Question about short story publishing

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Oblivion_Rain

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I have a handful of short stories that I've never bothered to try and get published. The presiding reason for this is that I'm an ignoramus in this area. I'm not sure how or where to go about making it happen, considering that I've only queried for my novels. So I was wondering if anyone knows about any contests where I can submit my work, be it sites, magazines, or any abstract places that are looking to publish short stories. Thanks!
 
Izz

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Duotrope is the shizzle.

Also, check out my awesome sticky on Short Story Markets. Believe me, it's awesome.

There will be a Short Fiction FAQ sticky going up at some stage, but i can't give a timeframe on that one.
 
zanzjan

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Nothing to add to Izz's excellent advice, but welcome and good luck with your stories! (-:

-Suzanne
 
Izz

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Welcome to AW and the short fiction section also, RED. :hi:
 
Darkshore

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I'd suggest posting your short fiction in SYW after getting up your post count. It was invaluable to me, really helped me realize that I suck at editing my own work.
 
Darkshore

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Potentially I suppose but you have the proof right there of when you posted it, and I'd honestly hope that I could trust my fellow AW members. Not to mention that I can't see why anyone would steal my crap hehe.
 
Polenth

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In theory, they could try to steal it... but the chances of it happening are astronomically small. This is mostly because writers have their own ideas, which they're much more interested in than your ideas.

But it's also partly because it's a silly place for a thief to be. All the plagiarism cases I can think of have been about stealing published work, not unpublished works-in-progress. A car thief goes for the working car by the side of the road, not the wreck needing fixing up down at the junkyard. It's no different for literary thieves.

If you're that worried, only post the first half of the story (for longer stories, this is what most people do anyway). But really, no one's going to take it.
 
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OchreAlchemist

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I have struggled for years to find a place to published longer short fiction. I have one story, The Sad Man, that's 10k words. No mag would take it, it's too short to be a novel so what to do?

First thing I did was ask my wife who is a human Google. She found this site glimmertrain.com that publishes works up to 20k words. Sweet site, lots of short fiction support. Contests too!

I submitted the story a couple times with no luck.

So I researched Kindle publishing and did it myself. It was a very satisfying experience and though it's not likely I will get rich off the sales, I can use wha I learned and agents do review Amazon's new pubs from time to time.

The other thing I did to increase my networking was tap into Twitter. I wouldn't have found this site if I hadn't.

Best to all of you and I'm eager to hit the magic 50 to share some of my stuff.
 
Mutive

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What genre is the short fiction? That helps a lot in determining the market...
 
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