Hello!

For those who don’t know, recently one of my Twitter/X posts got swept up by the algorithm (which was terrifying and exciting–more on that later). Many people responded, asking me what was my secret to having so many submissions out in the world. So, without further ado, I present to you, my tips and tricks for short story submissions (in no particular order).

Find the Stats Tracker that Works for You

When you are just starting out on your submission journey, it’s important to find which tracker works best for you. I have some friends that use Excel for all their tracking, and some that use an online tracking system. I’ve heard great things about ChillSubs, especially for literary submissions, and I use Submission Grinder, as it is helpful for speculative fiction submissions. Other sites such as Submittable can be useful as well. The key is to find whichever works for you!

If you are writing mostly literary pieces, I’d recommend ChillSubs. If you are writing mostly speculative fiction pieces (fantasy, science fiction, horror), I’d recommend Submission Grinder. Don’t be afraid to ask what others use and try out different ones. But whichever you use, stick with it as it’ll make your life easier when you’re tracking more submissions than you can fit in your head!

Set Reasonable and Reach Goals

A reasonable goal is a goal that is slightly beyond your current stats and feels a bit challenging but manageable with the right tools in place. A reach goal is a goal that you would love to reach, but it’ll take lots of stretching. For instance, if you can only reach your thighs, a reasonable goal is to be able to touch your toes and a stretch goal is to be able to put your hands on the ground. I feel it is important to have both goals, as well as rewards for each, to help motivate you along the way.

Last year, I figured a little over double my current submissions of 42 would be a good goal. Based on the data I had, it felt like a reasonable goal for myself. I surprised myself by almost reaching my reach goal of 500 submissions. This year, my reasonable goal (based on 460 submissions last year) is 460 submissions, but I’d like to get to 500+ if possible.

Determine How Many Stories to Write

I discovered quite quickly in this process that submitting stories eventually ends up with a sale, which tends to take the story out of the submission pool. Therefore, it was important to me that I wrote more stories than I was selling. For me last year, that ended up being about 2 a month, as I was selling about 1ish every month or so. This would not only replace the story that was sold, but also add more stories to submit. The more you have to submit, the easier it is to submit to more places. Find what works for you, and try your best to hit the goal.

Be Consistent

When you are submitting, it’s important to find a consistency that works for you. Some of my friends submit once every day to help them stay on top of it. I personally have found my ADHD brain does not like the monotony of that. I work better reserving an hour or two every weekend to do everything in one big blast.

It’s okay to fall off the wagon, as long as you get back up.

Determine When You Will Submit

For me, I’ve found that submitting in the morning on Saturday, or late afternoon Sunday works the best. I play whichever album I’m currently invested in at the time (right now it’s the new Taylor Swift album), and submit for the entirety of the album, or at least for as long as I have stories to submit or time to give. Other people submit one story right before they go to bed, and others submit when they wake up so they can start the day with a sense of accomplishment. Find which works for you, and don’t be afraid to experiment as you find your grove!

Find New Markets

This by far has to be the hardest of submitting (except for, you know, actually submitting). I mean, you get this beautiful story together, ready for the world, and now… where is the world? How do you get it there?

Two things that I like to do are stalk the Submission Grinder recently added markets (a section at the bottom of the homepage) and check Erica Verillo’s publishing page (here’s the one for June 2024). At the beginning and end of every month, I compile a list from these lists that shows any market that looks remotely interesting to me. Then, when I go to submit, I already have a list ready to go.

(I also check my friend’s page for micro/drabble markets when I have a story that fits. Emma is a cool person and great writer that I’d highly recommend you check out.)

Gamify It

The first two years I started submitting, I didn’t give myself any rewards. Last year, I gave myself the reward of theater tickets and stickers. For every submission, I got a sticker. For every 100 submissions, I got theater tickers. I went from 42 submissions all year to 460 submissions, simply by gamifying it. Find what motivates you, and set that as a reward. It helps to set a reward for short-term goals, like 1 or 10 submissions, but give yourself a long-term goal to aim for.

Tell Your Friends to Keep You Motivated/Accountable

The biggest driver for me was telling friends. I am a people pleaser by nature (something my therapist says I should ‘work on’), so I decided to use that part of myself to my advantage. The more people I told my goal to, the more likely I was to hit it, as I didn’t want them to be disappointed. It didn’t matter if they were actually tracking it or not. I just needed someone else to know.

In terms of the practical implications of this, I have my submission goal posted on my Discord account as a status update. While I know most people don’t check it, every now and then, a friend messages me about my status, urging me to keep going. This has helped me to stay accountable without having to message someone everytime I submit anything.

I hope this helps! Good luck on your submitting journey. Please tag me on Twitter/X, Bluesky, or Mastodon if you end up using any of my tips and tricks.

Thank you for visiting my corner of the world,

Camden