Humorous fiction that reads like autobiographical

ozgal · Aug 18, 2005

Humorous fiction that reads like an autobiographical

Hi,

I'm stumped about where to market a 1,350 word humorous short story. I belong to a critique group and although the piece is fictional (of course the insight is reality based) 99% of those who have read it say it reads as an autobiographical piece. They all think it deserves to be published but the question is where?

I did actually post an early draft of the story here a year or so ago and received encouraging feedback.

The dilemma for me is that it does not seem to fit with the fiction markets yet I'm not comfortable marketing it as creative non fiction (because it really is made up). Where are the creative non fiction markets anyway...?

Anyone else suffering a similar fate?

BTW it's a very funny story called Fat Matters and follows a reluctant dieter on her weight loss journey.

I'd really appreciate some help with this as I'm totally stumped.

Cheers,

ozgal (Julie, Melbourne, Australia)

batyler65 · Aug 19, 2005

Have you submitted it anywhere yet?

Sometimes the best approach is to choose markets that publish material similar in tone and style. If it has a literary style, try literary magazines. If it is something more mainstream, try women's mags.

Creative nonfic is simple nonfictions stories told using techniques from fiction writing. They tend to read more like stories than news reports.

Best of luck,
Barb

ozgal · Aug 19, 2005

batyler65 said:
Have you submitted it anywhere yet?

Sometimes the best approach is to choose markets that publish material similar in tone and style. If it has a literary style, try literary magazines. If it is something more mainstream, try women's mags.

Creative nonfic is simple nonfictions stories told using techniques from fiction writing. They tend to read more like stories than news reports.

Best of luck,
Barb

Hi Barb,

No, I have not submitted it yet. I agree with you on choosing markets with similar style, etc. Problem is I have not come across any that publish this kind of thing. I would definitely be targetting the women's mags. The only one I think might be a match is the US Women's World Mag in the supermarket. Luckily for me someone in the USA has offered to send me some copies as it's not available in Australia.

As far as Australia goes there are really only a handful of average reader women's mags: namely, Woman's Day, Women's Weekly, New Idea and That's Life. None of them publish the kind of piece I've written (and which i'd like to keep as is, if possible).

I will keep trawling the net looking for possible markets.

Thanks for your help.

ozgal (Julie, Melbourne, Australia)

batyler65 · Aug 20, 2005

Julie,

Is it possible that the magazines have never published anything like this because they've never received anything like it? i write a humor column for my local women's regional mag. I never subbed humor to them because they never printed any. Then out of the blue, they had a goofy little piece run one month and I decided to send them some reprints. The editor offered me a column the next week. It turns out, they liked humor, but nobody was subbing anything like what I wrote.

If it were me, I'd pick the best match for the work and submit it anyway. The worst that can happen is they will say no. And, even if they do, you won't be any worse off than you are right now, eh? (Oh, and you might even be better off. I've had cases where I've sent something that "wasn't quite right" and had editors suggest places for me to try.)

determined2finish · Sep 6, 2005

ozgal: I am in the same situation as you - trying to find the right market for women's humor. One great place you might check out is happywomanmagazine.com. They are an online mag spoofing women's mags and it is quite funny. They are very receptive to a variety of humor styles and are big on essays. They have published several of my pieces that I don't think would have found homes elsewhere. Good Luck and keep us posted on you success!

determined2finish · Sep 6, 2005

batyler65 said:
Julie,

Is it possible that the magazines have never published anything like this because they've never received anything like it? i write a humor column for my local women's regional mag. I never subbed humor to them because they never printed any. Then out of the blue, they had a goofy little piece run one month and I decided to send them some reprints. The editor offered me a column the next week. It turns out, they liked humor, but nobody was subbing anything like what I wrote.

Barb: This is so true! It seems that most "womens humor" is bland, but maybe that's all they get submitted to them. It is encouraging that you took a chance and ended up with a column! Since your column started running has the magazine changed the style of humor they publish? I personally find that trying to submit humor following a formula set by some women's publications inhibits the creative process.

batyler65 · Sep 6, 2005

I suppose you could say they changed their style... to mine. LOL
Since mine is just about the only humor they ever run, I kind of have a controlling influence there.

flashy95 · Jan 14, 2006

Hi Ozgal,
Your dilemma sounds remarkably similar to mine. Not so much the part about submitting to women's humor markets, but just the fiction vs. nonfiction crisis. Mine is not a short story, but I have written a manuscript based on my experiences as a new teacher. Names have been changed, the order of events has been changed, and much has been embellished, with a few details made up. I'm realizing that these factors make my work fictional and not even creatively non-fiction. However, I'm having trouble deciding how to best write a query or synopsis since it doesn't fit into any traditional molds.
Good luck to you, and let me know if you find anything out! I'll try to do the same.

John

Birol · Jan 14, 2006

I think that's the problem, if you will forgive the use of the word, with many types of humor. Like most writing, the best humor touches an inner truth with the reader, but many writers, whether writing satire or slice-of-life or what have you, draw from their own real life experiences and embellished anecdotes when writing humor. So, do the little pieces of parenting humor found in the back of parenting magazines qualify as fiction or non-fiction? Are they fact or make-believe? Or is humor some weird hybrid between the two that will never fit neatly into either category and therefore can only be identified as the type of humor that it is?

Humorous fiction that reads like autobiographical

ozgal

batyler65

Plot Monkey

ozgal

batyler65

Plot Monkey

determined2finish

something from nothing

determined2finish

something from nothing

batyler65

Plot Monkey

flashy95

Birol

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