Trying Something Else Different, Too

June 22, 2011 by meredithmansfield

To tie this in with my last post, I’ve noticed something similar about my few short stories, too. I don’t write very many short stories–just not the length that seems to work best for me. The few that I have written and decided I liked, I’ve sent out to various publications, but with no luck so far.

But, just like the novels, I’ve discovered that when I look at a short story six months or a year later, I can see things to make it better, often with help from some very good critiques. So far, this process has also resulted in making them longer–running up into the novelette range (roughly 7500 to 15000 words). The problem with that is that there are a lot fewer markets for novelette-length short fiction. And these stories had already been to most of those places (at least the ones I’d be willing to sell them to).

Unlike novels, it’s really hard to give short stories a second chance. With novels, you can change the title and write a new query letter. After a year or so of reading literally hundreds of queries a week, there’s a very good chance an agent won’t even notice. But you submit the whole short story to a market. Many of the publications specifically say that they don’t want to see rewrites of stories they’ve already rejected unless they request them. So, what to do?

Well, one option is to e-publish them. And that’s still on the table. But there’s no rush.

Another possibility is to think outside the box. What other publications might be interested? Well, while they are fantasies, most of my stories seem to have a strong romantic undercurrent. So, why not give that a try?

Posted in writing | Tagged fantasy, Middle Grade, revisions, Young Adult | 9 Comments

9 Responses

on June 22, 2011 at 6:24 pm | Reply Deana Barnhart

I think you should give that route a try. Why not right? At least you are staying active and continuing to move on it:) Good luck!

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on June 22, 2011 at 7:15 pm | Reply meredithmansfield

I’ve already sent them one story. We’ll see.

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on June 24, 2011 at 12:55 pm | Reply Wordcaster

There are publishers who accept short story collections — even some smaller houses that accept unsolicited manuscripts. Why not save them for a packaged collection if no one bites?

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on June 24, 2011 at 2:37 pm | Reply meredithmansfield

If I still have no luck, I probably will bundle them up–and e-pub them. But we’ll see.

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on June 26, 2011 at 9:54 pm | Reply Louis

I’ve noticed that there seems to be a lot of Romance Fantasy around. And some of the latest Urban Fantasy is at least half Romance, so your idea of widening your markets has merit. But so does E-publishing these days. The romance, even Fantasy-Romance has a strong following and they probably buy e-books. But you can always wait for new markets… they seem to pop up every so often.

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on June 27, 2011 at 3:40 am | Reply meredithmansfield

Well, I think I’m going to try a market or two “on the other side of the street” before I go to e-publishing.

My main thing with e-pubbing (besides having to design the cover) is that I’m not sure how good I’ll be at marketing on my own.

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on June 27, 2011 at 9:03 pm | Reply Louis

There are people who can help with the marketing or books and such you can read on the subject already. Boy, that was fast. And just being on some of the sites like smashwords, B&N and Amazon can help. Plus your blog and friends. 🙂

But it’s up to you, no big deal going either way… yet. 🙂

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on June 28, 2011 at 8:08 am | Reply Louis

Not sure if you are that interested but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to give you this link. It’s a Newsletter that lists some classes on e-pubbing including marketing.

http://tinyurl.com/3qmq2rn

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on June 28, 2011 at 9:04 am | Reply meredithmansfield

Thanks. I’ll take a look at that.

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