Many contests and magazines use the Submittable platform to accept and review the large volume of manuscripts they received from writers. When a publisher uses this platform, it’s great for us as authors because we can use the app to keep track of what we have submitted, and where it currently is in the process. Also, by using the submittable app, you can see what publications have submission dates that are closing soon, and which are going to be open for a while.

When you see an opportunity that falls into your area of expertise and which has a reasonably distant closing date, you can tailor a piece to fit that slot. The key to successfully getting a story accepted is to build the theme of the contest or magazine into your work so solidly that the story would fall apart without it.

Even if nothing currently offered has a reasonable closing date, knowing the trending themes publishers are asking for is crucial to building your backlog with salable stories, so if you don’t have a Submittable account, you should get one.

What I hope to do in each story I begin writing is to identify what the theme the publisher wants stories written to means to me.

Your story will be up against many entries, so you must make yours as unique as is possible. Analyze the theme and try to think creatively—think a little wide of the obvious tropes. Look for an original angle that will play well to that theme and then go for it.

To support the theme, you must layer

• character studies,
• allegory, and
• imagery

These three layers must all be driven by the central theme and advance the story arc.

The theme is introduced, either subtly or overtly, at the first pinch-point. Many times, we are given a specific word count we cannot exceed. So, with that in mind I suggest you put together a broad outline of your intended story arc, and when writing a short story, it helps to know how it will end. Divide your story arc into quarters, so you have the important events in place at the right time. If you try to "pants" it, you might end up with a mushy plot that wanders all over the place and a story that may not be commercially viable.

When you assemble your outline, ask yourself

• What will be your inciting incident? How does it relate to the theme?
• What is the goal/objective? How does it relate to the theme?
• At the beginning of the story, what could the hero possibly want to cause him to risk everything to acquire it?
• How badly does he want it and why?
• Who is the antagonist?
• What moral (or immoral) choice is the protagonist going to have to make in his attempt to gain that objective?
• What happens at the first pinch point?
• In what condition do we find the group at the midpoint?
• Why does the antagonist have the upper hand? What happens at the turning point to change everything for the worse?
• At the ¾ point, your protagonist should have gathered his resources and companions and should be ready to face the antagonist. How will you choreograph that meeting?
• How does the underlying theme affect every aspect of the protagonists’ evolution in this story?

It’s easy to get involved in large info dumps and bunny trails to nowhere in short stories, and you don’t want that as your work will be summarily rejected.

As an author, most of my novels have been epic or medieval fantasy, based around the hero’s journey and detailing how the events my protagonists experience shape their reactions and personal growth. The hero’s journey is a theme that allows me to employ the sub-themes of brotherhood, and love of family.

These concepts are important to me on a personal level, and so they find their way into my writing.

But what if you aren’t really writing anything for submission? What if you just want to write a short story for your backlog, something to have on hand in case something promising comes up?

First consider the length—if you have no particular place to submit to in mind, keep the length down to 3000 to 5000 words. If you keep it shortish, you can easily tailor it to fit within a wide range of wordcount parameters.

Then consider the theme. What themes are important to you? When you look for a book, what catches your interest? I am not talking genre here, I am speaking of the deeper story. When you look at it from a distance, what do all the stories you love best have in common?

That is what your theme is, and what you must write to. Make that theme so intrinsic to the story that it wouldn’t exist without it.

Then, write the best story you can, have it beta read by your critique group, and use their input to iron out the rough places. It really helps to have your group’s involvement, especially when you must edit your own work to the best of your ability. Let it rest for a few days, and then look at one more time before you submit it.
 
      _______________________________________________________________________________

Connie J. Jasperson is the author of nine novels. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies. A founding member of Myrddin Publishing Group, she can be found blogging regularly on both the craft of writing and art history at Life in the Realm of Fantasy.

As professional writers, we are often invited to submit a story to an Anthology being put together by one of our various professional groups.
 
While the groups may differ in their area of focus, certain elements will be the same no matter what genre the editors are asking for or the theme that will tie the anthology together.
 
The story must embody the desired theme, and the editors only want your best work.
 
What is “your best work?”
 
Your best work

• Is written with the theme of the Anthology in mind, a central facet of the story. How does this theme affect the protagonist? How does it drive the story?
• The story arc is coherent and logical with a fully developed beginning, middle, and end.
• The characters are fully developed.
• The setting is fully developed.
• The manuscript has been revised and proofread PRIOR to submission. Your best bet is to have a member of your local writing/critique group (not the anthology’s editor) edit your work to help you make it submission ready.

 
Why is theme so critical to work submitted to anthologies? Theme is what the story is about on a deeper level than what is seen on the surface. It’s the big meaning, a thread that is woven through the entire story, and often it’s a moral. Love, honor, family, redemption, and revenge are all common, underlying themes. Theme is an idea-thread that winds through the story and supports the plot.
 
Without a central theme to connect the works of so many different authors, the anthology will be disjointed and uneven, a patchwork. The unifying theme ensures continuity. If you are all writing to a common theme, the readers who purchase the anthology will stay with it and read your work.
 
Once you are satisfied you have caught all the errors and misspellings, garbled sentences, and plot holes, and that you have had it edited to the best of your ability, you must format your manuscript for submission according to the guidelines as set out by the anthology’s editor.
For most anthologies, editors want the work formatted according to the guidelines as set out by William Shunn. Those guidelines can be found in detail at this website: https://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
 
In essence, use Times New Roman or Courrier .12 font and be sure your manuscript is

• Aligned left
  
• 1 in. margins
  
• Double-spaced
  
• Has formatted indented paragraphs
  
• The header contains the title and author name
  
• The first page contains the author’s mailing address and contact information in upper left hand corner
  

 
If your professional group has a Facebook page or private chatroom, those guidelines will be posted there.
 
Sometimes, we find out at the last minute that an opportunity for getting a piece into an anthology is open, and we think we can cobble a piece together in a day or two.
 
I do advise against succumbing to this temptation, as your theme must be strongly represented throughout your story, and the work must be as clean as is humanly possible, two things that are difficult to accomplish when a story is slapped together. Don’t feel surprised if your sloppy, unedited work is rejected.
 
The editor of the anthology has asked for your best work. You want the other authors to submit their best work so that your work will be included with the best the industry has to offer. Be respectful and do the same with your work.
 
Do NOT rush it. Take the time to make your short story the very best work you can, so it represents you and what you are capable of.
 
 
Connie J. Jasperson is the author of nine novels. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies. A founding member of Myrddin Publishing Group, she can be found blogging regularly on both the craft of writing and art history at Life in the Realm of Fantasy.