WORLDS THAT NEVER WERE

Don’t shoot. The shotgun approach to story submission is not effective. A few days after posting about living with rejection, I ran across JA Konrath’s post about using short stories to promote novels–I am enjoying Konrath’s humorous thriller series featuring Jack Daniel’s, a female detective. I discovered his novels after reading one of his stories in the Thriller anthology edited by James Patterson.

Unlike Konrath, I am not trying to promote a book with my stories, I have yet to finish my YA novel, but I think Konrath’s advice is good for anyone trying to get short fiction published.

WRITE FOR THE INTENDED MARKET.

Would you spend hours making a key without having a lock it can open? No. But many authors write whatever the hell they want to write and then erroneously believe there will be a market begging to publish it. That usually isn’t the case.

Magazines, anthologies, and websites all have specific demographics. They want specific stories to please these demographics. It’s much easier to write for a market than write according to your whim and then try to find a market that will buy it.

When you have found a market, read it. Don’t guess what you think the editors will like. Discover what the editors like by reading stories they’ve already published.

Also, it makes good sense to write stories about the characters who are in your novels. The closer the tie in, the more likely you are to sell a book if someone likes the story.

Got it? Good. And if it stifles your muse, remind yourself that writing is a job.

This is the best advice I’ve read lately. I had been writing stories about whatever I wanted and then hoping to find markets for them. This sometimes works, but it is a struggle to find just the right match. Hence, the 136 rejection letters.

Konrath also listed the pros and cons of various markets including: magazines, anthologies, limited editions, and new markets. I found this very helpful. I had not before considered, for example, that the majority of readers I may reach with magazines will only read my work during the month the magazine is fresh, whereas anthologies may stay in print for years and the Internet is eternal.

I’ll be taking a break from writing and submitting to visit my Mom in Missouri this weekend. I can’t wait.