To date I've only submitted a relatively small number of short stories to magazines but my hit rate is not particularly good. However, rather than get reject letters (although I've had those as well), the pieces seem to just disappear. In part, this is because the magazine seems to go into suspended animation. In one case the editor quit a few days after submission and it took a while for a new one to be appointed. In another the site continued to post stories, but my submission just seemed to vanish into thin air with enquiry emails ignored. In the latest case, the site seems to have become frozen in time, with no new stories posted for a couple of months. I've no idea if there are agents for short stories - folk who will help you select the right outlet and shepherd it through the process - but I feel like I could do with one. If I had a choice, Patti Abbott or Paul Brazill would be top of the list - they know how to write good stories, have great records of getting them published, and genuinely care about other authors and the changing publishing world. That's not an out and out cry for help, but I'm happy for it to be taken as such!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Agents for short stories?
To date I've only submitted a relatively small number of short stories to magazines but my hit rate is not particularly good. However, rather than get reject letters (although I've had those as well), the pieces seem to just disappear. In part, this is because the magazine seems to go into suspended animation. In one case the editor quit a few days after submission and it took a while for a new one to be appointed. In another the site continued to post stories, but my submission just seemed to vanish into thin air with enquiry emails ignored. In the latest case, the site seems to have become frozen in time, with no new stories posted for a couple of months. I've no idea if there are agents for short stories - folk who will help you select the right outlet and shepherd it through the process - but I feel like I could do with one. If I had a choice, Patti Abbott or Paul Brazill would be top of the list - they know how to write good stories, have great records of getting them published, and genuinely care about other authors and the changing publishing world. That's not an out and out cry for help, but I'm happy for it to be taken as such!
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4 comments:
I can put you in touch with a publisher who takes short stories if you like. Contact me on if you want a fuller picture:
dazzasaint@gmail.com
I write them myself so I know your frustrations.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rob. Though I doubt I could organise a booze up in a brewery!
You write wonderful stories from what I've seen, Rob. And believe me I do get turned down regularly by paying markets. EQMM has turned down three stories and AHMM one.
My gripe is not being turned down, but stuff disappearing into blackholes. I know stuff takes a while to be reviewed and considered, but it's the lack of response some times that irks. That said, I'm sure some people would level the same frustration at the journals I edit! With the academic stuff I know the landscape, and indeed know most of the editors personally, whereas the short story scene is still a bit of blank landscape for me at the minute.
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