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How To Write Short Stories That Sell: Creating Short Fiction for the Magazine Markets
If you want to write fiction, then short stories are a great place to start. This book will help you to find ideas and teach you all the essential elements of short story writing. It covers plot and structure, conflict, dialogue, characterisation, settings, description, tense, viewpoint, flashback, and more. You’ll also learn about one of the most important steps in the writing editing. How to Write Short Stories That Sell includes writing and editing exercises, and short story examples. It shows you how to increase your chances of selling your work by identifying the right story markets, and explains the correct way to submit your work to a magazine editor. Jane Bettany is a freelance writer, publisher and creative writing teacher with more than twenty years experience of writing fiction. Her stories and non-fiction articles have appeared in women’s magazines, literary magazines, newspapers and online. She has an MA in Creative Writing and is a qualified teacher.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 25, 2014
12 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Jane Bettany
18 books136 followersI am the author of the DI Isabel Blood crime novels, set in the fictional Derbyshire town of Bainbridge, and the cosy crime series featuring amateur sleuth Violet Brewster, which is also set in Derbyshire.
My debut novel In Cold Blood (the first in the DI Isabel Blood series) won the 2019 Gransnet and HQ writing competition, for women writers over the age of 40 who had written a novel with a protagonist in the same age range.
Before turning to novel writing, I had been writing short stories and non-fiction articles for over twenty years, many of which have appeared in women’s magazines, literary magazines, newspapers and online.
I live in Derby, UK and have an MA in Creative Writing.
My debut novel In Cold Blood (the first in the DI Isabel Blood series) won the 2019 Gransnet and HQ writing competition, for women writers over the age of 40 who had written a novel with a protagonist in the same age range.
Before turning to novel writing, I had been writing short stories and non-fiction articles for over twenty years, many of which have appeared in women’s magazines, literary magazines, newspapers and online.
I live in Derby, UK and have an MA in Creative Writing.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 4, 2015
Many fiction writers believe they have to start big, with a full novel; but as Jane Bettany demonstrates, they do not. How to Write Short Stories That Sell is all about mastering the short story format, and it covers all the writer's basics that are needed in order to craft not just a short story, but one that is salable.
This is the point that separates How to Write Short Stories That Sell from other writer's guides: while it covers the usual approaches to plot, structure, characterization and description, it also focuses on the editing process and adds important points on sales potential that are often missing from other creative writer's how-to guides.
It pairs description of technique with reinforcing exercises and examples of solid short story writing, it shows how to identify the right markets for a particular type of story and how to submit them to a publication, and (most importantly) it encourages creativity, experimentation, and a deeper attention to understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different short story approaches.
How to Write Short Stories That Sell isn't just about how to write: it's how to produce a superior short story that deserves to be in the public eye. And that's why How to Write Short Stories That Sell, more than many of its competitors, deserves to be in the writer's eye.
This is the point that separates How to Write Short Stories That Sell from other writer's guides: while it covers the usual approaches to plot, structure, characterization and description, it also focuses on the editing process and adds important points on sales potential that are often missing from other creative writer's how-to guides.
It pairs description of technique with reinforcing exercises and examples of solid short story writing, it shows how to identify the right markets for a particular type of story and how to submit them to a publication, and (most importantly) it encourages creativity, experimentation, and a deeper attention to understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different short story approaches.
How to Write Short Stories That Sell isn't just about how to write: it's how to produce a superior short story that deserves to be in the public eye. And that's why How to Write Short Stories That Sell, more than many of its competitors, deserves to be in the writer's eye.
April 30, 2019
I love this book. I always want to write short stories and may be my novel in future but haven’t had any clue how to start. I know little basics about plot, character design but was not sure how to proceed but Jane Bettany’s work has given a detail overview of short stories and how to start working on your writing. I definitely recommend this who is naive in writing and want to start writing constructively
December 31, 2018
Very helpful
I found this book to be very helpful and informative. The author not only explains how to write your short story, but how to submit it in a professional manner to magazines. I'd definitely purchase this author's books.
I found this book to be very helpful and informative. The author not only explains how to write your short story, but how to submit it in a professional manner to magazines. I'd definitely purchase this author's books.
January 12, 2016
I think there was some very helpful information in this book. I will keep it for reference until I get comfortable with writing and submitting short stories for publication.
July 12, 2016
Very good, yet basic information
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews