Breaking in to the publishing world

[AZimmer23]

I have received a lot of encouragement to self-publish, but that takes money I don't have after returning to college to finish my degree (i.e. I'm buried in student loans).

So let me ask this: Is selling a few short stories a good way to break in to the industry, or is it better to concentrate on a novel and see where that goes? I know many of us write both and I'm just wondering if publishers even care about short stories, especially if you haven't received much attention for them. Now, if one were to be nominated for a Hugo or other award, that would certainly make a difference, but such things are limited.

I'm going to write regardless, but knowing I had an outlet would be nice.

 

[RJM Corbet]

I have received a lot of encouragement to self-publish, but that takes money I don't have after returning to college to finish my degree (i.e. I'm buried in student loans).

So let me ask this: Is selling a few short stories a good way to break in to the industry, or is it better to concentrate on a novel and see where that goes? I know many of us write both and I'm just wondering if publishers even care about short stories, especially if you haven't received much attention for them. Now, if one were to be nominated for a Hugo or other award, that would certainly make a difference, but such things are limited.

I'm going to write regardless, but knowing I had an outlet would be nice.

Magazines will look at short stories, relevant obviously to their own reader market.

Book publishers will only publish short story collections by estabished authors ...

 

[The Judge]

If you have publishing credits from recognised, good quality magazines, it may encourage an agent to read your work even if your query letter isn't itself the best, since it indicates that other professionals have seen something in your writing. Other than that, and in the absence of getting a nomination, no, they're not likely to take you very much further. However, being published in even the least of publications will give you extra confidence in your writing, which in itself may help you in your novel-writing.