The process of shopping your work around for publication is time-consuming.
It takes you away from writing the next piece.
And the problem only gets worse when you “spray and pray”.
This method is when authors finish a story and start submitting it down their list of publications, usually beginning with the most prestigious or highest-paying markets.
It makes sense in theory…
In reality, those markets are all looking for different styles of work. Most publications have a narrow focus, and if your piece falls outside of it there’s virtually no chance of getting selected.
The New Yorker is just not looking for gory monster horror, and submitting that type of work means it will be tied up for 90 days before receiving a guaranteed rejection.
That may be obvious, but the practice holds true for genre magazines and the sub-genres within each category.
For example, many authors who write SF/F/H submit to Clarkesworld Magazine as their first stop. They pay well and have an impressive 3-day turnaround, so it only makes sense.
But here’s a graph of their acceptance by genre in 2021.
The outer ring represents all the submissions they receive. The middle ring is the second round, and the inner ring is what they published.
Despite being classified as a “Science Fiction and Fantasy” magazine, we can see they publish about 80% SF (the blue on the inner ring).
That number grows to 90% when we add the SF+F genre (green).
Despite pure fantasy accounting for about one-third of their submissions, those stories make up less than 5% of published work.
A fantasy author may be tempted to submit here because of the professional pay and fast turnaround, but the actual chances of publication are very low.
No big deal, because you’ll receive your rejection within 3 days.
But what about when you move to the next option on your list?
Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine takes 8 weeks to respond. If they had similar statistics, your work would be tied up for significantly longer, with the same low chance for acceptance.
(just an example—I have no idea what their stats are actually like)
The time you take to research the guidelines, format the manuscript to their standards, fill out forms, and all the other administrative tasks involved with submitting, is essentially wasted because you aren’t submitting what they want.
Repeat for 50 publications, for every story you write, and you’re just throwing days of your life down the drain while racking up a pile of rejections that make you question whether you should even bother.
Talk about disappointment and burnout!
I’m not suggesting you don’t submit to these places, only that we should use a strategy maximizing our chances for publication, and minimizing the time we spend on non-writing tasks.
The Streamlined Strategy
We’ve established that working through a mega list of markets sorted by pay rate and prestige isn’t the ideal way to find a home for your story. So what is?
The answer is to niche down.
To be clear, you don’t need to do this if publication is secondary to writing the stories you want to tell. Similarly, if you’re still experimenting with genre to discover what you like best, you’ll want to submit on a story-by-story basis.
However, if you have a feel for what you like to write and are focused on getting published, this method will help cut down on wasted time.
Instead of researching all the potential markets for your current story, take time upfront to decide which markets you most want to get published in.
Aim for 3-5.
These markets should all publish similar work, so a story you write for one has a chance at being selected for the others.
This step will take some time. Make a list of candidates that pay professional rates. Read 2 or 3 of their back issues to get a sense of what they publish.
Your goal is to find markets that publish work in a similar style to what you enjoy writing.
For example, two magazines may publish “fantasy”, but one prefers adventure stories exploring new settings, and one prefers literary exploration of character that happens to be set in a fantastical world. A story written for one may have no chance at the other.
Narrow the candidates until you have a list of 3-5 with similar style and subject matter. It won’t be exact, since this is the element that often makes them unique. That’s okay, but see what you can do.
Now add your top picks to a spreadsheet for tracking, noting pay, response time, desired length, and simultaneous/multiple submissions. Order them according to your preference.
Here’s an example for fantasy, though if you prefer contemporary literature your list will be radically different:
Yes, Clarkesworld made the list—the potential reward is worth the effort involved, especially considering a 3 day turnaround.
The rest of these are for illustrative purposes only (I haven’t vetted the style and tone).
The list has 6 publications on it because the last two allow simultaneous submissions and therefore count as one.
This shortened list allows you to narrow your focus when you write each story.
It’s easier to keep an eye on these publications, get a feel for what they like to publish, and tailor your efforts to match.
Write stories with the intention of submitting to your top pick.
Doing so will increase the chances of selection. A rejection will still have a good chance at the next journal on your list.
You will also have an easier time tracking your submissions if you don’t have 50 different magazines to juggle:
When you receive a rejection, simply submit to the next publication and update the chart with the current sub and new date.
It’s also easy to keep track of when to follow up: in this example, it’s been more than 30 days since we subbed to Apex, so you know to send them a message.
When you reach the end of the list with a story, shelf it and chalk it up to experience. You’ve already submitted to those publications that would be the best fit, and the chance of acceptance will go down the further you stray from them.
Plus, you’re going to spend more and more effort for less and less pay. And while it may feel good to receive a token payment and see your name in print, the added benefit to your career is low compared to the time sunk into the process.
Juggling 50 stories out for sub at different markets will get overwhelming and become a major drain on your energy.
Certainly not worth getting paid with a free copy of the magazine.
You’re better served writing the next story.
But don’t worry, your Shelf Of Stories isn’t a graveyard. You can pull from them for themed anthology calls, edit and re-submit when your skills have improved, or even self-publish a collection.
On the flipside, the more you write with specific magazines in mind, the more your sense for what they like will develop, and your chance of selection will increase over time.
Narrow your focus. Choose a small number of dream publications. Read what they publish, practice writing in that style, and minimize the distractions of the Spray and Pray method.
Your skills will improve, and your wall of rejections will remain small.
Now, maybe you don’t want to write exclusively fantasy stories. That’s okay! You can make a list like this for each genre. Even each sub-genre depending on how detailed you want to get. It’s up to you and your writing habits.
Ultimately, the point of this exercise is to be aware of your efforts and cut back on wasted time.
My final tip—although you’ve probably already figured this one out—is to write a story each month for the Elegant Literature prompt.
Because we take all genres and a variety of styles, you can write in the style of your list. If it doesn’t get selected here you can move down your tracker as you would normally.
As always, this is just one of many ways to approach short story submissions. I hope you find it useful.
Happy writing!
