Thinking about Paying Markets

I find as I grow into this writing life, things shift and change, and the latest shift is towards something I have been thinking about for a while: only submitting my stories to literary journals that pay.

Before I carry on, I want to stress that I certainly don't subscribe to the school of thought that submitting to non-paying journals is somehow "giving away your work for free". Not at all. Publication is a vital part of being a writer, especially a writer of short stories, and when you are beginning to send work out, being accepted for publication is extremely important. First, there is the sense that you are not just writing for yourself: one other person - the editor, who is not related to you, who doesn't know you, who isn't invested in your emotional wellbeing - has just told you that they respond to your work. You now have a reader. Then, there is the seeing of your work as part of something bigger, as part of the editor's vision for the journal. And, of course, there is the audience, the readership, others who are now being given the chance to see if they respond to your work. All of this also goes into building your reputation as a writer, getting "out there". To my mind, these things are just as important as monetary payment, if not more so.

Publication builds confidence, allows you to say to yourself "I am a writer", and that will spur you on to write more and submit more and grow more into your writing self. Having a book is one peak of this process, you can now say "I am a published author", and, as someone told me when The White Road & Other Stories came out, no-one can every take this away from you. You will die a published author.

The next stage is when your confidence is such that you don't need to be published to like what you are doing, to know that you are a writer, to know that you will keep on writing. The need here has changed. For me, what I now need is justification for the decision I made two years ago to write full time. I need to know that my writing is a career, is something I can do to support myself. For this, I need to be paid. Even if that payment is nowhere near a salary, whatever it is, I can say "I am being paid for my writing". It now replaces what I was doing before, journalism, as a source of income. I recently was asked to submit flash stories for a series of chapbooks by a new small press. When I heard that they could be previously published stories, and that I would be paid, I was amazed, delighted. Two flash stories were accepted, and I received $50. That may not sound like a lot, but that's real money. That pays part of some bill or other, puts some food on the table. It makes a difference.

Naturally, as for most writers, that source of income will need to be supplemented by others, and, as for many of us, that is teaching. That was another shift for me, another stage: I put myself into a position where I was asking a room full of people to see me as someone experienced, who knows something and has knowledge to impart. Some kind of authority. Doing that for the first time was scary: not only was I asking to be treated as if I had authority, I was getting paid for it. But, after the first session, I felt that I had not only asked and received this, but that I myself felt that it was actually true. I did have something to pass on, something to talk about, and now, four months later, I see how much it enriches my writing life.

So, from now on, it's paid markets only and writing-related paying work. If, as has happened a few times recently, I am asked to submit to a journal that doesn't pay, I will definitely submit, because this is also a shift, being "solicited", and it means something to me. But in a way, it's a relief not to "have" to submit to the many many excellent non-paying journals out there. Keeping track of submissions was driving me a little crazy! Now, my pool is limited. Probably a very good thing. Maybe I will actually get more writing done.