BY DIANE JORTNER
Writing is a Lonely Business. But does it have to be?
The one complaint I hear from writers is that it is such a solitary career. Often novice and established writers complain that even family members don’t get excited about what they are doing or the fun twists in their story arcs or new conflicts and how their characters face them. No one want to hear their clever turn of a phrase nearly as much as they want to hear about the latest million-dollar sale or how a life was saved with a successful operation. They feel alone, but nothing will get them to quit writing, as they love it in spite of the isolation.
Let me suggest a solution, one that lets writers be writers but adds a cheering team: submit a story to an anthology. There are many publishing outlets looking for short works of fiction, or nonfiction. Some, like Xchyler, pay a portion of the sales revenue to each writer, while others pay a fixed award. Still others are created to support a charity. Some charge a small fee, and use the fees to either pay the judges or to award the winners. No matter what, you will not likely get rich writing for an anthology, but you will reap several benefits.
1. You will not be alone. You will be working with editors and other writers, bouncing around ideas and helping one another.
2. You will get published. Oft times, getting into print is the step many novice writers need to keep them going. You can add author pages to Amazon and GoodReads, and share with your family and friends.
3. You will learn a lot, especially if you are a novice writer. Working with editors and publishers, you will not only learn about crafting a tight story, but you will learn about the process of bringing a book from words on a paper to print (or ebook).
4. You will make new friends who understand what you are going through.
5. You will have your name associated with other authors.
6. You will have a great gift to give for birthdays and other holidays, and it won’t look to self-serving, as it will have several other names on it too.
7. You will grow as a writer.
There are several ways to find places looking for short works for their anthologies. Of course, Xchyler has contests three times a year. We just completed our Steampunk competition. Our next will focus on paranormal tales. That contest commences March 31st. And we are releasing a fantasy anthology this month: The Toll of Another Bell.
Here is another great source for finding places to publish. You can also try Twitter, searching #submissions #stories #anthology. Of course Google searches under terms like ‘short story submissions’ bring up many options.
So, if you just feel alone, or want to take a break in your full-novel writing, try searching the Internet for writing competitions and try a submitting a short story.
*The one thing to remember, though, in submitting short fiction, is to follow the guidelinesfor each publisher. You don’t want your hard work kicked out, unread, just because it was submitted incorrectly.
Xchylery Publishing’s next short story competition invites paranormal writers to submit their stories 5,000-10,000 words in length, beginning March 31, 2015 through April 30, 2015. Theme: Losers Weepers.
Marketing Research Specialist Diane Lee Jortner fell in love with the media as a high school newspaper editor. With BA in Journalism/Public Relations from Bowling Green State University and a MALS in English from Valparaiso University, she brings her fifteen years’ experience teaching English Composition and her extensive personal social networking experience to The X Team.
In the past year, Diane launched Kids #5 and #6 who graduated from college, #6, the youngest from high school, written a YA mystery novel, and started to blog. In her free time, besides reading almost all types of fiction, she likes to travel with her husband and children.