Interview with T.D. Johnston, Founder of Short Story America

Hi all,

I interviewed T.D. Johnston on my blog today, founder and editor of Short Story America (which was recently named by Writer's Digest as one of the Top 50 Online Literary Magazines in the world).

Their first anthology is released this month, and I believe there are 2 or 3 AWers were selected, including myself.

The interview is pretty wide-ranging, talking about the state of the short story, his plans for the future, and what he considers the ideal submission.

You guys are probably most interested in the payment/submissions/rights details, so I'll give a little more info on that here than is in the interview.

They pay writers for submissions (I got a flat fee of $100 for a 2000 word story). They retain the right to keep the story up on their website, but the rights are non-exclusive, so writers are free to publish their stories elsewhere afterwards, or themselves (as I have done).

Writers also get a share of the royalties from the anthologies, audiobooks, etc. All the details, and much more, are in the interview.

Interview here:
http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/...-t-d-johnston-founder-of-short-story-america/

Dave

I also forgot to mention that they take reprints - my story was a reprint.

I'm trying to remember which AWers have been published by them. Happywritermom was published around the same time as me last year, and she is in the collection. I think Manuel Royal was published by them too, but I believe that was after this collection was put together (so he might be in next year's). There may be more, they're just the ones I know of.

Chris P said:

I was recently rejected by them. Which of course means they have the highest of standards! I'm glad to hear they're doing so well.

ETA: My mistake. They haven't rejected me (yet )

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They are usually reasonably quick dealing with submissions (around 30 days) - but that was last August - they may be much busier now (plus they are dealing with all the hoopla around the antho release, and organising some kind of Storytelling Festival or Conference).

I remember that thread!

For anyone concerned, I was paid (on time), and the rights granted are most certainly non-exclusive as I have since self-published the story that they published.

I think they have grown a lot in popularity which would be affecting response times. I'm guessing that once the anthology is released and all the orders are shipped they can start cutting into the backlog.

As with any mag, it's always good to read a bunch of stories and get an idea of what the editor likes. They tend towards the lit end of the spectrum, but I have seen stories there that were historicals, and at least one that was straight-up suspense (and mine would probably be classified as "weird fiction").

@ChrisP

I just heard that apparently Short Story America changed their review policy since I submitted. They no longer reject stories, but if 60 days have passed you can ask for feedback on it. He said he reads everything within 60 days, but likes to hold on to stories in case he changes his mind. He said the feedback could involve suggestions on rewriting it, or could lead him to re-examine the story. Worth emailing.