i randomly read through my "Finished" folder and came across 3 stories i dont remember ever sending out for submissions.... and now i know why: they are EXTREMELY had to place. Story 1 (written in 2015): starts with a fictional news article heading. opens in media res to a high school fight and and the aggressor being held down after beating someone to death. after the scene is a quote from a therapist. the story goes backward from there, telling the story of how the teen got to that point, and in between each scene are quotes from friends, family, teachers, and experts who weigh in on it what happened in the present Story 2 (2021): An unnamed man burying his child in the middle of the woods. he is cursed with immortality and feels as if he's lost his humanity. but the birth of his child brings him hope... but she becomes feral because she is without a soul and its implied that he had to kill her. after the burial, he sits on a hill watching the sunrise with his Creator pondering sanity/insanity, and if immortality really counts as truly "living." Story 3 (2021) a devout priest of 48 years falls in love with a 50 year old nun that he befriends. he is ashamed of his feelings and never confesses them to her. Instead he confesses his shame to God, leaves the priesthood and moves away, vowing to punish himself by living alone for the remainder of his life. but 10 years later, he meets the nun again by happenstance in a park. she's left her order, too. they sit together in the park, feeding the birds like old friends. I think maybe i just gave up trying to find a venue for them and eventually just forgot about them completely. Now i want to give them a home. What do you typically do with your work that dont really fall into any kind of category?
If they are genre-less then throw them at all your normal submission outlets and see if any of them stick? All three sound interesting to me, so if they do get published, let me know where so I can take a read.
.All my stories are hard to place. All short stories are hard to sell in my opinion. Not everything I write will be or should be published. I like to write new stuff fairly often. That being said sometimes I can b e stubborn and keep a story out of submission for years. When it comes to selling short fiction it really all comes down to the execution. That being said, here are a few suggestions based on your descriptions. Story 1 -- Just a side note but if you're going to use this format, which I think could be really cool, just make sure the news references feel really current. I think that could help you sell the piece. Taking sort of an iteresting shapeso to speak. I think you should look into Five Points, Story, and Blackbird. Based on your description I really wanted to recommend Witness, but they're not open for submissions at the moment. But maybe keep that one in the back of your mind. Story 2 -- I have to say I would rethink the whole nameless character thing. The only reason I say that is because that can just make it an even harder sale. I think you also want to make sure that the present action of the story is not just him sitting there ponding or whatever. I'm kind of thinking you should try Black Warrior Review with this one. I'm not a fan of the third story, but I think these two at least have potential. Good luck.
