I'm curious as to the thoughts of others, especially agents, on how it looks as a writer to have sold short stories and novellas to multiple publishers? Is this generally considered a good thing?
When it comes to agents, one short story published in the right place could get their attention. I have a friend who landed a story this way. And if an agent reads five literary journals and you have work published in two of the, well, then they are even more likely to notice you. The thing is agents aren't going to search the Internet for new talent. They are more likely to read or hear about works appearing in well-known publications. I don't think too many publications can hurt, provided you've landed in some desirable places. A long list of publishing credits from places no one has heard of, doesn't do as much. Unless you get nominated and win a pushcart or get something into The Best of series. Those can be game changers. We all know which of our publishing credits are impressive and which ones are probably not worth mentioning. Selling short stories to some of these publications is all together harder than finding an agent. But if you publish in The New Yorker, that is something worth mentioning to an agent (if one doesn't find you first). Publish ten stories in The New Yorker, yeah, you'll have an agent of two wondering if you've got a novel. Publish a story or ten on a blog site your best friend says is going to be the best literary journal ever, it probably won't have the same effect.
I wish I could sell to The New Yorker! That would be fabulous. All my pieces have been sold to small publishers with big catalogs.
New Yorker stories seem to have a similar tone and some other things in common. I love New Yorker stories. So, if you want a story in The New Yorker read a ton of their stories, so many that it starts to rub off on you and write accordingly. Of course, The New Yorker is a long shot, but I personally know someone who landed a piece in there by submitting the same way any of us would. It happens. And it helps to be smart about what you are submitting where. I've gotten two personal rejections from The New Yorker. One of them was pretty detailed. I guess, not bad as far as rejections go. I've also gotten form rejections from them and the ever-famous, no-response rejection. But I continue to try. Read them then write for them. I know it's not that simple, but a lot of writers think they should just send their best work to places like The New Yorker. What they should be doing is sending New Yorker type stories to The New Yorker. I'm not sure what you mean by "small publishers with big catalogs." I figured we were talking about literary journals and magazines. That's what I think of when it comes to publishers of short stories and novellas. Can you give some examples? They don't have to be places you've published but sort of in the ballpark. I'm just a little confused. Is your goal to attract an agent? Do you have a novel ready? I would say go ahead and list a few publications you're proud of, but I don't think it will help too much to have a long list of places the agent has never heard of. There are some really great small publications and I'm pretty sure every university puts out a journal. Those count for something. The publishers reputation in the industry does hold weight. You just have to be honest with yourself about what your publishing history says about you. Does it put you in a certain class of writers? Is that the class of writers you want to be in? It can help to publish in certain places, but it's not needed to get an agent and is actually a pretty hard way to impress an agent.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm not currently seeking an agent at the moment (except maybe for my children's book). I'm merely curious if it makes a difference or not when I write my future queries. There are other small publishers I'd like to write for, but worry too many might turn an agent off. Perhaps it's a silly thought to have, though. When I say small publishers with big catalogs I mean places like JMS Books and Dreamspinner Press. Yes, they're somewhat more niche since they deal in LGBT+ based stories and primarily stick to ebook with print at a certain word count, but from what I've seen they're well known, too. Writing for The New Yorker is a bit intimidating. Then again, maybe I'll give it a try this year just for the hell of it!
I'm curious as to why you thought having too many stories published is a bad thing for agents? Of course, if you were to have too many low quality works published - presumably self-published - then yes, I'd say that can certainly hurt your chances. If you are published with publishers who have a bad reputation known for pushing, again, low quality or downright bad works - yours would be tarnished with the same brush regardless of the quality of your actual work. But since you're traditionally published and I shall assume your work meets a certain standard of quality, I don't see how that can be a bad thing. So the key factor here, I'd say, isn't how many works you've got out but the quality of those works and the reputation of the publishers. Side note: I'm not saying having been self-published can harm your chances. However between a self-pubbed book and a trade-pubbed book, the chances of the self-pubbed one being of lower quality are higher. The means of publication doesn't necessarily indicate quality. If you have a high sales rate and a large readership that indicate success in self-publishing, that certainly won't hurt your chances with an agent.
I know a number of publishing creds can be a positive for an agent. I suppose it's kind of hard to voice why I'm worried about it being a bad thing. Working with various publishers has been nice, though it wasn't what I originally tended to do. But their open calls tend to be different and ideas are sparked and I just start writing. Perhaps at this point I should put it out of my mind and keep on the track I'm on. Thanks for taking the time to answer me. I really do appreciate it!
