You love to write, and you’ve always been able to write short stories to entertain yourself. Now, you can make money writing and retain the ability to enjoy your own stories! Short story publishing is a fantastic opportunity that can help you to break out of the routine of day-to-day work life and provide you with extra cash to buy those delicious cupcakes you love so much. Don’t forget to treat yourself!
If you’re able to convince an agent or publisher to take on your short story, you could be on your way to securing a six-figure sum for your literary efforts. Proving yourself as a capable writer and securing a reputation as a quick writer will gain you many followers and fans on social media, potentially leading to greater success in the future.
The Perfect Short Story
Now, you may be wondering what makes for the perfect short story. Well, it’s simple: a short story should be quick and easy to write, roughly between 500-2000 words in length. Typically, a short story revolves around a character’s struggle or conflict in some way, and follows a simple yet engaging plot structure.
If you’re able to write a quick and engaging story, you’ll be able to entice readers into continuing on through to the end, where you’ll hopefully reveal a surprising twist to the tale. If the twist is a positive one, you’ll have inspired hope in your readers, whilst shocking them with a negative twist will cause them to question what they just read. In either case, you’ll have succeeded in crafting an engaging story that will stick in the reader’s mind.
The Benefits Of Short Story Publishing
Short stories can be a great way to develop your story-telling skills, and ultimately, your writing portfolio. Publishing a short story is a fantastic way to expand your range, try something new, and gain valuable experience. Remember, writing a short story doesn’t guarantee you’ll be able to sell it; you might not even intend to publish it at first. However, writing a short story can help you to become a better, more confident writer in the future. If you do decide to publish it, it’s a great way to promote yourself as a talented author and gain some credibility.
The best part is, you don’t need to have a novel or long-form story to publish a short story. We’re currently in an era where people love reading and experiencing short stories because they’re easy to consume in small bites. When you have a quick read available, people are more likely to pick it up and dive in. Whilst a novel might require a few days or even weeks to process, a short story can be read in a matter of hours or even minutes. This makes them perfect for busy schedules, when you want to be able to catch up on some much-needed reading, or when you simply want to indulge in a few minutes of pleasure.
How To Get Paid To Write Short Stories
If you’re wanting to make money writing, there are several options available to you. You can look into traditional magazine publishing, where you’ll be employed on a freelance basis and paid per piece based on a set number of articles you have published. You’ll most likely be required to write under a certain word count, and you’ll be expected to follow a certain structure. Whilst this might be sufficient if you want to simply make some cash, if you want to develop your career and want to be able to prove yourself as a capable writer, you should consider pursuing short story publishing.
There are several companies and platforms that exist solely to enable authors to publish short stories. For example, Quick Fiction has over 100,000 stories listed for publication, and you can easily get your short story published online in less than an hour, with payment made via PayPal. For those unfamiliar with the platform, it’s a great way to quickly and easily get your work published. Whilst this might seem like a fantastic option, especially if you want to be able to write what you want when you want, it can be difficult to break into this field, as the competition is incredibly fierce.
The Steps To Take Before You Start
If you want to make money writing, you should consider writing for other platforms first, gaining experience and learning from others. Publishing a short story isn’t as easy as clicking a button and having it appear on a site, ready for purchase. You’ll most likely have to go through an agent or a publisher to get your work published. Once you’ve obtained a publishing contract, the work will begin, and you’ll need to follow the rules and regulations set down by the publisher. You’ll also need to make sure that you abide by any word limit that might be imposed upon you, as well as adhere to a certain schedule in terms of submitting your work. If you’re able to adhere to these rules and regulations, the financial opportunities that are available to you could be a fantastic boost to your career, enabling you to fund your future creative endeavours.
Where To From Here?
So, what now? Where do you go from here? Well, you can sit back and let your earnings roll in, or you can continue writing and submitting your work, aiming for bigger and better things. If you continue writing for fun and love it, you could even consider doing this as a side-hustle or a hobby, whilst still being able to continue to feed your creative writing addiction. Ultimately, it’s all down to you and what you want from this creative outlet. If you want to make money, you could try out the magazine or newspaper publishing route, or you could try and secure representation from an agency, aiming for traditional publishing. Whichever you decide, just be sure to have fun with it.