Writing & Selling Short Stories & Personal Essays

by Windy Lynn Harris

  The term “simultaneous submissions” refers to when you send the exact same story or essay to multiple magazines at the same time. It’s one of the most important things to decipher in the writers’ guidelines. Most journals expect that you’ll send your work to many editors at a time, but some magazines request an exclusive read of your work. Editors who request an exclusive are generally quick to reply to queries, out of respect to the writer, but some are big-name magazines with large backlogs of submissions (The Sun, for instance). When this is the case, the editors can’t get back to you with an answer for several months.

  A journal who wants an exclusive read of your work will say so by telling you “no simultaneous submissions” somewhere in the guidelines or “no sim subs” (for short). Magazines that accept simultaneous submissions will say so in the guidelines with a disclaimer that usually reads: “Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know if your story is picked up by another journal.”

  That last part is important, “… please let us know if your story is picked up by another journal.” Your responsibility as a writer sending out simultaneous submissions is to keep potential editors informed about the status of your work. When your work is accepted, let the other journals know that your work is no longer available. This is common courtesy. It is customary to send this notice within twenty-four hours of accepting a contract.

  Submission Fees

  Some literary and genre magazines will charge you a reading fee when you submit your writing. This happens at magazines that pay and also at magazines that don’t. This practice is relatively new to our industry. It looks like it might be here to stay, so you need to be aware of the trend. To make the best submission choices, decide how you feel about this financial investment, and submit work according to your opinion.

  Some important things to note:

  This fee is nonrefundable, even if you withdraw your submission.

  The fee is charged to your credit card at the time of submission.

  Most magazines that charge a reading fee have a short window each year where you can submit your work for free.

  This fee does not make any magazine rich (or even profitable).

  Magazines that charge reading fees say they do so because it helps offset their production costs or it helps reduce their submissions to a manageable number. Reading fees for short stories and essays run from $1–5 per submission, but some are as high as $22 or more.

  Usually writers are able to submit up to three pieces of flash fiction as one submission, making the fee cover a bit more ground when writing very short pieces. Even so, submission fees can add up quickly for a freelance writer. At $3 per submission, you could spend $30 or more on reading fees before ever getting an acceptance letter. And then, if all you receive as payment is exposure, you’re in the red, financially. And that’s just for one story. Imagine writing a terrific new story every month.

  Luckily you have plenty of choices when it comes to submitting short writing. Many magazines don’t charge reading fees, and most of those that do offer you a large enough dose of exposure to make it worth your while. It’s up to you to decide when the cost of submitting is worth the reward and how many times you can afford to submit to magazines that charge you.

  Back when I first started submitting essays and stories, submissions were accomplished by regular mail. I had to buy books and books of stamps and stacks of envelopes in legal and letter sizes. A financial investment was part of the deal, so I’m not opposed to spending some money on submissions. It feels familiar, but I am opposed to magazines that make a profit from writers by submission fees. This is a rare thing since most literary magazines don’t make a profit at all, but I’m careful about submitting for a fee. I investigate each submission thoroughly and only submit to those magazines I feel comfortable with as partners. Not everybody makes the cut. If the fee is more than a few dollars, I usually submit elsewhere.

  To keep from going broke, I allow myself a yearly submission budget. I have to deduct from that budget every time I send work to a magazine that charges reading fees, and the practice makes me very selective. It might work for you as well. There is some good news: No matter how many fee-charging magazines you send your work to in a year, all submission fees can be written off your taxes—along with your postage costs.

  FIND THE RIGHT MATCH

  To match your work to a magazine, start by familiarizing yourself with their needs. Do they accept short stories and essays or just essays? Does your word count fit their magazine? If a magazine accepts short stories between 1,000 and 7,000 words and you’ve written a 3,000-word short story, you have the potential for a match.

  Next, check their submission window. Are they currently open to submissions? And how about the pay? Does the remuneration match your current writing goals?

  And what about your categories? Are the editors looking for humorous essays? Travel stories? Mysteries? Narrative poems? Sometimes editors will list very specific items they are looking for, and sometimes a magazine will just advise you to send your best work.

  If the magazine you’ve selected does have more information to share, read it thoroughly. If the magazine doesn’t accept erotica or violence, don’t send them erotic or violent stories. If the editors say they’re looking for pieces with a positive message, respect that, too. When editors tell you what they want, listen. Only submit stories and essays that meet their editorial tastes.

  Lastly, compare your tone and voice to those in the works within the magazine. Sometimes you’ll be able to read a story or two online; other times you’ll need to get your hands on a physical copy of the magazine.

  Some magazines offer a “sample copy” to potential contributors at a discounted price. If that’s the case, you’ll read about it in the writers’ guidelines. It can be expensive to spend $11 to $14 per magazine, so take any discount you can find. Buy a few, and then trade magazines with your writer friends.

  My favorite frugal way to read literary magazines is to visit your local MFA program, even if you aren’t a student. Find one where they run a literary magazine in-house. These programs have yearly subscriptions to several other literary magazines, and, if you ask nicely, they’ll usually let you read some.

  SENDING TO CONTESTS AND MAGAZINES AT THE SAME TIME

  Sometimes you see a writing contest and know that you’ve written a piece that’s perfect for it, but you’ve already sent that piece out to a magazine or two. However, you still might be able to play in both places at the same time. Do some research. Check the writers’ guidelines where you’ve already submitted your work. If they accept simultaneous submissions, you’re fine.

  Next, read the contest details carefully. If they also accept simultaneous submissions, then you can send them your story. Also, if there isn’t publication offered as part of the contest prize, you can send them your story since you won’t be granting any rights to your work. If the contest doesn’t mention anything about simultaneous submissions (many don’t), then you’ll need to send the contest editor a quick note and ask them about their current policy.

  YOUR TURN: FIND POTENTIAL MARKETS FOR YOUR WORK

  Now you’re ready to decide exactly where to send your finished short stories and essays. You know how to find potential magazines, so let’s start there. Let’s say you decide to go online to The Review Review first. You get to the website’s main page and find the “magazines” tab at the top. You click on that and land at the submission database.

  From here, all you need to do is click on the magazine names to be taken directly to their writers’ guidelines. Or, if you’d like to filter things according to your specific publishing needs, fill out the section on the right side of the screen. You’ll get to decide if you want to see magazines that publish online or in print, what kind of payment you’re interested in, and whether or not you’re willing to pay a reading fee. Have your list of categories nearby. Refer back to it every time you read the writers’ guidelines. When you find a mat
ch, write it down, and look for another.

  “One of the best ways to find the right magazines for your writing is to get to know the contributors lists in various journals. For instance, if you know that you enjoy reading a particular magazine and feel that magazine suits your own aesthetic, read the bios of the writers published there. Which other magazines have those writers published in? Track down those other journals, and familiarize yourself with those. Be open-minded, and remain curious. Eventually, you will begin to create a kind of mental map of the literary landscape. If you know about fifteen to twenty magazines … that publish work you like and where you think your work would be a good fit, then you are well ahead of the game.”

  —BECKY TUCH

  As you study potential magazines and newspapers, you can create a personalized resource file or spreadsheet—something that will make your job easier next time you’re looking through magazines. On a separate sheet of paper, list any markets that look interesting to you, even if you don’t have something to send them yet. Next time you have a polished piece in your hands, you can refer to your markets list instead of working from scratch. You might want to transfer your list to a computer file for safe keeping or organize your markets in a binder with tabs (I use a binder with tabs so that I can rip pages out of writing magazines and tuck them inside). Whatever method you choose, make sure your resource file is easy to access and update.

  Joan, Samantha, and Hershel checked the magazines listed in this book for inspiration before going online. Joan has decided she’ll send a story each to The Sun and Ellipsis since they are well-known literary journals. Samantha chose Hunger Mountain and New Letters for her travel and humor essays. Hershel liked the guidelines from Hunger Mountain, too, so he’ll send a story there and submit another story to Apex. Check that list of magazines, and see if any fit the aesthetic of your polished work.

  Keep hunting down markets that perfectly match your writing until you have five solid leads. When you’re done, set things aside and get ready to craft a letter to the editors.

  16

  COVER LETTERS

  A cover letter (sometimes called a query) is an introduction to the writing project you’d like to submit. The introduction for short stories and essays is brief, just a few sentences in a one-page business letter.

  There are four main parts to a cover letter. They can be broken down like this:

  “Hello”

  “Here’s What I’m Sending”

  “Here’s Who I Am”

  “Thank You”

  You want to begin your cover letter with a personalized greeting. Find the name of the appropriate editor, and fill that in at the top. The key to writing an effective cover letter is professionalism. Be formal here.

  Example: Dear Ms. Johnson,

  Next, introduce your work in the first paragraph. Include the title and word count. Editors don’t need to know the content of your essay or story, but you can add a line about it if you’d like. It’s more important to tell the editor why you’re submitting to their specific magazine. Maybe you liked a certain piece from last month’s issue, or maybe you have a friend who has already been published there. Use sincerity only; if you don’t have any reason for selecting this magazine beyond feeling like your work is a match, that’s fine. You can mention that, too.

  Your writing credentials belong in the middle paragraph. Before you have publishing credits to talk about, use this paragraph to mention any writing groups you’re part of, an MFA, or writing classes. You could also tell the editor your reason for writing the piece. For example, This story was inspired by the summer I worked as a hot dog vendor in New York. After you have been published, list your publishing credits instead. As your success mounts, pick the best three credits to list.

  The last paragraph is where you should thank the editor for her time and let her know you are looking forward to hearing from her. This is also the place where you might refer to any specific directions you read in the writers’ guidelines. For instance, if the editor has asked that you attach a copy of the manuscript rather than put it in the body of the e-mail, you can acknowledge that you’ve followed that direction with a quick sentence like, I have attached the completed essay for your review.

  The don’ts:

  Never mention who has previously rejected the piece.

  Do not request advice or comments.

  Do not talk about how thrilling it would be to be published.

  Do not discuss payment.

  This is a business letter, not a fan letter. You just want to politely introduce yourself and your project. Make it short and sweet. Leave an editor nodding her head, ready to read your submission.

  Once you create a custom cover letter for a specific piece of your creative writing, you can send that same letter to as many editors as it takes to find your work a good home—just remember to change the editor’s name and the magazine information before you send it out the door.

  WHICH EDITOR SHOULD I CONTACT?

  Magazine editors have many titles in this business, including managing editor, senior editor, manuscript editor, assistant editor—the list goes on and on. Typically there’s one main editor in charge, the editor-in-chief, who coordinates a group of other editors (ex: the fiction editor, the poetry editor, the nonfiction editor). You want to send your cover letters to the most appropriate editor for your piece of writing, but with all of those job titles available, sometimes it’s difficult to figure that out.

  You’ll find the list of editors in a magazine’s masthead. If you’re at a magazine’s website, you might find the masthead in its own tab or you might look for a section titled “About Us.” Short stories should be directed to the fiction editor—when there is a fiction editor—and essays should be directed to the nonfiction editor, but some magazines don’t have those two titles listed. When that’s the case, send your query letter to the editor-in-chief or managing editor of that magazine. Both of these titles describe the main editor. This editor will know who is available to read your submission and will direct your submission to the right person. If you don’t see editor-in-chief or managing editor listed, look to the top of the masthead and send your query to that editor. If you can’t find the main editor’s name at all (it happens a lot), begin your letter with “Dear Editors.”

  ONE MORE THING TO WRITE: THE THIRD-PERSON BIO

  A third-person biography is different from the middle paragraph of your cover letter. This bio is the few lines of information about you that will be published with your work in the magazine. It is written, as indicated, in third person (with he/she/they pronouns).

  Often this bio is printed at the bottom of your story or essay next to your name, but sometimes contributors are listed in the back of a journal. Many magazines ask you to send them a third-person bio along with your submission package so they don’t have to follow up later. Typically this bio is 50 words or less, but some magazines allow up to 100 words.

  To write your own third-person bio, think about what you’d like readers to know. You can express anything you’d like in this bio; there are no set rules. Some writers like to list a few places they’ve been published; some list their relevant writing credentials, and others prefer to express their personalities. All of these ideas are appropriate.

  I like to tailor mine toward the audience of the magazine. If it’s a quirky mag, I might use humor in my bio. For literary magazines, I tend to list publications and maybe add some awards I’ve received. In regional magazines, I like to mention where I live or what hobbies I enjoy.

  Add your website if you have one, and add the titles of books that you’ve published. Let people find you! Below are some of my own third-person bios:

  Windy Lynn Harris (www.windylynnharris.com) has written short stories and personal essays that have appeared in The Literary Review, Pithead Chapel, and Literary Mama, among many other journals. She has been the recipient of fellowships at The Maribar Writers Colony and Dorland Mountain Arts Colony. She is working
on her first novel.

  Windy Lynn Harris is from Phoenix, AZ. She writes under the watchful eye of Paragraph, her faithful dog. When she’s not at her desk, you’ll find Windy near the bar at Changing Hands Bookstore (especially on pie day) or meandering up one of the local mountains in search of petroglyphs. You can find out more about Windy and her writing at www.windylynnharris.com.

  Windy Lynn Harris (www.windylynnharris.com) is the author of Writing & Selling Short Stories & Personal Essays: The Essential Guide to Getting Your Work Published. She is also the founder of Market Coaching for Creative Writers, a mentorship program that teaches writers how to get their short stories, essays, and poems published in magazines. She is a frequent speaker at literary events.

  FORMATTING THE COVER LETTER

  Some of your cover letters will be sent digitally to editors, while others will be sent by post (snail mail, as we call it). In either situation, you’ll need to format your cover letter to these industry standards:

  Use twelve-point font and Times New Roman or Courier (no fancy script).

  Use block-paragraph format (single-space paragraphs with an extra space between paragraphs—no indents).

  Use 1 to 1-1⁄2" margins all around.

  Address your letter to the proper editor, and spell the name correctly (double-check—is it Mr. Smith or Ms. Smith?) E-mailed submissions do not need this letterhead.

  When you send your cover letter by snail mail, you need to do a few additional things:

  At the top-left corner, add your name, address, e-mail address, website (if you have one), and phone number. These items are single-spaced.