One of the most consistent comments I get about my writing in general and my short stories in particular, is that they feel YA. I'm not disputing this. My characters are almost always youngish. My stories tend to end with some kind of happy ending (although that's not necessarily a characteristic of YA stories). And even when I write a story with a single character, I don't seem to be able to completely avoid at least a hint of romance. Okay, I get it.

The problem is, there just is no market for YA short stories. I don't know why that is, but it appears to be true.

A recent search on Duotrope for Fantasy, YA, and Short Stories yielded four results.

Of those:

• The first only accepts stories from people half my age or younger.
• The second only accepts stories less than 2000 words in length. (Mine tend to run around 5000.)
• The third only wants stories in which the protagonist is 9 - 14 years old. Okay, my MCs are young, but not quite that young.
• And the last only pays a maximum of $25. I'm sorry, but I'll just hang on to my 5000 word story at that price. It's not worth it.
  

::Frustrated sigh::

I guess this is the main reason I'm starting to consider e-publishing some of my short stories.

[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited March 06, 2011).]
 

IGMS and I think Universe Annex both say they have a PG-13 rating but I don't know if that means they will take YA stories. Rats, I know there's another one. It may not be pro but it would pay more than $25 a story. Have you checked out some of the audio mags? One pays $100 a story. Well, its three mags; Podcastle, Escape Pod and one for horror stories but they seem to be connected.

The one or two I am missing may come to mind after a day or three if someone else doesn't suggest them first.

But I too believe there is a market out there for YA stories.
 

Your predicament brings to mind a certain author:

Roald Dahl

He is very well known for his children's books, but also wrote extensive adult short stories. They are fantastic and very unlike the children's books (one is called something like "Switcharoo" where two men devise a plan to switch wives for an evening without them knowing). Most of his stories are not so base, but many are devilishly clever and others fit into the category of speculative fiction.

My point in all of this is Roald Dahl made a fantastic career writing children's novels, but also broke free and wrote for the adult market as well. Perhaps that is something you might consider.

Other authors became famous writing adult novels, but later wrote YA fiction (Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, James Patterson, John Grisham, et al). It doesn't sound like that is the route you prefer...
 

I'm not sure what separates a YA story from an Adult one nowadays, based on the topics from sex to drugs to difficult relationships that seem to be present in YA as much as Adult novels.
What to you believe classifies a work as "YA"?

A good story I would hope is a good story and fit into appropriate genre niche markets (sf, fantasy, mystery, crime...); but I may be showing my naivite here.

There does seem to be a huge market for young adult novels, and these seem to often be comparatively at the shorter 50K word count novel length.

Respectfully,
Dr. Bob
 

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I'm not sure what separates a YA story from an Adult one nowadays, based on the topics from sex to drugs to difficult relationships that seem to be present in YA as much as Adult novels.
What to you believe classifies a work as "YA"?

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You'll find a variety of definitions. Generally:

• YA stories tend to have young, usually teenage, protagonists. The average age of YA MCs is probably around 17.
• In addition to all of the other things that may happen in a YA story, very often a major part of the story revolves around some aspect of coming of age.
• As you note, YA novels are often shorter than adult novels, but this isn't always true, especially in fantasy.
  

I find myself wondering, now that I think about it, if there shouldn't be a growing market for YA short fiction. If teens are early adopters of technology--even if they only have a phone that they can download and read on--shouldn't there be a market for shorter stories in that format?

Or am I just full of it?
 

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I'm not sure what separates a YA story from an Adult one nowadays, based on the topics from sex to drugs to difficult relationships that seem to be present in YA as much as Adult novels.
What to you believe classifies a work as "YA"?

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Yeah, I started a book that I'm sure is YA from the subject matter and how it was written, not to mention the age of the MC but it begins where the 12 year old or so boy finds out his mother is having an affair with his dad's secretary. His dad tells him but can't tell him what was going to happen with the parents. While the boy is dealing with that he finds a fairy; a tiny person with wings and that begins his adventure with the fairy who is normal in his own land.

