help and advice, please

Sorry, I should have made it clear in my above post - I send out 25 stories a month to EACH of the 5 magazines that I submit to. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Bryony

I'm no way in any position to offer advice, being very young and just starting out, but my gut reaction to your post was to scream "don't give up!!". I understand that that really isn't of any actual use to you, and doesn't resolve your problem, but thought I'd let you know there's someone out there sending good thoughts your way. I wish you the very best of luck, and hope there's someone out there who can offer you their experiences or make some useful suggestions. Beth

Bryony, You aren't another Ralph in disguise, are you? I can't believe you really send 25 stories each month to five magazines! Speaking as an editor of a couple of magazines, if someone was sending me 25 stories a month I'd probably call the police or move offices. You shouldn't send more than one short story to any one editor at a time. If you send them loads they're likely to think you're a nutter and not bother reading any of them. And while professional presentation is a good thing, it's a fairly small issue compared to writing something good and sending it to the right place. David.

I applaud your tenacity. That's a whole lotta stories. Advice? Concentrate on quality over quantity, join a creative writing society (or an online community like this one) and start swapping your work with other people, critiquing and counter-critiquing, and focus on making your writing as sharp as it can be. I don't pretend to be an authority or nuttin, but I think getting others to read your stuff is really helpful.

Thank you, everyone, for all your help, advice and encouragement. I've certainly got some "food for thought" now. David, can I just reassure you that I never send out 25 stories to a magazine in one go! I send them out either singly or in batches of 2. I've just found that it helps me to keep going if I try and send something out most days, as having large piles of stories sitting staring at me can be rather depressing. If I just get something into the post box each day, then I feel I have achieved something! Anyway, I've decided to try and keep going until Christmas, putting into practice the advice you've all given me, and see how I feel in the new year. Thank you again for your help Bryony.

It's a sad fact of life, but just about the only way to make a living writing short stories is to (strictly) conform to the guidelines laid out by such literary tomes as Womans Own, Best, Bella, Chat etc etc. I know quite a few writers who earn their bread and butter writing for such mags whilst reserving their 'proper' writing for the Small Presses which pay very little, if anything. If you're willing to conform, there's quite a decent living to be made writing shorts, but DO expect stringent guidelines which include perfect presentation. This site might interest you... www.midlandexposure.co.uk

I've submitted a few things to U.S. publications, all of which were rejected, some because they did not conform to the expectations of the publication, some because I sent two pieces and they only accept one at a time, blah blah blah. It's like talking to someone in personnel when job hunting. They look for reasons to say no, and with so many people writing today, it's easy to find reasons to say no. Still, keep at it. If that's what you enjoy doing, keep at it.

Yep, agree again (must stop doing that) - keep plugging away, there's nothing like receiving your first acceptance. As I said though, every mag has different reuqirements and guidelines (and this includes the Small Press), so it's essential to read them (and follow them) for every mag you submit to. Lots o' luck.

I would love to be positive, but it's very difficult for me at the moment. When I started submitting stories, I worked out that I needed to make about £50 a month in order to break even and make ends meet. 13 years and around 1800 stories later, I haven't sold anthing, and I'm now about £7,000 in debt with no way of paying it off. Today I took the final step and destroyed all of my work. I can't afford to carry on and besides I need the space inthe filing cabinets. If any editors are reading this, please realise that by continually rejecting someone who has submitted stories regularly for many years, you could be ruining their life and taking away their hopes and aspirations. Just a little encouragement could be all they need. I can't believe that there could possibly be something wrong with every story! Also, I always made the effort to ensure that manuscripts were well presented. It was very demoralising when they came back badly creased and with coffee spilt all over them. I also found out from one editor that approximately one in every six stories she received each month were submitted by me. You would think in 13 years that at least one of these would have been accepted. If this post seems angry and bitter, please accept my apologies, but I've had enough of rejection and I'm not prepared to take any more. I wish everyone else luck in their chosen path and hope you will all meet with success.