How and Where to Publish Your Short Stories

How and Where to Publish Your Short Stories How and Where to Publish Your Short Stories How and Where to Publish Your Short Stories By Ali Hale One reader asks: â€Å"What advice would you give to someone who has bags of passion and loves life and just happens to have lots of stories and would like to know how to publish or where to publish?† I’m really glad this reader writes from the heart. A short story which is meaningful to you, which celebrates life and which is written with real spirit is much more likely to meet with success than a technically good story without meaning for the author. If you’ve got a stack of short pieces that you’ve written for your own enjoyment and that of friends, consider sharing them with a wider audience. There are dozens of ways to do this, from entering writing competitions to submitting work to magazines to self-publishing, and I’ll discuss a few below. Questions to ask before trying to publishing your story Is your work a complete piece? Even when you’re writing from real life experience (as the reader who asked the question above was), your story needs to be well-shaped, with a beginning, middle and end. There also needs to be some conflict – whether between two characters, or just in a character’s own mind – at the start of the story which is then resolved by the time the story concludes. Without this, your work will read as an anecdote – interesting, perhaps, but not suitable for publication as a story. What genre does the story fit into? Whether you’re aiming for publication in a magazine or journal, or whether you’re planning to self-publish your work, you need to have a clear idea what genre the story is. If you’ve written a science fiction piece, you’ll have little luck submitting it to a magazine of Westerns. And your sweet story about your cat is unlikely to please the readers of â€Å"Tales of the Undead†, however well-written it is. Where to Publish Your Work Either you need to find someone else – probably a magazine editor – who likes your story and wants to publish it, or you need to self-publish. You will probably reach a wider audience with the former method, and you may receive some welcome remuneration, but the latter option gives you total control over when and where your work appears. Publications which accept short stories There are hundreds of magazines, e-zines and websites where short stories are published, and some pay professional rates. One good place to start is the magazine shelves of your local newsagents. Are there any publications devoted to fiction? For example, the UK has many magazines aimed at women such as â€Å"Take a Break†, â€Å"Woman’s Weekly† and â€Å"My Weekly† which publish a couple of short stories each week – and bring out a monthly collection of twenty or so stories. If your writing fits into this genre – commercial in style, with a sympathetic main character (usually a woman) and a positive ending – then they are definitely worth considering. Ive found the blog Womens stories: read, write, enjoy! invaluable for advice on this genre. If you write science fiction, fantasy, horror or literary fiction, you’re unlikely to find magazines devoted to these on the shelves. Try searching online for small magazines which people subscribe to by mail-order: you may be able to order a back issue cheaply or free. Or look for e-zines which you can submit work to online. Self-publishing your stories You can publish your work for free on a website. One easy way is to set up a blog (try www.blogger.com) and post a new short story every week. There are lots of easy ways to create a full website too – try Google Page Creator (Link no longer active). You don’t need to be very â€Å"technical† and you certainly don’t need to be able to programme or understand terms like â€Å"HTML† and â€Å"FTP†. If you are fairly web-savvy, though, you might choose to pay for a domain name and professional web hosting. I’d recommend this if you’re serious about your writing as it means you can use your site as a professional-looking showcase for your work. The other option is to publish printed versions of your stories, to circulate around friends and family – and perhaps more widely. Traditional self-publishing in this way involved paying thousands of pounds for several hundred or thousand copies of your book: new â€Å"print-on-demand† technology, though, means that it’s cost-effective to print just a few copies of your book. A volume of your best short stories could make a lovely present – far more interesting and memorable than a box of chocolates. I recommend Lulu, which I used to print a single copy of my first novel manuscript. It cost me  £7 (about $14) for the whole book, including the postage: I’d have spent just as much on paper and ink if I’d printed it at home, and the result was a high-quality glossy-covered paperback. Lulu’s site is simple to use, and takes you step-by-step through the process of uploading your work and choosing the format of your book. Need to know more? I’ve only touched on some of the issues about publishing short stories, so if there’s something you’d like to know more about, or anything I’ve not covered, please leave a comment here – or use the feedback form on the Contact page – and I will happily address it in a future article. And look out for upcoming articles covering revising your writing, formatting your manuscript correctly, markets for your work, entering short story competitions and more†¦ Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Punctuate References to Dates and TimesAmong vs. AmongstWriting Styles (with Examples)

The Top Careers for Women in 2017

The Top Careers for Women in 2017 New year, new you. Or, if you’re anything like me, it’s more like new year, slightly-different-ish you, despite the best intentions. Either way, you get props for aspiring to change this year. One of the best ways to effect personal change is to look at your career- where it is, what your current trajectory is, and where you want to be by this time next year. If you’re doing this self-audit, we’ve got your covered on your next steps! Check out all TheJobNetwork has to offer for you to either find a career path, or continue successfully along the one you’re currently traveling.Build Your RoadmapOnce you’ve decided that you need a new job (or an entirely different career path), it’s important to know where you’re going and how to get there. Otherwise, inertia and do-it-later-itis kick in, and your progress goals just don’t get met. If you’re at a loss on how and where to get started, check out the following links to help you find your way. You’ll need a plan- don’t get started without one.5 Steps to Create Your Own Career PathHow to Create a 2017 Jobs RoadmapHow Do I Find the Right Job for Me? (A Comprehensive Guide)Think Outside the BoxWe’ve made a lot of strides, career-wise, to the point where people are not as likely to classify work as â€Å"women’s jobs† or â€Å"men’s jobs.† Still, there are plenty of areas where women haven’t started working in big numbers, even when they have the skills and experience to do the job. Nontraditional jobs are a huge source of potential for women this year, if you just look for opportunities you might not have considered before. One major example of this: trucking. Commercial driver’s licenses have no gender, yet it’s still a male dominated field, rife with opportunities for women who want to take their driving and logistical skills to the open road.How Women in the Workplace are Finding Success in Nontraditional JobsAdvice for Women Who Want to Become TruckersWomen in Trucking: By Women, For WomenWomen Needed: Consider a Career in TruckingIn 2017, there’s less reason than ever to assume that you shouldn’t even be considering a job because it seems too much like a â€Å"man’s† job or a â€Å"women’s† job. Find a field that’s growing and hiring, and go for it!It’s a Digital World, We Just Live In ItRight now, tech is the hot spot when it comes to jobs, followed closely by data analysis. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts huge growth for tech jobs over the next ten years, so it’s time to take those technical skills (or go out and learn how to code), and look to the tech sector for your next big opportunity.Top 5 Hottest Jobs with the Most Potential in 2017Top 7 Trends That Will Help You Find a Job Next YearIf your background isn’t in app development or IT, don’t worry- you can stil l get into hot tech companies through jobs like marketing management, social media management, or operations. Whatever your background and skill set, it’s time to see how you can take them and apply them to the digital-focused fields that are hiring this year.Expert Interview: How to Search for Jobs in Digital Marketing  Watch U.S. Job TrendsIt’s not just the career world that’s changing this year- there are big changes in the overall U.S. landscape as well this year. Two of the most prominent careers that will be changing this year are healthcare and manufacturing, so it’s important to stay on top of those trends.3 Hot Industries to Watch in Trump’s AmericaWhether you agree with the changes or not, you can focus how you can benefit from hiring booms and shifts in conventional wisdom. Always know what’s going on in either your industry, or an industry you’re looking to break into.  Find the Right Work-Life BalanceIf you want your career to balance better with other obligations this year, like family, think about looking for part-time or flexible work so that you can tailor your schedule to your own needs. More and more, flex work is finding a place in many people’s lives, and companies know they have to tinker their offerings to find and keep the top  people. Gone are the days where the best and brightest must put in 60-hour weeks to show their worth. You can find and build a career while maintaining a non-work life, as well.Top 4 Part-Time Jobs for Moms10 Jobs Where You Can Telecommute and Make a Great SalaryTop 12 High Paying Part-Time Jobs With Good Work-Life Balance10 Companies with Amazing Benefits for Part-Time EmployeesAs companies look for ways to save overhead costs, working remotely could be one of the prime areas of opportunity in 2017.  You Don’t Always Need a DegreeIf you don’t have a degree from a four-year college, you still have tons of jobs available to you. Never co unt yourself out- more an more, companies are valuing actual skills and work experience. The actual degree is not the first thing they look for anymore when making hiring decisions. If you present yourself as savvy, with great people skills and a willingness to learn (either on the job, or in continuing ed classes), you can absolutely be a competitive candidate for many jobs.Top 5 Jobs in 2017 That Don’t Require a College DegreeDo Good, Earn WellFinally, if you’re interested in a career where you can benefit others, there are growing opportunities to do that in the nonprofit sector.10 High-Paying Jobs Where You Can Help PeopleNo matter what you’re interested in doing, 2017 has amazing potential. If you keep your eyes open to opportunities around you, by this time next year, you could be reflecting on how much your professional landscape has changed in such a short time. Good luck!