But as I said it was the subject matter, age of MC, and how it was written that made it YA. The writing style is hard to describe but it is different.
 

Nonsense. Unless a market specifically ask you not to send it, send it anywhere the genre it fits. You know where I read a YA short story last? Writers of the Future. The winning story, Living Rooms, I would describe as a YA friendly story.
Any adult will enjoy a well-written YA story. Harry Potter is an excellent example. You think only pre-adults bought all those copies? So keep submitting away. If the editor cites that as the reason why it was rejected just keep note and be careful to send anything like that to them again.

Self-publish only when you have exhausted all paying markets. That's my philosophy.

Edited to add: That service duotrope provides is for markets that seek those specific sub-genres. Doesn't mean anything not listed is a market you should avoid.

[This message has been edited by snapper (edited March 06, 2011).]
 

I'm going off the reservation, indie publishing my own short stories. I haven't sent to all the big publishers (as izanobu suggests) but they've mostly been out there and have seen several of them each after WOTF. I get the feeling that my stories are just not quite what the markets are looking for. But I think there's still a market for them (it's just evidence that teens aren't reading IGMS in droves, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest.)

I've had only a few sales thus far with my one indie published short story, but I'm going at it bigger with more stories, a collection, etc. shortly. I hope to have different news to report in the next 6 months.

Good luck, and hey - I sent you a FB friend request. You, me, MAP and Unwritten need to get together for a virtual coffee!
 

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Meredith- so this story hasn't gone to all the pro-zines? Send it! Doesn't matter what age the protag is. I had thought you'd sent to all genre (meaning SF or Fantasy or whatever, not YA) appropriate pro magazines, that's why I suggested e-publishing. If it hasn't gone everywhere first, send it. The age of the protag doesn't matter (my story in DSF at the moment has a 16 year old protagonist... didn't stop them from buying it)

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Oh, it's been around all right. It came closest at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. There are maybe a couple of other places I could send it, but none I'm very excited about.

The YA specific search was in hopes of turning up another market that might be a better prospect.
 

Although...that's not my final verdict. I am assembling a group of teens who will read the first two stories. Their reactions---or, lack thereof---will give me hints as to not only how to improve the stories, but how I might want to take them to market.

S!
S!

 

Heh, with all the people having this issue, maybe someone should start an electronic mag for young adult speculative fiction....

Melanie
 

I would be curious to know how each genre is performing in eBook sales. Are some doing better then others?

Guess I just found something to Google at work.

 

(Experience limited to the SF world...I haven't a clue what's out there that's not SF...and barely have a clue within it...)
 

Just another thought. Especially if your short stories are in the same world or have the same theme. Charlaine Harris wrote a Sookie Stackhouse short story.
 

I've never sent anything to any publishers, so obviously I have never published. I've been refining some of my short stories, and I would say two of them fall into the YA short story category. Can anyone help, and suggest who exactly to send to? and how many stories may I send to different publishers simultaneously?

Thank you!
 

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I've never sent anything to any publishers, so obviously I have never published. I've been refining some of my short stories, and I would say two of them fall into the YA short story category. Can anyone help, and suggest who exactly to send to? and how many stories may I send to different publishers simultaneously?

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Who to send it to:

• Check Duotrope.
• And don't limit your search to just YA publications. Especially if you submit via e-mail, all it's going to cost you is some time.
• If the story is suitable, start with Beneath Ceaseless Skies, they almost always give you some feedback, even when they reject the story.
  

How many at a time?:

In general (check the specific market for variations):

• Most markets only want one story of yours at at time. (No multiple subs)
• Most markets want to be the only one with that story until they accept or reject it. (No simultaneous subs)
• There is absolutely nothing stopping you from sending a different story to every market you can find as long as you don't break the above rules (unless the markets permit).
  

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My predicament is that I am a 100% newbie to the publishing world, and instead of starting my own thread (which i might if I don't get any responses) I thought I'd ask in this thread because I fall in a similar category.

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I loved this. I couldnt stop laughing.

As far as the answer, Meredith said it best above.

[This message has been edited by Tiergan (edited March 09, 2011).]