Buckle up, Buttercup. Publishing short stories is a journey that will punch you in the gut, yet...
I said, "F*CK IT!", and tried publishing my short stories anyways
I’ve always written short fiction, just for fun (the quality of my early work is debatable). Mustering the gumption to unleash my short stories on a part-time hellscape called the internet took a while. Try almost two decades.
You would think time made me smarter, but alas, time only served to make me more cantankerous and hard-headed, which serves my writing just fine.
Here are three ways publishing short stories tried to get the better of me and three reasons I decided to say, F*CK IT, and go for it anyways.
1. PUBLISHED SHORT STORIES DO NOT ALWAYS PAY (at least, not enough)…
But I’m doing it anyway.
I asked a mentor early in my writing career if I should only submit to paying publications. He said it was up to me, but he didn’t sub to places that didn’t pay. I respect that. At that point in his career, he didn’t need to get a foothold.
I did.
So, I asked myself…If I’m not being paid, is there another benefit to doing this?
HOW I DOUBLED DOWN…
Building my portfolio was important to me, so I included non-paying venues. I wanted a proven track record of someone else co-signing on my ability to deliver a strong story. The average short story writer earns less than $2,000 a year. Novelists average $10,000 per year from their work. Writing isn’t a ‘get rich’ scheme but a labor of love.
Those early non-paying publications gave me a boost that I was able to parlay into invitations to anthologies and speaking engagements. And led to bigger publications.
HINT: If you publish in non-paying outlets, make sure to use those placements to build your brand. Don’t let that effort go into the ether and HOPE that someone sees it. Use it for posts, reels, stories, or your website. Use the f*ck out of them!
2. PUBLICATION REJECTIONS ARE EXCRUCIATING…
But getting accepted can be rewarding and worth it.
Buckle up, buttercup, because rejections come fast and furious with no explanation or feedback. Get used to it. Rejection is a normal part of the writing journey.
The most competitive publications accept 5-7% of story submissions, making it extremely difficult to get in. At least on the first try.
HOW I DOUBLED DOWN…
The sheer volume of no’s is SOUL CRUSHING, but perseverance matters. The longer you stay with it, the more you realize acceptance rates are low and not necessarily an indictment of your writing. Everyone’s journey is different. Success is what YOU decide, not what the social media algorithm tells you!
Besides, your brain learns important lessons from rejection.
And perseverance did pay off. I’ll be in the September/October issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and the September/October issue of Writer’s Digest, two publications high on my wish list.
Hint: There are free writing groups in all genres on Facebook, Substack, and other outlets. Join to get the inside scoop on paying and non-paying markets and join a strong, sharing community.
3. FOLLOW THE TRENDS…
But only if you want to be a hack writer.
Trends are trends after the fact. And with books taking a year to publish, even with indie publishers, by the time you figure out that the trend is calling from inside the house, it may be too late to capitalize on it.
HOW I DOUBLED DOWN…
My author’s voice is important. I’m not going to flatten it for the sake of chasing the flavor of the month. I’m better than that, or at least trying to be. My debut interconnected short story collection, THINGS ARE AS THEY SHOULD BE and other words to die for, comes out April 21, 2026. For better or worse, it is ALL ME.
Hint: Write what you want. You may become the trend in doing so. There is room for similar subject matter from different angles, and authenticity is more interesting than jumping on someone else’s bandwagon.
For example, Sinners created an authentic vampire story based on established lore. Check out my Substack on that here.
What things have you done that you thought would be too hard to do, but now you’re doing it anyway? I’d love to hear about it!
P.M. Raymond
Writer of horror and crime noir. Observer of the world
I love the dedication and perseverance here🔥
This is the permission to proceed forward when you said, "You may become the trend in doing so."
Thank you for sharing. This was a joy to read.
I might be addicted to writing for anthologies. Something about having an "assignment" (aka: theme) just lights up certain parts of my brain and makes the whole thing feel shiny and fun again. Even though I consider myself primarily a novelist, only four of the works in my catalogue are novels…the other thirty-four are anthologies. (Hoping to change that soon by finishing some of the novels on my back burners)
For me, I've definitely found that the pain of rejection has lessened over time. I take it less personally than I once would have, knowing that sometimes it's not even a comment on the quality of my story, but about how well my story does or doesn't fit in with the rest of what has been submitted/accepted or technical details like what POV it's told in or how long it is.