How to Publish a Short Story: 4 Easy Steps

You're someone who loves fiction writing and has a real knack for it – so much so that now you want to publish your short stories. Think of it as the opportunity of a lifetime: you have an outlet to improve your creative writing skills and you get to showcase your work for the entire world. Even self-publishing offers you a unique opportunity to earn money, gain exposure, and experiment with different writing styles. However, to get everything started, you need to follow four crucial steps, which include:

Step #1 – Search for Submissions

It's a dream come true for every writer when a prestigious publication – The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, etc. – publishes their work. However, even if you have lofty goals, you shouldn't limit your search to the top publications. Instead, you can seek out magazine writing contests that are accepting submissions. As long as your short story meets their requirements (including length, style, and genre), they'll accept your work.

Step #2 – Write a Cover Letter

Unlike a cover letter for your résumé, short story cover letters are straightforward and fun to write. All you have to do is summarize your story and include other key information:

• Your story's word count, genre, and title
• Your credentials (college degree, previously published works, awards, etc.)
• A brief bio and other information about yourself (such as your writing experience)

When writing your cover letter, also try to be personable – you're not just promoting your short story, you're also promoting yourself. Furthermore, the letter should directly address the person reviewing your submission. How do you find this information? You can usually locate it in the submission guidelines or on the publisher's website.

Step #3 – Track Your Submission

Now, you can begin the process of submitting your short story to different publications and track your progress. You should always take note of how long the review process is taking and think about where to go next if the submission was unsuccessful. The people reviewing your short story likely won't respond for 8-12 weeks (this ultimately depends on the number of submissions they receive).

It's also recommended that you don't send out too many submissions at once. You'll likely have a tough time keeping track of them all, and if a publication accepts your story, you'll have to withdraw your other submissions. It's best to submit your short story to only five or six publications at a time.

Step #4 – Consider Self-Publishing

You've likely already written a collection of short stories – why not publish them on your own? You can always go the more traditional route by creating an Ebook, or you could post your short stories to a blogging website. These are communities of people that provide support for fellow writers and help foster creative progress in everyone.

Publishing Made Simple

You shouldn't have to hassle yourself and overthink the process of publishing your short stories. All you need to do is seek out publications accepting submissions – make sure that your short story satisfies their requirements and also remember to submit a cover letter. Even self-publishing serves as a viable alternative for anyone who wants to share and promote their writing. Ultimately, when you follow these simple steps, your journey of becoming a published author will materialize much sooner than you'll expect.

Are you interested in learning more about the fundamentals of fiction writing? I encourage you to visit my personal blog – Nick Pappas at vocal.media. You should also check out some of my short stories – my latest one focuses on the ideological downfall of the United States, entitled "O'Sullivan's Law".