Yeah, I’m partway through three YA/NA novels but I also like to write short stories. I write other stuff too but YA is what I seem to be best at and I enjoy the most.
You write better when you are enjoying your subject, I always think. I've never actually read a YA short, so that's interesting. Good luck with your novels.
Good for you, @Woodstock Writer! I don't know the publication because I really don't know much about the YA scene. But with a quick look on duotrope shows they're a paying market (maybe not much but something) and they accept about 8%, according to the records based on duotrope member data. Being one of eight submissions chosen out of 100 is pretty good if you ask me. And you made your first fiction sale. That's awesome. If you write YA short stories another place to try would be One Teen Story. It's put out by One Story. You've obviously got what it takes. Here's the website for One Story and One Teen Story https://www.one-story.com But YAY!!! Welcome to the world of being (or soon to be) a published short story writer.
@deadrats thank you! I use Duotrope too, the acceptance rate was just over 6% before I was accepted and now it’s gone up to 8%! But yes, still positive I guess. I’m getting paid $10 so it’s really not much at all but better than nothing. I’d been reading them for months and it’s really my kind of thing, contemporary YA, issue-driven. I have seen One Teen Story, but I believe you have to be a teenager to submit? I’m 39, sadly! Thank you though. I appreciate the encouragement .
You don't have to be a teen to write for One Teen Story. You just have to write for teens. I would be really surprised if a teenager got something in with them. Maybe it's happened, but most of the writers are probably well out of the teen years. I hope you're celebrating your success. I've "sold" work for a few copies of the journal and a free subscription. I've sold stories for real money too, but I'm just saying it's not always about the money. You're going to be published and that's super cool. Publishing short fiction is so hard, much harder than people think or it even seems at first until you get hit with a million rejections. You beat the odds on this one. Most of the people who sent in stories to this same place were rejected. Six or 8%, it still seems challenging to get in that group, and you did it. I'm really happy for you.
I checked the submission instructions again, it says you have to be 13-19 to submit to One Teen Story. Thank you, that’s nice of you I’m pleased too. Haven’t really celebrated yet because I’m stressed out of my head with work right now! Maybe at the weekend. I just wish there were more places to submit YA short stories. I’ve found a few, but not many, although more places say they publish for both adults and teens.
if you submitted a piece to a journal 3 years ago and it got rejected.... then over the next 3 years you reimagine and edit the hell out of the piece.... would you resubmit it to the journal from 3 years ago?
If you changed your YA to include a small amount of fantasy (as a lot of YA authors have) you might be able to get away with submitting to science fiction and fantasy magazines.
It might depend on just how much of the old is left; substantially different and they would probably never recognize it. Plus you would likely get a different reader anyway. DR would know more.
Thanks, yeah I love reading fantasy and science fiction and I’m trying to get more into writing them. I have written a short story about a girl with OCD whose OCD compulsion is to time travel, I submitted it to a YA competition but assuming I get nowhere with that I do plan to try f/s-f publications.
To be honest a lot of the YA I've read has tended to include fantasy and science fiction anyway, so it does seem like a good fit.
Ah, well I have yet to be published, but looks like you are going full steam. What genre do you write in?
thats a tough one.... I jump around but mainly, I like to write things with darker themes. I like science fiction and dystopian fiction. The one that was recently picked up was from the POV of an 11 year old boy as he and his 8 year old brother play together for the last time as the world ends. In it, they are the last family in their neighborhood. Their father tells them that there is a ship that the military had been working on for years that will ferry them off the dying planet and that every one has disappeared because their ticket was called and they got to go aboard the ship. This is what he believes, but in the end, he realizes that its not true, and he's ok with it because he got to spend his last day with his family like he'd always wanted. The one before that was a flash piece about a little girl feeding pigeons with her grandmother. That one isnt sci fi or dystopian or anything like that, but more of a slice of life thing. So, it just depends on how I feel, tbh
Bit of a Sci-Fi geek myself, plus some modern fantasy. I was looking a magazine that published only pieces up to 1500 words but preferring flash or slight longer. I can't remember the site, I'll post it when I get home. You might like it.
dailysciencefiction.com This was the one I was looking at. You've all probably heard of that site, long time ago no doubt.
