WRITING SHORT STORIES THAT PAY

Hi, It’s Jackie in the Little Writing Corner in Scotland, thanks for being here. My last Post was long-form but I’ve heard that people enjoyed it!!

HOW SHORT STORIES SUPPORT MY NOVEL WRITING

PART TWO:

There is a BONUS SECTION this week. I’m going to breakdown one of my most spectacular successes and show you how it went from GOOD to AMAZING!

First though, with Part Two and continuing with things you asked about in the Chat. A breakdown of the things my short story income pays for and how I manage to earn year-round:

Things my Short Story Income Pays For:

• Microsoft Office annual subscription for my writing

• Canva (An App I use it for social media posts about my writing journey)

• Editing software (though I may ditch that this year as I’ve found an alternative that costs less) and I mainly use this for my novel writing

• Editing – After a lot of research I paid for a professional edit of one of my novel drafts. It had been listed in a few competitions and I wanted it in its best shape before querying. It was quite the journey and deserves its very own Post about types of editing, how to find a trustworthy and professional editor, and what to do afterwards!

• Events for writers (eg travel and tickets for: Edinburgh Writers Forum; Edinburgh Women Writers Festival; and others)

• Books on the craft of writing. I’ll take a photo of them all once I’m back in my writing studio – the house is in the middle of a reno at the moment and I have no idea where all my books are!

• My People’s Friend Subscription and purchase of additional editions throughout the year that I’ve appeared in: eg the Special; the Annual; the Bookazines.

• Notebooks and pens (of course!). Coffee. Sometimes a bottle of wine to celebrate *cough …and Typewriters (I have an obsession - read on to find out more!)

• Days out and holidays. I mean, a writer needs stimulation, right?

• Yes, my short story success really does cover all of this and more. Yes, I’m as surprised as you are ;)

Here’s Part One here:

Before we continue, let me make one thing clear. I write simple, commercial stories that appeal to the women’s magazine market - it’s a paying market. If you write literary stories, there’s a whole different route to publication. One thing about a simple story - I’ve been told they’re not that simple to write, or get accepted, but I believe they must read in a straight forward way for the reader, hence simple.

Here is the second thing you asked about in the Chat.

How do I make money year-round with short story writing? By being organised!

Let’s think about this. You can write randomly. That’s fine. Write as the ideas come to you – you can still do that! If you want to appeal to an editor seeking stories year-round, give some thought to the magazine and its year-round appeal.

“Any time” stories are those that can fit at any time of the year and can be on any topic. Ensure you research what length these should be. You have a better chance of success if you stick to what is required. (I have a Note about the one time I didn’t do that, and what the result was…I was very lucky! Your story has to be exceedingly good to have this outcome!)

There’s no great secret really to making money year-round with stories - you simply need to write stories year-round, submit them, and hope for the best, having done your best!

Many writers make a success of writing seasonal stories. What is that?

It’s exactly as it sounds…writing stories set in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Spring stories often have a feeling of new promise and hope; Summer is all about the brightness; Autumn can be the hunkering down all cosy, and Winter holds the twin delights of darkness and light (short days, long nights, snow and sparkle!) – and Chrismas and New Year….are you starting to get the picture? Certain things happen in particular seasons – choosing a Christmas tree for example; carving a pumpkin. Now, I’m not telling you to hang a whole story on those things, but they are pointers for how you can use elements of the seasons within your story idea, or use them as a jumping-off point - memories of your own from certain seasons are great prompts for this. Don’t force it, but if your story idea can fit into a specific season, then the editor may use it to help give a “feel” to those editions. As always, read the publication you want to submit to.

HINT: Be mindful of your timings. It won’t work to submit a Valentines story on February 20th. It would have to wait until next year. If you’re lucky, and it’s a good one, they may hold on to it. Best not take that chance!

Be mindful that print magazines work a season or two ahead and often further. It took me a while to work with this. Initially, I’d be disappointed to miss a calendar point. On one occasion there was a callout for autumn stories but I’m guessing by the time mine went in, they had already filled that gap. This would mean waiting a whole year to see this one in print…if it was even accepted! That didn’t feel great at the time. It inspired me to start thinking ahead.

