There are three things you need when it comes to submitting your short story for publication.
- A finished story.
- Somewhere to send it.
- Intestinal fortitude
Oh and a bonus fourth thing: a pretty submission tracking spreadsheet (now available for freebies and Glorious Writing Beasts on your dashboard).
Point 3 on the list is, perhaps, the hardest, so we asked six of our fave writers how they manage the story submission carousel.
Here’s what they said:
Sarah Royston
Shameless plug: Fernseed: A Collection of Tales
Share your declines with your writerly community (as well as sharing successes) – the sympathy and solidarity lessen the pain. Plus, it helps create a supportive and open culture instead of one focussed only on ‘wins’.
When I’m suffering from ennui, I look for a submission call with a fun prompt or theme to get me inspired (recently: ‘music related horror’; and ‘queer weird Arthuriana’). The Authors Publish free newsletter offers a regular list of open themed calls.
When the fun stops, stop! Sometimes I get into subbing-treadmill mode, and the focus on external rewards kills my creativity. It’s okay to take a break.
Kathy Hoyle
Shameless plug: New story out soon in Perfect Circle
Because I’m a short fiction/flash writer, I’ve been on the subbing carousel for years, and have experienced the whole crazy business of it from both sides of the fence – as a reader for competitions and editor for lit mags, and also as a writer who sends work out and waits not-so-patiently for those rejection emails.
My advice is don’t take anything personally. Editors may not choose your work simply because they have accepted something similar just minutes before. Competition readers are usually good eggs but are still human and, therefore, subjective. They may simply have preferred a different story, even if yours was technically just as good. I’ve had so many stories work their way up several rungs of the rejection ladder only to be unexpectedly accepted somewhere or go on to win a competition prize.
I honestly wish there was some kind of formula we could share but it’s just a matter of persistence, resilience and good old-fashioned luck. Take all the feedback you can, be prepared to tweak a little (maybe even just a title change is all you need), but at the end of the day just keep going.
All writers have subbing peaks and troughs but also know that some writing can just be for pleasure, so enjoy the act of crafting the work, enjoy writing something that pleases YOU. That’s important, and whatever comes after that is an added bonus.
Mara Livermore
Shameless plug: fill in Mara's masters degree research survey here
Go for 1000 noes. Start a spreadsheet if that’s your bag (it is mine) and track your responses.
On your way to your 1000th no, you will likely get a few yeses, and you’ve reduced the magnitude on each application.
Spreadsheets are not for everybody, but having the list to look back at can be helpful when your brain has forgotten how to contextualise a yes or no.
Also, surround your subbing with joy. Celebrate the act of getting it done, finding a new opportunity even, and all the bits along the way.
Iqbal Hussain
Shameless plug: The Night I Borrowed Time, Waterstones Book of the Month January 2026.
The main thing I’d say is: tell a good story.
As someone who’s both submitted to competitions and judged them, I can promise that a typo, a misplaced comma or a slightly clunky sentence won’t ruin a brilliant piece. Those things can be edited out. What matters is the story itself and the voice behind it. If the competition has a theme or prompt, engage with it properly: write for that specific competition, rather than sending something you already had sitting in a folder. Judges read hundreds of entries, so don’t give them an easy reason to say no.
Make your work stand out – but for the right reasons.
Lisa Fransson
Shameless plug: The Shape of Guilt
The self-rejection is the saddest kind of rejection, when you ask yourself why you should bother submitting when it’s only going to be a “no” anyway. Whereas hitting that submit button is a self-affirmative action that says “I believe in myself and my work”. And whatever happens next doesn’t really matter, because after you’ve submitted you have momentarily relinquished control of your piece and the only sensible thing to do now is to get back to work, to write another piece.
Tabitha Bast
Shameless plug: God, Whatever, third place in the Claret Press Short Story competition.
I’d say know when to roll and when to hold ’em! I get trigger happy and send in too early, before it’s my best piece, with the excitement of submission and being able to tick it off as finished. Most writers I know have the opposite problem and perfect to death but either way, find the balance!
Where to go next?
Have a look at our list of resources for subbing writers here.
Read Alice Slater’s essay about the one story submission that changed her life.