Dating : What’s The Point Of Publishing Short Stories For Free?

You kill yourself crafting beautiful fictions, endure endless rejections, and finally get published… for no fee. Is it really worth it?

I got into a bit of a discussion recently with a pal who runs a blog aimed at helping writers make money from their writing. This, of course, is a goal that we can all get behind. And certainly, when it comes to journalism or content work, I rarely work without the promise of cash from a trusted source. But I argued that when it comes to my first love, short stories, it’s different.

‘Sorry, no,’ said my pal, who’s never written a short story in his life. ‘Never write for free. Goes against everything I stand for.’

Well, sure, I thought. We all want to be paid to write, and to be paid to write creatively is the dream. But after about 5 years of sending off short stories, getting lots published and a fair few recognised in competitions, and finally getting a published collection under my belt, I can’t help thinking that if you waited for the day someone offered to pay you for a short story before letting go of your work, you could end up waiting a whole lifetime.

Sometimes writers of short stories get frustrated that their work only makes its way into publications that aren’t able to pay for their work. A well-known writer was recently very scathing about these smaller venues, and provoked a furious reaction. You sometimes hear aspiring writers on Twitter, aching with unrequited ambition, throwing their hands to heaven and wondering aloud what the point is of killing themselves to craft stories, endure endless rejection, and then, if they do finally find an outlet, receive no more reward than a handful of likes and retweets from a few other aspiring and equally frustrated writers.

Before you get too depressed reading this, I want you to know that there are many good reasons to get stories published, even if at this stage no money changes hands. Here are some of them:

Short fiction is a highly competitive market, and even getting into many of these non-paying venues is no mean feat. Getting published gives you validation, encouragement, motivation, kudos.

Many journals will also make a point of encouraging writers whose work they almost accepted and want to hear from again: the more you sub, the easier it gets to tell the difference between a formula rejection and an encouraging, bespoke No — which, in the case of a prestigious title, can almost feel like an acceptance. Writing is a lonely business, so it’s great to know you’re getting somewhere.

Many venues are edited by aspiring writers, and you will quite often get useful and constructive feedback on your work. If your work is accepted, there may be some valuable edits, and if the work isn’t, you may still get some useful notes to apply to you next version (or next story).

Likewise, sending out a story and seeing the different responses you get is a great way of testing if it really works. A story that never gets accepted, however often you send it out, probably needs a rethink; stories that work often get snapped up quickly.

Part of the job of a writer is to develop the ability to stand behind your words, to make yourself vulnerable at times, to risk ridicule. The more you submit, the less those rejections sting, and the tougher your hide grows. Frequent submissions teach you to take things less personally, to be less self-conscious about your work, and to believe in yourself more.

Getting your stories out there is also a useful way of finding out what kind of writer you are. Once you start to get things published, you will see which types of work get more of a reaction when you publicise them on social media. This doesn’t mean you should be a slave to fashion, of course, but it’s good to develop a sense of where your market might be.

Likewise, you will start to get a sense of the kind of journals and litmags for which your work is a good fit. You might even start writing stories with certain venues in mind. It all helps to develop your storytelling brand, find your tribe and all that jazz.

Getting stories published helps to build your profile in all sorts of ways. You might be able to use your success to give talks, run workshops, sell articles on the craft of writing, and so on.

Even more important, having some credits to your name gives you ammunition to approach paying titles, agents and publishers. (Paying venues, by the way, are absurdly competitive, but my sense is that they are often more likely to take on writers who are already published.)

A writer with stories published in a range of venues has a track record of success that they can lean when they pitch their collection. Most non-paying venues don’t hold on to any rights, so you’re free to publish your stories in a collection — and get paid then!

Dan Brotzel’s debut collection is Hotel du Jack (Sandstone Press)