funny story

Dean Walsh

Making a living as a writer of any kind is not an easy thing to do, and short stories are perhaps one of the most difficult formats to earn a living from. There are not a lot of obvious paying markets for your work, and those that there are out there can sometimes be very picky indeed, only accepting and paying for very specific types of story. But don't despair, it is still very possible to get paid for your short fiction, possibly even to make a modest living from it, and you can also use this medium very effectively to help establish a name for yourself as a writer so that you can be more successful with your other work.

And here is another reason to be cheerful - if you have a good sense of humor and you are capable of writing funny stuff then this will really open up your options and give you many more places to publish your work and get paid. One of the reasons for this is that you can write in pretty much any other genre, perhaps mocking the prevailing cliches or just placing your humor in an appropriate context and story line. So even though you are a funny story writer, you can submit to markets who are looking for anything from crime mysteries to horror to inspirational pieces.

When asked about how a writer can increase their chances of getting published I always say that the most important thing is to research the market and see what publishers want before you even start thinking about writing your stories. If you write what people want to pay for then you will obviously be more successful than if you write what you want to write and then only start looking for a market afterwards.

In my opinion the next most important thing to do is to try to write as much as possible. You can never have too many unpublished stories in your portfolio: and just because no publisher wants a story now does not mean that it wouldn't be perfect for a contest or themed anthology or something else that may come along in a year or two's time. Also if you have lots and lots of unpublished work then you could think about giving some of it away for free in order to build up your reputation and perhaps even get a few fans so that you then look like a much more appealing prospect for publishers in the future.

It can take a long time to become successful as a writer, so please do not give up if you are having trouble. I wish you all the luck in the world, and hope you keep writing and succeed in getting published.

Dean Walsh runs a website which pays for funny short stories, and also writes informative articles for authors on topics such as how to get published.

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