What to Look for in Short Story Submission Guidelines

Submission guidelines: Just read them and do what they say, right?

Right! Thanks for reading.

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Okay, so there’s a little more to it than that. And honestly, as I can tell you from my experience with Theme of Absence, some writers really seem like they don’t read the guidelines at all. And I know many other editors that will tell you the same thing.

Why is it so important to read the guidelines? Well, if you’re a writer seeking publication, the quickest way to a rejection letter is to blatantly ignore the guidelines. By doing so, you’re telling the editor that either 1) You didn’t bother to check what they expect, or 2) You are too lazy to care. Neither one of those things make a good first impression.

So when you do submit a story to a publication, before hitting ‘send’, why not double check those guidelines and make sure you’re not missing anything. Take a few minutes and ask yourself these five questions. It won’t take long, and who knows, maybe doing what your asked is what can separate your story from the slush pile to the shortlist pile.

1. Does your story meet the genre and length requirements?

This is the single most important thing to ask yourself. Make sure your story fits in the publication. If they don’t publish your genre, then don’t waste your time and theirs by sending in a story that has zero chance of getting an acceptance. Likewise with word count. Assume that a 5000 word limit means that a story with 5001 words will not be read.

2. Is it formatted properly?

Some publications have really detailed and strict formatting guidelines. Some don’t. Generally, most will want some variation of Standard Manuscript Format. The example from William Shunn shows you everything you need to know about it, but it is slightly out of date. For example, the double space after a sentence has pretty much gone out of style and most publishers would rather see italics than underlines.

3. Are you submitting the story the preferred way?

The editor should be clear if they want the story pasted in an email, submitted as an attachment, or through a submission manager. Do exactly what they say, and if they don’t say, then use your best judgement. I would recommend submitting an rtf with Courier font set to size 12.

4. Are you including the requested information?

Some places want detailed author bios, some don’t. I’ve seen some publications request a detailed publication history, and others say no more than a 50-word bio. Same for cover letters. Some say they won’t even read it. Some editors want to read a summary of your story, but most seem like they don’t. Be sure to note what they ask for, and if they don’t say, then assume less is more. Include only the basic information in your cover letter: Title, Genre, Word Count, and short statement about your publishing history should be all they need.

5. Are you following all of the other “rules”?

One of the biggest guidelines people tend to overlook (or ignore completely) is the one about simultaneous submissions. I know authors may think it doesn’t matter; that the publication won’t know if you’re submitting elsewhere, but it really does matter if they choose to accept your story. I can’t tell you how angry I get when I send a Theme of Absence acceptance letter only to get a response of “Sorry this was already accepted at X” when I specifically state “No simultaneous submissions.” Unless a publication clearly states that simultaneous submissions are acceptable, assume they are not. Same for multiple submissions and reprints.

Oh and just for a bonus, allow me to define those terms if you’re new to this:

Common terms when submitting short stories

Simultaneous submissions

This is when you submit the same story to a number of publications at the same time, as opposed to submitting it to one and waiting for a response before submitting it to another publication. The number of publications that are okay with this is growing, but a lot of places still prefer to say no simultaneous submissions for the reasons I listed above.

Multiple submissions

This is when you submit multiple stories to a single publication. Most will only want to see one story at a time from a given author.

Reprints

A reprint is a story that has been previously published elsewhere and the author has retained rights to submit it to a new publication. Many places won’t accept reprints at all, or may have different rules or pay for reprints. If you’re submitting a previously published story, take extra caution to make sure the rights have been returned to you and that the place you are submitting is aware of the fact that the story is a reprint.

And that pretty much sums things up. Now, I know that submitting short stories is much different than querying agents or submitting a complete novel. We’ll cover agents tomorrow, so be sure to check back then. And until then, if you can think of anything I missed, feel free to leave a comment and let us know!