I'd like to pose this question around a few thoughts:

In support of submitting to a market:

1) Some writing associations SFWA, HWA, etc. require a certain amount of words sold at professional rates.

2) Looks nice on your "resume."

3) Exposure to people outside your network.

4) Flat fee payments around $20 may be more than you'll make selling the story (emphasis on "may"), but if you consider the fact that these markets usually only own the right to sell your story for 3 to 12 months, then after that you can sell as you will and keep all the profits.

5) Whoever publishes you may provide editing, cover design, printing services at a cheaper price than you hiring it out.

6) Unless you amass a collection of short stories, the market for ebooks has driven the price down so far that $.99 for a short story seems too expensive to some people. (Even as an author, I empathize.)

In support of self-publishing:

1) Is there enough benefit to joining these writer's unions? You pay annual dues and what do you get in return? (Anyone have thoughts on the benefits?)

2) How beneficial is it to have a "My Works" page with stories linked to magazines people have to buy or can't access? An example would be a friend's story in an anthology that costs $16. If I'm not really wanting to add the whole anthology to my reading list, why pay $16? (On the other hand, that anthology won the Bram Stoker award, so people will surely read her story who didn't know of her before).

3) Which leads to the issue of expanding our network. If we self-publish, we rely on our friends reading and enjoying our story, then telling others. Is this better than submitting to an outside network?

However, how many anthologies or magazines do you have that you only read the first couple stories? I could get accepted in an anthology and have readers take a year or never to get to my story near the back of the book. Self pubbing gets my story right into their hands (some anthologies don't have table of contents on ebooks, which makes for difficult tracking of later stories).

4) The next question asks whether the money you'll make self-pubbing is better than what you'd get after your publisher gets a cut. There are author-friendly houses like Evolved Publishing and Splashdown Books, but they aren't exactly accepting short story submissions (save for Evolved's annual contest). Markets give royalty, flat fee, or just exposure as payment, but if you self-pub, you get it all. For Christians fiction, it seems the money isn't there so all they offer is exposure (i.e. A Flame in the Dark's recent Monsters anthology).

While the bonus is there to self pub after the market who purchased 1st world rights has their rights expire, you have to wonder how much you'll make after the story is a year old. Would you have made more money if that first year gave you 100% of the profits instead of a small percentage, no percentage, or just a flat fee?

5) You could have friends edit or make your cover (questionable quality depending on who your friends are). You can buy a cover for $5 or more, but much more than that and you risk not making any money. The ebook designing isn't that hard, and your self editing has to be good enough to get it accepted at a market anyway. This seems a wash, as long as you make sure to wait until the product is up to par and isn't a hasty release which could damage your reputation.

6) People may pay $.99 for a short story, but for flash fiction? I just don't know. Maybe if you're doing other things they enjoy and this is there way of supporting you (i.e. like my podcast, or if they really like your blog, or just because they're your friend... but will that transfer to their friends paying that much for a short story?).

So, what do you think? Self pub or submit?

I am watching this topic with interest, as I am considering the idea of publishing some short stories, either traditionally or self-publishing, as a way to build my library in between novels. Both traditional and self-publishing methods are things i would like to try - and if you write enough short stories, you could do both!

For me, the greatest consideration with self-publishing would be cover design. If I chose to register the copyright of the story also, then I'd probably be in $50 total. That's a lot to try and make back off of a .99 short story.

My friend, Mercedes Yardley, author and slush reader at Shock Totem Magazine replied in an email about this:



And Aubrey, I'm still looking for that $5 cover website. I can't remember what it was called, but a writing podcast mentioned it as a good idea for short story covers.

It might be good to pursue traditional publication (even when it doesn't pay) for most stories, and then self-publish a collection of short stories. A collection that is all published stories, or some published stories with some "all new" stories, would seem to have a small marketing edge. Plus you have the potential to get paid for the stories twice.

I know I quoted Mercedes's comments above, but I compiled that along with some other quotes into a recent blog post "Anthologies and Ezines: Should Writers Submit."

*finds all of this fun * I am staunchly for traditional publishing, for many reasons, but I always like seeing both sides.

I lean towards trad pub too, even with short stories, but I find the value in both sides of the argument interesting. It really is just what works for you, based on your talent level, ability to multitask (cover, market, etc), quality of beta readers (and humility to accept advice), and patience. I don't really have the first three yet, and am thankful for the patience that lets me wait till I do.

*nods * And even in traditional publishing, the author is relied upon heavily for marketing. If you don't have marketing strategies in place, your book is less likely to be a success, even in traditional publishing.

Yes, marketing is still largely in author's hands. There are still lots of places you can't get in alone. For short stories, it is nice to be part of an anthology or ezine because people with no connection to you can find you that way if they like your story. Part of me wonders though how beneficial if I can't include in my bio "author of... novel"

*nods * I see what you mean.

I'm going to submit, mainly for the credibility it gets me, as a stepping stone to break into novel publishing. I'll start with the smaller zines probably, but I'm aiming for ones with big names attached to them like Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, Asimov's Science-Fiction Magazine, and the other big name magazines. (I'm shooting for a Nebula or a Hugo. Or both.)

So that's why I'll go traditional.

Both.

Seriously now, you'd have to argue one side is completely without worth for "both" not to be the correct option. How many to do in which and when is all strategy.

I would add to the pros for submission. Short stories traditionally published - especially those in well-known mags within the genre - are far more likely to be nominated for significant awards.

Surprisingly enough, I now have publishing experience to answer this question. My first short story will be published in the Monsters! Anthology by A Flame in the Dark. (not sure exact date, but soon)

Between us, I'm not getting paid for this; I'll just receive a free contributor's copy of the book in a few months.

Selling short stories can sometimes only garner $5 to $25 bucks (higher if you sell to a special anthology or top market).

So, why do we write short stories?

One of the benefits of my contract with AFitD is that I get rights to sell it on my own immediately. The problem there is selling just a short story for $.99 when you can buy anthologies for that amount. I may come up with some kind of package including a narration of the story since I have the equipment and have done that before.

The reason why I gave this story to AfitD is because I want people that are fans with the other authors in this book (Ellen C. Maze, Kat Heckenbach, Greg Mitchell, Thomas Smith) to see my work. Specifically, I want fans of Christian Horror to see me.

I guess the ideal part about this set up is that I get both, and there will be a print version to sit on my book shelf.

(btw, I'm interviewing the authors in this anthology and running a giveaway for a copy of this book. Check out my website and the Holy Worlds Podcast website)

The exposure to your desired audience is reason enough alone that publishing in the anthology was a good idea. So happy for you, Tim!