Edumacate me on Literary Magazines

[Linkara]

So in my constant attempts to get professionally published, it dawned on me that works like Oliver Twist used to be published as a few chapters at a time in a literary magazine and then later collected as a book. For a number of reasons this appeals to me, especially when one considers that a story can be dropped or picked up again later depending on the market at the time versus having to toss a full book around several publishers. As such, I just want to know if this sort of writing is still done or is it ENTIRELY short stories with no continuations? Also I'd love to know if anyone can point me in the direction of some that do them (especially any science-fiction ones).

[Infra-Man]

Hmmm... Apart from The New York Times Magazine's Sunday Serials, I don't know that literary magazines do serialized novels anymore, though that's my limited knowledge on the subject (I read Tin House and Granta and occasionally Glimmer Train, the fiction in Harper's and The New Yorker, and annual fiction issue from The Atlantic; none of them are science-fiction oriented, but it's always worth it to flip through them for free in the bookstore if you get a chance and are into literary fiction).

And even then, the Sunday Serials are written by well-established authors like Elmore Leonard and Michael Chabon, not new or up-and-coming writers by any means.

It would be a good idea to use a standalone chapter in your longer work that functions well as a short story. Most magazines have length guidelines anyway, which would limit the length of a submission.

[Tetsuo_man]

weird tales take submissions for two part novelas.

[Sarah Beach]

Although I haven't looked at it in years, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (aka F&SF), published (when last seen) in pulp format, occasionally publishes novellas in parts. Usually just 2 parts.

Go to the library and check the current edition of The Writer's Market, and the descriptions of the various magazines, what they're looking for, who to contact, etc. etc.

[Linkara]

All very useful advice. ^^ Thanks!

Part of the problem of this process is the fact that I never want to do single stand-alone stories. I always think of the next plot point, the next new idea, the next character angle... Hell, you know that 10-page comic that got accepted into an anthology? I actually have the full backstory and first full 22-page comic and story arc in my head. XD

[Shisho]

All very useful advice. ^^ Thanks!

Part of the problem of this process is the fact that I never want to do single stand-alone stories. I always think of the next plot point, the next new idea, the next character angle... Hell, you know that 10-page comic that got accepted into an anthology? I actually have the full backstory and first full 22-page comic and story arc in my head. XD

Have you considered a Novel-in-Stories? You can write several short stories that are part of a bigger story, then try to get them published. When you're done with the big book and try to get the manuscript sold, you can point to the fact that some of the chapters have already been showcased in some magazines. Authors do it all the time, and I kind of like the structure.

[Infra-Man]

Have you considered a Novel-in-Stories? You can write several short stories that are part of a bigger story, then try to get them published. When you're done with the big book and try to get the manuscript sold, you can point to the fact that some of the chapters have already been showcased in some magazines. Authors do it all the time, and I kind of like the structure.

Two of my favorite novel-in-stories (also called short-story cycles) are Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury and Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson.

[Linkara]

Have you considered a Novel-in-Stories? You can write several short stories that are part of a bigger story, then try to get them published. When you're done with the big book and try to get the manuscript sold, you can point to the fact that some of the chapters have already been showcased in some magazines. Authors do it all the time, and I kind of like the structure.

I've considered that, but I was unsure if it would work or not. I mean, I try to write chapters to be miniature stories in themselves or at least some kind of episodic format, but I fear a lot of is missed on the part of the reader if they suddenly entered the story in the middle of it. Not to mention wouldn't editors be wondering why a group of characters are together and what events they're talking about if they reference something that happened in previous chapters?

[Shisho]

I've considered that, but I was unsure if it would work or not. I mean, I try to write chapters to be miniature stories in themselves or at least some kind of episodic format, but I fear a lot of is missed on the part of the reader if they suddenly entered the story in the middle of it. Not to mention wouldn't editors be wondering why a group of characters are together and what events they're talking about if they reference something that happened in previous chapters?

Not all stories lend themselves to the structure, but I've read a few that work well that way. (Infra-Man pointed out some others. I've been meaning to pick up Dandelion Wine forever!) I guess it depends on your style and the story itself. Still, maybe if you could make a chapter a sort of stand alone story and get it published, that might help you gain "street cred" with editors, no? :)

[Paul McEnery]

Two recent writers have had success in this form. One is the Serbian magic realist writer Zoran Zivkovic, who usually publishes the separate stories in Interzone magazine before they're collected as a novel. The other is Charlie Stross, whose novel Accellerando was published as nine standalone stories in F&SF before collection. Although there are many examples of people writing related stories which were then published as a fixer-up novel, the most prominent example being Asimov's Foundation series.

However, the thing of it is that most publishers don't cotton to this unless each of the stories stands up on its own, and until you've established some sort of track record.