but that makes up, say, 60-70% of the decision. The rest of it depends on other factors, whatever that may be, including the mood of the editor on the day they are reading you. For me, having past publications, just the list of them on my cover letters and query letters seems to have opened some doors. As an example, I had an agent tell me that the pages I sent didn't go through, but she wanted to request my full manuscript anyway because she was impressed by my awards and publishing credits. So, while it does go back to the writing, I think the credits can get you a second chance. And, along with that, I think a lot of writing seems better if the reader just gives it this chance, if the reader approaches it with some respect rather than with the automatic critical eye. Also, with everyone trying to guess the market, I think a reader/agent/pubilsher feels more secure knowing that multiple people thought you were publishable, not just himself or herself.

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  13. I agree with all of Davin's thoughts on that, Tess, but would also like to add that the writing never accounts for 100% of how successful you become. A lot of it is luck - and some of that luck is something we can create. I like how Davin says those credits can give us a second chance and open doors that otherwise would have stayed closed. It definitely will never hurt us to get our work published, even the short stuff.

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  14. I take that back. I guess it could hurt to publish work that is total crap. That would just be embarrassing and not something you'd want to advertise.

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  15. I just recently sent out a short. And I'm going through my files to polish others. I've written quite a few and then stuck them in a drawer. (No light and breathing room in there, folks). So I've decided to revisit them, make them presentable for company.

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  16. Tricia, I'm happy to hear you say that! Yes, do get to the polishing!

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  17. Okay...so having some pub credits can be a foot in the door of consideration. I'll buy that. I do agree that we need to be certain it is quality work we are putting out there. You know, something representative.

    I hadn't really thought about the weight it adds to your query, but can see that as important, too.

    Good discussion...I like those :)

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  18. Hey, just saw this very topic being discussed over at

    bookendslitagency.blogspot.com

    It goes hand in hand with what you have said, pointing out these credits aren't required - but can be helpful.

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  19. Tess, I really liked that post when I read it earlier today. It made feel good to know they aren't essential and that we all have to start somewhere. :)

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  20. Tess, thanks for that great link. Again, I'm not sure if what I have to say is actually accurate or not, but I also wonder if your genre matters. Being a literary writer--since I'll probably never have a big readership--maybe publications in lit mags, among the people who may be interested in my fiction, are more important?

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  21. Davin: I think that last point is very important, and not just for writers of literary fiction. When I was young and reading a lot of SF/F, I read lots of stories in magazines and would buy books from those names I recognized and with whom I had good associations. I think the same goes today. I buy a lot of books by new authors because I've read their name somewhere and have some sort of postitive association with it. Getting work out in literary journals (or genre-specific magazines) is certainly a way of promoting ourselves. And having been published is certainly a way of demonstrating to agents and editors that we're not entirely new at the game and we've been writing for some time.

    My apologies for not commenting this week. MR and I were on a mini-break, and I've been very nastily ill the last couple of days. Not that I think there's a causal relationship between vacations and sickness, mind you.

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  22. I think having some short story pub credits would give me the confidence to finish and query a novel.
    And, I've also bought novels by short story writers I've loved.

    Does anyone here subscribe to any literary magazines? I wish they were easier to find. Like, it would be nice if libraries carried them.

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  23. Annie, I've had a few subscriptions to some literary magazines. People tend to give them to be for my birthday and Christmas--or just because they realize how totally cool I am. There are plenty of good online ones if you want to do check out stories for free. More top journals are putting at least some of their stories online.

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  24. Annie: I read a couple of the mainstream lit journals, like Paris Review (though it's nowhere as good as it was when Plimpton was editor), Glimmertrain, Ploughshares and Noon. I'll also pick up others at the news stand when the whim takes me.

    Davin: Now I know what to get you for Christmas. You are so cool.

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  25. Thanks for this post, Davin. I've just started doing this and have two acceptances - it was validating and gratifying, getting the nod from absolute strangers. One (very short) story is published, the other will be 'out in the world' at the beginning of October.

    It's good to see the reasons why, laid out like you have them, this is a good platform-building idea.

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