Confession time folks. I haven’t submitted a new short story to any literary magazine since Xmas 2016. At that time, I submitted a cyberpunk short story which, as of writing this, will be the basis for a future novel. The story is still under consideration by that magazine (yes, it can take this long, and sometimes even longer), and it’s officially the story that has taken the longest to get a response. The fact remains though: since then, I haven’t submitted any other short story nor have I written a new one. Now, I’m about to submit two: a flash fiction one and a short one, both written more than a year ago.
The reason? I was too busy editing and revising my novels. Too busy submitting my first novel to agents. Too busy wrapping my head around promotion and marketing strategies for my self-published work. Too busy with a new job. Too busy with parents’ health problems. Too busy in general.
I started drafting both stories way back in 2016. Late spring, if my memory serves me. Nothing new since then. I don’t think I’m going through a dry spell (God, I hope not). It’s just that I’ve focused on longer stories than short ones. I don’t know if I’ll work on another short piece any time soon (at some point, I probably will, perhaps a teaser prequel to one of my novels), but for the time being I feel I should focus on novels. Especially now that I’ve had a taste of the turbulent waters of self-publishing.
So for me, submitting these two stories is a big deal. Wish me luck, folks. I’ve set the bar high for both.
Many thanks to all those who read earlier and badly written versions of this story, and provided me with precious feedback.
Good luck Chris ๐
Thank you!!! All the best for you too ๐
This has happened to me too. I have written 1? or 2? new short stories over the last several years as I’ve been consumed with writing, revising, and submitting novels. I have sometimes wondered if I’ve made the right decisionโI was having much success with the stories, still struggling to get a novel published. But I figure it’s somehow proportional: shorter stories, quicker success. ๐
Then you know how it feels :). But to be honest, I can’t say I have witnessed much success with my short stories. It’s way to early for me at this point to come to any conclusion, but that’s the vibe I get at the moment. Still, it’ll be good to start submitting again.