Year-Round Earnings

It did provide me with something surprising – work scheduled ahead and earning throughout the year. Remember the story accepted eleven months after submission? It was a lovely surprise, a bonus, to be paid for it after all that time!

A lesson learned was to not always expect my stories to have instant success, instant acceptance, or instant publication.

Now, I am delighted to know that I have stories regularly appearing right up until 2027 (I’m writing this in early March 2025!). Yes, you read that right. I have a story appearing in the 2027 Annual and the 2026 one is not even out yet! Patience really is a virtue.

And, that is how I started to earn through a whole year, and am aiming to repeat it! I’m well on track with four stories accepted so far since January :)

UPDATE: Yesterday, I had another one accepted - a Summer story.

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

SHORT STORY EXAMPLE

I’m going to give you an example of a story I wrote and how rewriting it to fit a seasonal need led to a spectacular result.

I’ve decided not to put this behind a paywall and to share freely with you.

If you are enjoying my writing, it would be lovely if you could restack, add my article to a Note, or share in some way, so I can reach more people who want to know more about short story writing.

If this Post is of value to you, please consider tipping me via the link at the bottom of the Post. Or, become a Paid Subscriber for exclusive content coming soon! Boy, that’s excrutiating to ask but hopefully I’ll get used to it ;)

BONUS FEATURE:

SHORT STORY: Breaking Down The Magical Element!

So, here we go. What was this spectacular result and how did I do it?

I wrote a very special story featuring a romance between a cute, older couple in a wonderful location in the historical old town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The story featured an old typewriter. I loved the story and was on the brink of sending it to my editor at the magazine.

It was a good enough story. I liked it. Still, I held back for some reason. I was awaiting the magic, I think, even though I didn’t realise it at the time.

Photo by Almos Bechtold on Unsplash

A sudden call-out online specified that the People’s Friend was seeking stories for their Annual and on investigation I discovered a requirement for a 3000-word story for Valentine’s Day.

My story was 3000 words. It was a romance. Could I fit it neatly into Valentine’s Day?

I gave it some thought but didn’t want to make it seem contrived.

My solution came all at once. It was an amazing solution. One that raised this story from a GOOD STORY to an AMAZING STORY!

I discovered there was a typewriter called the Olivetti Valentine. If you’re a typewriter enthusiast, you will know it’s a very special typewriter that has won design awards! (Here’s mine)

My solution was right there. The typewriter in the story became an Olivetti Valentine and I rewrote elements of the story around that typewriter – its red colour, the very particular red plastic carry-case.

I ramped up the typewriter elements of the story, and along with that, the main character grew more unique.

The story title became Be My Valentine. The magic had arrived.

More magic arrived….that story was accepted within 24 hours!

Now, that’s amazing.

I never brag for long though….the story I mentioned earlier in the post, remember, had taken eleven months to be accepted!!! So, the universe always brings balance.

Be My Valentine will appear in shops around September (available also on Amazon) as part of the hardback People’s Friend Annual 2026.

It’s a story I’m proud of. It’s one I thoroughly enjoyed writing, and what’s more, there was a tremendous sense of achievement in reworking the story to fit the Valentine’s callout.

I hope you agree that this certainly does demonstrate that a simple tiny element can turn a good story into an amazing one! And seasonal writing can still provide surprises!

Make it unique, make it yours, make it shine! x

Photo by Ethan Hoover on Unsplash

By writing and practising, you will start to notice moments of magic. They happen all around you and you’ll start to pay attention to them, noting them (in your head, or on paper, or in your phone!)

The story will await your discovery of the magic.

Story writing is such fun. I hope you agree!

Thanks for being with me in the Little Writing Corner and special thanks to my first paid subscribers! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I appreciate you x

PS If you are enjoying my content, please consider subscribing, or buying me a virtual coffee. I mean, my dog often wakes me at 430am. I can do with the coffee! If my content is in any way valuable, perhaps consider a subscription. Thank you.

Until next time. Bye from Jackie in the Little Writing Corner in Scotland.

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