First time writing a story
Getting published was something I was very excited about. I got lucky. Very lucky. One of my first submissions got picked up. I still have the paycheck, yes, I am one those people who will probably end up framing it like a big geek (I never cashed it). It was very encouraging and it gave me the confidence to put up with the year of rejections that followed. Literally (and that pun was not intended), it was not until a year later, when I was in a Wal-mart, did I get an email that another thing I written was accepted. But that is part of the industry. It is a lot of nos before you get that one or two yeses. And now I am published in different countries. if you are willing to stick it out, here are some tips that might help.
The first suggestion I have is to use a service called submission grinder, especially if you are a scifi writer. This free site gives you a list of markets, what they are looking for and how much they pay. It is a valuable tool that will save you a lot of time and give you an idea of who is looking for what. You can search by length, by pay, by genre and there are new listings added all the time.
Do NOT do it for the money. If you like to write and want to get paid be a copy editor. Even if you're a dreamer and want to make it big, then writing novels is the way to go. But short stories do not pay the bills. Professional rates are 6 cents a word. That means that a 1,000 words will only pay you $60. And that is professional. Which means it can takes years to get a yes and then you have you have to wait for the money to come. If you try for smaller publications, you are looking at $10-$20 a story. But they still have a high rejection rate, they still take time to read your work and they still take time to pay you.
Consider writing shorter and shorter stories. You're best place to start are drabbles and flash fiction. Flash fiction is under a thousand words. Places that pay per word may be more willing to buy shorter pieces and, one average, it will take less time to complete a quality flash that you can send out than it does a longer piece. You don't want to send waves and waves of poorly-written slush, but thinking that writing one 'gem' is all it takes is not a smart way to go about it. Which brings me to my next point.
Do NOT waste time waiting. You sent out your story, good. Work on the next one. You are probably going to get a no on that one. It's not personal and it could be one of the best stories ever written. But the odds are not in your favour. Maybe it is not the type of story they want. Maybe they filled their issue that month. Maybe, just maybe, you got an editor that just didn't understand your work. There are stories of successful people and works that agencies turned down before someone else picked them up. Don't use that as an excuse, you should always try to improve, but it is not always you. It usually is :p, but not always.
You can always improve. This is meant to encouraging. It's easy, especially as a writer, to get down on yourself. Feel that you are not good enough and you will never make it. That is bullshit. If you are willing to put the work in you can write quality. You can write something that will get published and that people will talk about. But no matter how new you are, or seasoned, you can always be better. Get in the habit of learning and improving when you can, and one day you will get where you want to be.
And finally rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. Do not drive yourself crazy. At some point you will have to send it out but do get in the habit of reworking your story. I also got in the habit of going over my rejections when I went to resend it again. Reading a story that you wrote weeks later can give you a fresh perspective and those improvements might bye the push that gets you that yes the next time it goes out.
I hope this helps all inspiring writers. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments.
