My short story Hollow Bones has just been published in Storgy, an online literary short story magazine.

“Jen rests her weight into the wall. There are too many people crammed into the streets around her, boxes and crates exploding their contents across the hard-packed earth, life hanging in colourful swatches and a bare-foot transience.” 

Was it easy to get published?

Yes and no:

Written last year, Hollow Bones is the perfect example for not giving up plus the value of leaving a story to ‘settle’ before sending it out. When I first sent it out I received very positive feedback and the story was shortlisted for the 2017 Big Issue Fiction edition. Excitement turned to disappointment when it was eventually turned down but I sent it out again – this time to a well-known Australian literary magazine. Again, I received great feedback in the ‘thank you but no thank you’ email.

So close! So I decided to re-examine the story. And saw some things that needed changing. Small things that I hadn’t noticed before – story edits not grammatical. Which led to some careful editing. Sigh. Which, much to my surprise, turned it into a much better story. And this time it was accepted. Which led to some careful thinking.

Hard though it is – for me – I now wait a couple of months before attempting that excruciating, final edit. And have found that my stories are much better for it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Do you do things differently?

Or are you one of those very lucky writers who can write the perfect story with minimal edits?

Related posts:

34 Magazines and Journals that Accept Fiction.