I feel like things are a little too quiet. It's been over a week since I've heard a thing from any of these places. Forty-something submissions out. Here's hoping no news is good news. These places can take as long as they want if it means a sale. I mentioned earlier that I was thinking of querying some of the places that seem to be taking an abnormal amount of time. One place got back to me pretty quick with a rejection. The other place told me I was at the final round of consideration. That one is one of my favorite journals. It's been several weeks, maybe two or three months even since then. And my submission has been out with them for about a year. They are not normally a place that takes anywhere close to this long. I wonder what this story has that makes them want to hold onto it and also what's keeping them from just taking it. I don't normally query because it seems to always lead to rejection for me. And I can't query this place again. Just got to wait it out...
I’m getting a bit sick of waiting for responses too. I’m sure they’ll all be rejections, but it would be good to know.
I'm totally with you, but sometimes no news is good news. Every place I've sold short stories to has taken what seemed like forever. I sort of feel like I'm slipping through the cracks or just falling off their radar. And I am off the radar. There's no rush to accept my work. And the places that really pay sort of have every right to take forever. There first priority isn't finding new talent. It's putting out the next issue. I know from working with literary journals it's always more than one person that reads something being seriously considered. And there's often a chain of command that can be pretty steep to get to that status of serious consideration. The thing is that if smaller journals can get a big-name writer, they'll take it (as long as it doesn't suck). And all if not almost all they publish is solicited a lot of the time. I would say the same about the big ones, too. So, our job is to write stories so good that it can beat out a story by someone with a bigger name and more credentials. This is not impossible to do. You can break in at the top! And things like that are worth the wait. I think my bio today is a lot different than when I sold my first piece. It's not like I'm selling a ton, but I do savor those achievements few may they be. But I feel like I have enough that my work could be considered on a different level than before I had any publishing credits. Maybe it just means the first reader will read my piece to the end before making a decision. Or maybe it means nothing. Who knows if anyone is reading those cover letters?
Okay, I just submitted to a few more places. I don't want all these rejections to hit me at once and leave me with nothing out there. But, come on, I've got nothing to worry about there with submissions out at Granta and American Short Story. LOL.
Good luck with the submissions! In my case I’m just a bit annoyed with two particular publications. One was a competition I submitted to back in March. Their website still says responses will be sent in early Summer! I’ve sent one polite email chaser and tweeted them once but no reply. I’m sure I haven’t won, but I’d like to know for sure because I’d like to send that story out to other publications. The other one is a non-fiction anthology I was accepted for. In June a note went up on their website saying it was being published ‘this month!’ 4 months later, that same notice is still on their site. I tweeted in July and was told ‘coming soon’. I emailed last month just saying I was excited about it and did they have a firm date, but no one has replied.
These places don't sound all that established or professional. It's important to do some research of the markets we submit to. Have you been paid? Most places pay upon publication so things that hold this up can be frustrating. But I know several of my contracts have included kill fees and timelines like they have a year to publish my accepted work or will pay me half the amount. The last short story I had accepted I don't have a contract from yet, but I know my piece is scheduled to run in the spring issue. Just about every MFA program and university houses a literary journal. That's one thing I look at. Another is I read what they've put out to make sure I'll be in good company if my work is accepted. Also, duotrope tells you how many members have logged submissions to all the publications they have in their database. A place that has 500 or more submission reported in the last year is probably a safer place to send work that has really low numbers. Some smaller publications are great, but we really have to look into them to know what we're getting into. If you have not signed contracts or been paid, you do have the option of withdrawing your work and submitting it to other places. Competitions usually announce their winners and sometimes they only contact the winners. Good luck to you on the submission front. If you got in one place, you can get in with another.
