Writing Blog Number 2

20240713 Selling Short Stories

Selling Short Stories

Thought I’d just share how I write and sell a short story, what works for me, and what is proving successful. For the record, this is coming from a question I was asked at another site. See, this past week I signed two more contracts to appear in anthologies (one is a one-off payment, the other is a royalty share payment), and with these two, plus a book due out in August, I will have 94 short stories traditionally published (in 96 anthologies; 2 stories made “best of the year” anthologies as well). Should crack 100 in the next few years. This does mean that my short stories seem to hit the mark with editors and publishers.
         So, what do I do that seems to appeal to small to mid-sized publishers?
         This is an interesting question and I was thinking about it all night. Now, first and foremost, it is not because I am some amazing writer. I am not the next coming of Stephen King or anything like that. I write what I write and that is that. So, it has nothing to do with my alleged writing “talent”. Also, I am Australian, which means it is harder for me to break into a market, so it is also not because I am in the right place at the right time. Luck could well have something to do with it, and I freely admit that, but I am going to ignore that aspect.
         So, first is I think writing to a genre’s dictates has helped. There are tropes and stereotypes, and I use them. Sometimes I twist them, sometimes I play them straight, but I use the genre tropes. While most of my published work is horror and supernatural, I have also had science fiction, Western, fantasy, romance and comedy short stories published. It might be great to play with genre dictates, but readers know what they want, and my stories follow the familiar story beats and so give them exactly what they want.
         Second is I write a classic short story. One PoV – be that first or 3rd limited – character only. One conflict only. Minimal characters (except I have been known to break this). Start in media res nearly all the time. Minimal world-building. Build to a climax with one, maybe two, complications on the way. Don’t draw out the finish. Standard “Story Writing 101” really. I don’t mess with the formula. Be experimental if you wish; it probably will be a hard sell.
         Third, and I know this because an editor I worked with in the 2010s told me, is that my copy is really clean. The grammar and punctuation is spot-on; I know and utilize all the rules of grammar correctly. There might be a couple of typos. Sure I use Australian/British English, but more and more US publishers let that slide. Occasionally I might have to change Australian slang. But this is good. There have been times when my not quite as good work has been accepted over possibly better stories because there are less edits for the editor to wade through and argue with a writer about. Yes, this is me big-noting myself a little, but when my lesser work is accepted because it does not need a lot of editing, then I think I am doing something right.
         Fourth, I write a story. If I have a message to push, it is subtle and in the background. It is not spelt out and it is not front and centre. I write to entertain, not to push a barrow. The story, the main thing I produce, is what I focus on. And I do not focus on theme, either. All those fancy things creative writing courses tell you to do, they don’t work with publishers. Yes, some markets want them, but readers, those general members of the populace who just want to read a story (and not writers who read; they tend to be different), clearly do not want them, either.
         Finally, and this is something I know not a lot do, I have a lot of stories in my finished pile. I have over 700 unsold short stories between 300 and 12500 words completed (over 1000 including drabbles and other flash fictions). Most horror open calls I can find something I have already written that fits the unifying concept of the anthology. The two stories I recently had accepted were about a cryptid and time travel. I had a few to pick from. And if I don’t have a story but I like the anthology concept, I will use it as a prompt and write a quick-fire 3k words in a day or so. I am a very fast writer (last year in NaNoWriMo I churned out over 154k words in 30 days), so if I get an idea, I can pants my way through it. Quick edit, put it aside, another read, give it to a beta reader, edit, submit. Might be rushed, but it’s how I have to do it sometimes if there’s a close submission date.
         So, that is what works for me. It has not made me a fortune, but it has meant I think I am a real writer, maybe even an author. And this might not work for you; sorry. But it is how selling works for me.


And if you want to see what I have had published so far in what we shall laughingly call my “career” (remembering it is all trad publishing; I don’t do self-publishing), head on over to: "20240114 The Boring List Post"