Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction (2nd edition): Writing Guides

By Douglas Smith

Second Edition

 

"Short story writers have needed a book like this for decades. ... It's spectacular." — Kristine Kathryn Rusch, multi-award-winning author & editor

 

Fully revised and current, this second edition addresses every change in the short fiction landscape since the classic original edition came out a decade ago.

 

"Doug has gone through this new volume carefully, updating every possible detail. That makes the second edition as indispensable to the short fiction writer as the first." — Kristine Kathryn Rusch, multi-award-winning author and editor

 

Take your first step to becoming a professional short fiction writer—Buy this book!

 

In an engaging and conversational style, multi-award-winning author Douglas Smith teaches how to market and sell short stories—and much, much more.

 

Even experienced writers will find value here as Smith takes you from your first sale to using your stories to build a writing career. Topics include:

 

The Fundamentals: The different types of writers. The benefits of short fiction. Rights and licensing.

 

Selling Your Stories: Knowing when it's ready. Choosing markets. Submitting stories. Avoiding mistakes. How editors select stories. Dealing with rejections. When to give up on a story.

 

After a Sale: Contracts. Working with editors. What your first sale means. Dealing with reviews.

 

A Writer's Magic Bakery: Selling reprints. Foreign markets. Audio markets. Selling a collection. The indie option.

 

Becoming Established: Leveraging your stories. Discoverability and promotion. Career progression in short fiction.

 

Douglas Smith is the ideal person to write this book. His stories have appeared in thirty-seven countries and twenty-six languages. He has three acclaimed collections and has won five awards—three for his short fiction alone.

 

"Douglas Smith is, quite simply, the finest short-story writer Canada has ever produced in the science fiction and fantasy genres." —Robert J. Sawyer, multi-award-winning author

 

"Lots of writers write good books on craft. Few have the experience to write good books on the publishing business. Doug is one of those few, and this book shows it." — Kristine Kathryn Rusch, multi-award-winning author and editor

• Language: English
• Publisher: Douglas Smith
• Release date: May 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9781928048381

Douglas Smith

Douglas Smith is an award-winning Canadian author described by Library Journal as "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." His fiction has been published in twenty-six languages and thirty-two countries. His work includes the urban fantasy novel, The Wolf at the End of the World, and the collections Chimerascope, Impossibilia, and La Danse des Esprits. His non-fiction guide for writers, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction, is a must read for any short story writer. Doug is a three-time winner of Canada's Aurora Award, and has been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award, CBC's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane. A short film based on Doug's story "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down" won several awards at film festivals around the world.

Book preview

Book Description

Fully revised and current, this second edition addresses every change in the short fiction landscape since the classic original came out a decade ago.

Doug has gone through this new volume carefully, updating every possible detail. That makes the second edition as indispensable to the short fiction writer as the first.

— Kristine Kathryn Rusch, multi-award-winning author and editor

~~

Take your first step to becoming a professional short fiction writer—Buy this book!

In an engaging and conversational style, multi-award-winning author Douglas Smith teaches how to market and sell short stories—and much, much more.

Even experienced writers will find value here as Smith takes you from your first sale to using your stories to build a writing career. Topics include:

The Fundamentals: The different types of writers. The benefits of short fiction. Rights and licensing.

Selling Your Stories: Knowing when it's ready. Critique groups. Choosing markets. Submitting stories. Avoiding mistakes. How editors select stories. Dealing with rejections. When to give up on a story.

After a Sale: Contracts. Working with editors. What your first sale means. Dealing with reviews.

A Writer's Magic Bakery: Selling reprints. Foreign markets. Audio markets. Selling a collection. The indie option.

Becoming Established: Leveraging your stories. Discoverability and promotion. Career progression in short fiction.

~~

Douglas Smith is the ideal person to write this book. His stories have appeared in thirty-seven countries and twenty-six languages. He has three acclaimed collections and has won five writing awards—three for his short fiction alone.

Lots of writers write good books on craft. Few have the experience to write good books on the publishing business. Doug is one of those few, and this book shows it.

— Kristine Kathryn Rusch, multi-award-winning author and editor

Douglas Smith is, quite simply, the finest short-story writer Canada has ever produced in the science fiction and fantasy genres.

