Conversations with Paddy: Traditional Short Story Publishing

jenny | Apr 03, 2010 | Comments 14

Patrick Pillars and I chat back and forth quite a bit via twitter and our blogs about writing and publishing, and recently we’ve been talking a lot about traditional short story publishing. Like me, and a lot of other people we know, Pat has been attempting to publish his short stories the old fashioned way, with little to no luck. Now, one might argue that the quality of our work is lacking, and that is why we don’t get accepted more often, or that we just need to keep on keeping on if we want to leave a lasting mark, but publishing in magazines and journals over the years has left me feeling a little jaded.

One of the pitfalls of publishing short stories is that rarely, if ever, do you receive editorial feedback. About 95% of the time you get a polite, stock rejection letter thanking you for considering them, but they have no use for your work at this time. Usually they wish you luck placing your story elsewhere, and encourage you to consider them again in the future.

Since most experienced writers spend a lot of time reading, you can imagine how much time and money we spend on magazines and journals both within and outside of our preferred genres every week. We do our homework because we want to: 1. Get an idea of what kind of work these rags are publishing and 2. Try to step a tad outside of the box so we’re not submitting the same ole same ole and getting rejected because our work is too commonplace.

For years, I played that game. I will probably continue to play it because I believe in my work, and want to share it with readers. On the other hand, traditional publishing has obviously been turned on its ear recently because of how easy it is to sell one’s work on the Internet, bypassing the editorial games and going directly to the readers with our content.

I used to joke with a group of writer friends that I wanted to change my name to something like Joyce Carol Gaiman just to catch eyes, because after getting rejected repeatedly from major magazines, the upcoming issues were always chock full of major players like Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman and others. And don’t get me wrong, I love Neil Gaiman’s work. Joyce Carol Oates is an inspiration, but breaking the mold as a new author is downright impossible when editors jump on major players time and again, bypassing newer and upcoming authors.

As with any creative endeavor, we all have to pay our dues. So don’t take this blog as a whine and cheese fest saying boohoo, it’s not fair I don’t get published. I’ve been published in a handful of magazines and journals, so it’s not that I don’t think they have merit. The thing is, as a reader, most magazines are publishing mediocre work we’ve all seen again and again, relying on the same authors all too often.

In essence, the same old stuff over and over again gets tired, so as readers we start seeking other alternatives. We buy eReaders or Kindles, start browsing Amazon or Smashwords for $.99 short stories, rather than dropping $5-7 on a magazine with maybe one good story in it. Magazine sales drop, putting the publisher in jeopardy, and one by one, the magazines go out of business.

The thing is, I enjoy reading magazines for the most part, but as a reader and a writer, the lack of representation for new and upcoming authors is off-putting. Is it too late? Maybe. More fiction magazines seem to be going under these days, and they have no one to blame but themselves. As authors, we have more opportunities now to publish online, than we do through more traditional mediums, which means potentially, readers will be looking for fiction elsewhere.

As a reader, I don’t feel bad for looking elsewhere, and as a writer, I feel better having more control over my successes. It’s harder work, but at least I know I’m getting my work out there.

Filed Under: Life • Publishing