Ask Sally #29 - US v UK Markets

This question is from young writer Tammy Newell

Is it easier to get a short story published in the UK than in the US? I just finished a novella and have been hearing how hard it is to get short stories published in the US it's real discouraging.

I think I should start by saying that it's not easy to get a story published anywhere. Those of us who've been plodding away at it for years will testify to that. It takes a lot of hard work, and an awful lot of rejections before your work lands on the right desk. I think that's true wherever you're writing.

In actual fact, the US market for short stories is bigger than the UK market. But - see Stephen King's article on 'What Ails The Short Story?' about the dwindling American market. Despite that, it's still bigger than the UK market.

The UK market is also sadly dwindling as more womens' magazines go over to all non-fiction articles or 'true life' stories.

If you're having problems it is more likely to be with the length of your novella, which could be hard to place in any market. Short stories, tend, as a rule, to be under 2000 words, most often under 1000 words, and a lot of magazines and ezines insist on this, due to constraints of space. Some might take longer stories, for example online ezines, but they are rare.

If you try www.ralan.com he lists a lot of anthology markets, who whilst they don't pay a lot, do pay either in money or contributors copies, and they often ask for novella length works.

Another avenue might be ebook publishers. There are a lot around and they sometimes take a shorter novel.

Since I replied to your question yesterday I was also reminded of the Cinnamon Press Novel/Novella Award which is run twice a year. The entry fee is a bit steep, but with such a narrow market for novellas, it's one of the few avenues open to you.

But if you are wanting to make your name as a short story writer, then you perhaps need to practice at much shorter stories in the range of 1000-2000 words. Another thing you could do is read a few short story magazines and see the types of stories they're publishing, in terms of length, theme etc. Most outlets will have online guidelines nowadays, and there are a few on my blog and womagwriter's, though these are mostly for British markets.

Good luck!


Note: If anyone else knows of any novella publishers, perhaps you could leave a message on this blog.

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