—Robert J. Sawyer, multi-award-winning author

Praise

An indispensable book for those of us who love to write short fiction. … [Doug is] one of the best short story writers in the business, and one of the best at the business of short story writing. … So, if you have any interest in writing short fiction, or you’re already making a living at short fiction, take a peek at this book. It’s wonderful.

—Kristine Kathryn Rusch, multi-award-winning author and editor

Doug Smith is, quite simply, the finest short story writer Canada has ever produced in the science fiction and fantasy genres, and he’s also the most prolific. His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think.

—Robert J. Sawyer, Nebula & Hugo Award-winning author

One of Canada’s most original writers of speculative fiction.

— Library Journal

A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice.

—Charles de Lint, World Fantasy Award winner

The man is Sturgeon good. Zelazny good. I don’t give those up easy.

—Spider Robinson, Hugo & Nebula Awards winner

Smith’s writing, evocative yet understated, gracefully brings to life his imagined realms.

—Quill and Quire

Smith paints his worlds so well that you are transported within a paragraph or two and remain in transit until the story ends.

—Broken Pencil

His stories resonate with a deep understanding of the human condition as well as a characteristic wry wonder… Stories you can’t forget, even years later.

—Julie Czerneda, award-winning author and editor

An extraordinary author whom every lover of quality speculative fiction should read.

— The Fantasy Book Critic

Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction

SECOND EDITION

By Douglas Smith

Spiral Path Books

Table of Contents

Book Description

Praise

Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction

Introduction by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

What’s New in This 2nd Edition

About This Book (And How to Use It)

SECTION I. SETTING A FOUNDATION

THE FUNDAMENTALS

Chapter 1. Why Are You Writing?

Deciding on the Writing Career You Want

Chapter 2. Why Short Fiction?

Its Benefits to a Writing Career

Chapter 3. Why You Never Sell a Story

Rights and Licensing

SECTION II. SELLING SHORT

HOW TO MARKET YOUR STORIES

Chapter 4. How Do You Know It’s Ready?

Submission Fear & Arrogance

Chapter 5. Where to First

A Strategy for Choosing Short Fiction Markets

Chapter 6. Where to Look

Finding Short Fiction Markets

Chapter 7. Markets, Markets Everywhere

Selecting the Right Market

Chapter 8. Dear Editor

How to Submit Short Fiction

Chapter 9. The No-Nos

What Not to Do When Submitting Fiction

Chapter 10. The Numbers Game

What to Do after You’ve Submitted a Story

Chapter 11. Behind the Curtain

How an Editor Chooses (or Rejects) a Story

Chapter 12. Oh God, They Hate Me

Dealing with Rejections

Chapter 13. Drawing the Line

When to Stop Submitting a Story

SECTION III. YOU’VE SOLD A STORY

CONTRACTS, EDITING, AND REALITY

Chapter 14. Sign Here

What to Look (Out) for in Short Fiction Contracts

Chapter 15. I Love Your Story. Now Change It

Working with an Editor

Chapter 16. But You Bought My Last Story

What a First Sale Really Means

Chapter 17. They Said WHAT?

Dealing with Reviews

Chapter 18. Let the Band Ring Out and the Banners Fly

Promotion (or Not)

SECTION IV. THE MAGIC BAKERY

HOW TO LEVERAGE YOUR STORIES

Chapter 19. Having Your Cake and Eating It Too

A Writer’s Magic Bakery

Chapter 20. This Story First Appeared In…

Selling Reprints

Chapter 21. Bonjour / Hola / Ciao

Selling Foreign Language Rights

Chapter 22. Curling Up with a Good Podcast

Selling Audio Rights

Chapter 23. More Options for Your Backlist

Collections

Chapter 24. A Brave New World

The Indie Option for Short Fiction

SECTION V. IS THAT ALL THERE IS?

THOUGHTS FOR ESTABLISHED WRITERS

Chapter 25. Cool Stuff That Might Happen

Awards, Best of Anthologies, Movies

Chapter 26. Bands and Banners Revisited

Promotion for Established Authors

Chapter 27. Where Do We Go from Here?

Career Progression in Short Fiction

Chapter 28. A Plea To (Certain) Publishers

Stop Hurting Writers

Chapter 29. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

Parting Thoughts

A REQUEST

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALSO BY DOUGLAS SMITH

CHIMERASCOPE

IMPOSSIBILIA

THE HOLLOW BOYS

THE WOLF AT THE END OF THE WORLD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

COPYRIGHT PAGE

Index

Introduction by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

I LOVE THIS

little book.

I wrote the introduction to the original version, published in 2014. After the book came out, I recommended it to new writers, made it required reading for some of my students, and invited Doug to put it into something called Storybundle, which makes the ebook available at a discount along with a bunch of other books. Storybundle’s a great discovery tool, and I wanted writers to discover this book.

Why? Because Playing The Short Game filled a gap in writing books, which usually focus on novels. I focused on that in the first introduction as well as the value of short fiction.

Ten years flew by. The writing world changed. Writing short fiction became more of an option, not less of one. There are so many short fiction markets worldwide that it’s impossible to keep track of all them. Some of them give you a huge audience. Some of them pay well. Often those are one and the same, but not always.

These days, it’s possible to make a good living on short fiction alone, provided you’re dedicated and organized. Oh, and have mastered your craft, of course. Making a living takes a lot of work, but if you love the short story as much as I do, then that work is worthwhile.

Doug covers a lot in this book. I might have one or two other minor quibbles, but that’s it. If he missed a trend or two, I haven’t seen it. His work here is very thorough.

So thorough that I get intimidated at times.

He’s doing a lot of things that I’m not. Even though he has encouraged me for years, I have yet to dedicate time to pursue foreign sales in an organized manner. Arrogantly, I wait for the foreign publishers to come to me. Some years, I experience a flurry of requests. Some years, I sell very little to foreign publishers. I know I’m leaving money on the table. But I have only so much bandwidth.

Just like you. There’s only so much one writer can do and still have time to write. Doug deals with the time factor beautifully in this book and analyzes the pros and cons of all of his advice extremely well.

Second editions of non-fiction books often contain an added chapter or two. Usually those chapters are obvious additions, things that have little or no relation to the rest of the book.

But Doug has gone through this volume carefully, changing every possible detail. That makes the second edition indispensable to the short fiction writer.

Okay, wait. I didn’t go far enough.

The second edition is indispensable to the writer. Any writer. Full stop. If you write, then you need this book.

Early in the book, Doug says he wrote the book for the beginning writer. But really, every writer—beginning, experienced, old-hand—can learn from the advice herein.

I did, when I read it.

You will too.

Read it from cover to cover. You’ll find gems on every page. Then reread it. Use it to develop your writing business, because that’s what this book is about.

Lots of writers write good books on craft. Few have the experience to write good books on the publishing business.

Doug is one of those few, and this book shows it.

Enjoy!

—Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Las Vegas, Nevada

February, 2024

What’s New in This 2nd Edition

THE FIRST EDITION

of this book came out in 2014. Yikes. That’s a decade ago. Ever so much changes in any decade, and that includes short fiction markets and how best to market and sell to them.

I give workshops regularly based on this book, and I noticed I was incorporating a lot of new information and advice in those workshops that weren’t in these pages. Information and advice that reflected either knowledge I’d gained since 2014, changes in the professional short fiction landscape in that time, answers to questions from writers who’d reached out after reading the first edition, or just things I wanted to add to this one.

Since this book is my way of paying it forward, to help beginning writers in the way so many established pros helped me when I started, I want this guide to stay as current as possible, reflecting the state of short fiction publishing today.

So here it is, all new and improved and spiffy, as up-to-date as I can make it. An incomplete list of the revisions and new stuff you’ll find in this edition includes:

More benefits of writing short fiction and ways to leverage your stories;

Additional information on copyright, including the difference between copyright and the various rights you may grant on your fiction;

More on licensing rights for short fiction, especially occurrence rights, including exceptions to the rules around first rights;

The new standards and protocols for manuscript formatting and cover letters;

New trends in submitting to short fiction markets;

Update to what is defined today as a professional per word rate;

Updated sources for short fiction markets, both new ones and dead ones;

New submission tracking tools;

More on record keeping, including tracking payments received and withholding taxes;

When and how to withdraw a story from a market;

More on short fiction contracts, including a new section on requesting changes to an offered contract;

More advice on selling reprints, including how to handle suggested edits to previously published stories;

Caveats on the quality of both translations and audio adaptations of your stories;

An entirely rewritten section on indie publishing, for short fiction in general and a collection in particular;

Updated examples drawn from my own experiences in marketing and selling short fiction over the past decade;

New and updated online resources throughout the book;

My plea to short fiction publishers, along with my definition of the ideal short fiction market; and,

Lots more (no, really, lots more).

Thanks for picking up this guide. If it’s your first experience with my advice, I promise I will help you. If you’re a veteran from the first edition, thanks for your continued support.

Good luck with your writing dreams!

—Douglas Smith

Toronto, 2024

About This Book (And How to Use It)

HI AND WELCOME!

Congratulations, too! By buying this book, you’ve taken your first step towards selling more stories and building a career as a professional short fiction writer.

Who This Book Is For

I wrote this book for the beginning short fiction writer who wants to learn how best to market and sell their stories. More experienced writers will also find value in these pages, but my target audience is the beginning writer.

Also, although many of my examples in this book relate to genre short fiction—science fiction (SF), fantasy, mystery, horror (since that’s what I write myself)—the advice I give applies to all and any short fiction.

Who I Am and Why I Can Help You

I’ve been selling short stories since 1997 and selling them regularly with multiple sales each year. I have over two hundred short fiction publications in thirty-six countries and twenty-seven languages around the world.

My stories have appeared in the top markets in the field, including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, InterZone, Cicada, Baen’s Universe, Weird Tales, PodCastle, On Spec, and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror.

I have four collections of short fiction: Chimerascope, Impossibilia, Shifting Borderlands (planned for 2024), and a translated fantasy collection, La Danse des Esprits (France). My novels include the multi-award-winning YA urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga (The Hollow Boys, The Crystal Key, and The Lost Expedition), as well as the urban fantasy novel, The Wolf at the End of the World.

I’ve won Canada’s Aurora Award four times (three times for my short fiction) as well as the juried Indie Author Project Award. My short stories have been Aurora Award finalists another seventeen times. I was a finalist for the international Astounding Award for Best New Writer based on my short fiction alone. My collections have been finalists for Canada’s juried Sunburst Award, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Bookies Award, and France’s juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane. One of my stories was made into a short film.

Check out my website at smithwriter.com for more information on my writing. And if you are still not convinced, here’s a quote from Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer:

Douglas Smith is, quite simply, the finest short story writer Canada has ever produced in the science fiction and fantasy genres, and he’s also the most prolific. His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think.

But in the end, you will decide if my advice in this book is worthwhile based on its value to you. So let’s get started.

What This Book Will Cover

In Section One, we will set a foundation for the rest of the book and your short fiction career. I ask you to consider why you are writing and what kind of writer you are at this point in your career. I ask you to consider also the career you want as a writer and what you are willing to invest to achieve your dream. We then review the many benefits of writing short fiction for any writer planning a long-term career. Finally, we look at why you never actually sell a story and learn about licensing rights for short fiction.

With this critical foundation in place, you will be ready for Section Two, which covers everything you must understand about marketing and selling a story. We start with learning how to know when your story is ready to send out and what steps to take to ensure it is. Next, we cover finding markets and how to select the right first market for your story. We’ll discuss how to submit stories, how to handle rejections, and what to do with stories that keep being rejected. You’ll also learn how editors decide on what stories they choose to purchase and what ones they reject.

In Section Three, we begin the happier topic of what happens when you sell a story. Here, we’ll cover short fiction contracts, working with editors, dealing with reviews, and what to expect after you sell your first story.

In Section Four, we move into topics of relevance to writers who have begun to sell regularly and are building their backlist—their inventory of published stories. Here we talk about different ways to leverage the rights to your fiction, including selling reprints, selling translations, and publishing collections. We close off this section with a look at indie publishing options for short fiction writers.

Finally, in Section Five, we consider the longer-term aspects of a short fiction career once a writer has multiple story sales, and how you can leverage your short fiction into a novel writing career.

Check out the Table of Contents for a detailed list of the topics we’ll cover in each of these sections.

What This Book Will Not Cover

I will not be dealing with the creative side of writing fiction. I won’t tell you how to write a story or how to improve your craft (beyond a discussion of critique groups). We start from the point where you have at least one short story finished and ready to send out into the cold, cruel world.

Why not start with the craft side? Well, for one thing, teaching the craft