Getting published

[Anonymous No.19674412]

Lads

Question for you chiefs. Have been writing for ages and have loads of short stories, but literally no sense of how to get them published (or at least where to submit them for publishing). Does anyone really published short stories anymore? I had a look at some local competitions but their byline basically said don't bother sending us shit if you're a white male which I found really disheartening. Any success stories u boys could share? Hell I'd even self publish for free just to get them out there, but it seems most sites look for you to charge cash so fuck that

[Anonymous No.19674418]

>>19674412
>u
Makes me doubt you've ever written anything actually worth publishing.

[Anonymous No.19674971]

>>19674412
>their byline basically said don't bother sending us shit if you're a white male
Explain. Not an insult or anything, but I'm curious what they actually specified/required.

[Anonymous No.19674991]

>>19674412
>loads of short stories
And you’re entering “local competitions” not submitting to magazines and/or journals? Or if you think you’re the real McCoy get a literary agent with a track record publishing work similar to your own.

[Anonymous No.19675331]

>>19674412
>Does anyone really published short stories anymore?

Yes, lost of magazines publish them. Not saying they're any good, because if you read about 10 magazines or so, and find one good story in there, then that's a pretty good success rate these days. Most of what gets published is literally unreadable trash. Paradoxically, magazines still wonder why nobody reads their magazine anymore, and they're constantly switching styles and going under because of this.

>I had a look at some local competitions

contests are crap, don't bother submitting to them. I've been published a lot but never had any luck with contests at all, the best I ever did was like 3rd place in an essay contest. Once, in fact, i got an email saying something like, "We really enjoyed your submission, the judges said you had the most original story, your writing was really admirable, and you clearly put a lot of work into this with all the attention to detail. Oh, also, we're declining to publish the story entirely, and we're not even going to give you an honorable mention or runner up or anything. Thank you!'

Like....how the hell am I supposed to take that? In any case, I don't even bother with contests anymore, waste of time.

>Any success stories u boys could share?

Well....I get short stories and stuff published usually like two or three times a year, I haven't lately now because I've been doing nothing but writing another novel. As much as I've been published, i haven't really made any money doing it, and as far as I can tell I don't think a single person has ever read anything I wrote. So I've come to conclusion that getting stories published is really only worth the publishing creds it gets you, and I've been focusing on a novel, maybe that'll get me somewhere.

>but it seems most sites look for you to charge cash so fuck that

Yeah, stay away from any place that charges for submission. I mean, unless you really like the magazine, and you think your stuff would be a great fit there. I haven't had any luck with these places either, they're usually VERY snobby, and won't even give you a personal rejection even though you paid the dicks for the submission. A lot of them are kind of laughable too, they want $10 per submission, you look them up on twitter and see they got 40 followers. Believe it or not, there are actual good magazine that don't charge anything still, or at least only charge a token fee like $1 just to keep the spammers away.

[Anonymous No.19675471]

>>19675331
Do response times mean anything in your experience? I've been trying to get my last short story published for a while now and while most places say they'll respond in three months it usually takes six to nine months for me to get rejected. And the rejections are usually something along the lines of "good story but just not for us" which is fucking baffling because it's literary fiction like I always write and I'm submitting to lit mags like I always do.

I've been published a few times before and it's never been this much of a dickslap in the face.

[Anonymous No.19675526]

>>19674418
(U)

[Anonymous No.19675535]

>>19675471
>Do response times mean anything in your experience?

Not really. It basically just means they'll get around to it when they get around to it. Don't ever wait for an acceptance either, just keep submitting it elsewhere, if they take too long then fuck 'em, maybe somebody else will pick it up.

[Anonymous No.19675543]

>>19674971
At the very start it specifies that they're looking for lgtbq+ stories or stories of people with cover. Then it said stories containing elements of the "white male gaze" will be discarded. Also said something like 'sure, it's your character looking at her ass. Not you. Come on. Do better." >>19675331
Thanks, noted, well done on getting published. I was thinking the same ie just get publications to build your cred

[Anonymous No.19675617]

>>19674412
Have you tried the Saturday evening post? They’re still going strong after 200 years.

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/mission/submission-guidelines/

[Anonymous No.19675941]

>>19674412
Offering my experience for what it's worth anon
I got pic related published about 2 years ago, it was shortlisted for an award but didn't win. New book coming out soon.
Based on my experience i'd say don't bother with the major publishers. They're pozzed and the gatekeeping is impossible to get through.
Find yourself a small indie publisher. There are plenty out there you just have to find the right one.
Entering competitions and submitting to literary journals is worthwhile but think of it as only a step towards the real goal of publishing.

[Anonymous No.19675994]

>>19675941
Thank you, very interesting. and congrats on getting published.