[RedMage]

I don't know anything about publishing. At all. I'll just open with that. What I've got, however, is a novella, 20K words in length, which I think I could get published. I've edited and polished it as much as I can on my own and I know any publisher who looks at it will want me to do further things to it. But I think it is good enough to catch their eyes at least.

Now how do I go about putting it in front of their eyes?

I looked over at the Getting Published sticky on this site (I'll admit, it was a quick look) and I have to wonder if that is more about publishing novels and/or series of novels rather than anything shorter than one of those. Please correct me if I am wrong, but does anyone know if it is much different to publish a novella, short story, etc. than a full fledged novel? And, if so, what things would one need to do to to publish such a shorter length work?

[robotosaur]

My understanding is that novellas are very tricky things to have. Magazines think they're too long, book publishers think they're too short.

That said, you can check out some of the writing market sites (I like Duotrope) and check if any of the relevant markets are taking 20,000 word pieces. Then follow their guidelines!

[KatG]

Shorter works are mainly meant for the magazine and anthology market. These markets may not want a novella from a relative unknown since the novella is a longer work than a short story. But sometimes they do, depending. So you need to check out whats calling for submissions and see what their guidelines are. Try ralan.com for a good directory.

There are some small presses who will put out novellas as essentially short novels, or combined with short stories in a story collection. So you can look for those as well and see if you can get them interested. The larger houses are unlikely to be interested in a novella unless it's part of a short story collection, and they have only a little interest in short story collections. But you can keep an eye out and see what's being published in the stores.

[RedMage]

Thanks! I will check out both Duotrope and Ralan.com.

My story is also a very seasonal one. Halloween, specifically. Probably only for an American audience since it is totally about the American holiday and how it's celebrated. (No, it's not a dark, gothic, satan worshipping story. I'm not like that so please don't think of me like that at all. It's a light-hearted take on the holiday but also a more serious story concerning the characters.)

Since the story is so seasonal, would there be a better point during the year for me to try to send it out? You know, when anybody who might be interested in it is actually looking for such seasonal works because they are beginning to put a larger collection together? Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?

[KatG]

Thanks! I will check out both Duotrope and Ralan.com.

My story is also a very seasonal one. Halloween, specifically. Probably only for an American audience since it is totally about the American holiday and how it's celebrated. (No, it's not a dark, gothic, satan worshipping story. I'm not like that so please don't think of me like that at all. It's a light-hearted take on the holiday but also a more serious story concerning the characters.)

Since the story is so seasonal, would there be a better point during the year for me to try to send it out? You know, when anybody who might be interested in it is actually looking for such seasonal works because they are beginning to put a larger collection together? Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?

Haven't tried to do it, so I don't know, though I have an idea for a seasonal story I've always wanted to try. I do know that they usually buy them early in the year, but I imagine it varies a lot by project or magazine.

[tmso]

Oh! That is such a good story. Darkened sweetness, might be a way to describe it.

For timing, each place is different. I'm submitting a story to Cross Genres that has a deadline of Sept 30th (I think, or there abouts), and I believe the anthology goes out sometime in Feb 2012. So, you might be just on time right now or too late, depends on how quick they review, accept, revise, etc.

[RedMage]

Thanks tmso! Very nice of you to say :) And a good description too.

I've taken a look at both Duotrope and Ralan.com today. Both were interesting and, while Ralan did not have much for me at the moment, Duotrope has a large listing for novella publishers. The problem now is deciding which one to submit to.

On that note, I've seen threads and conversations within threads in the past about multiple submissions. However, those were, again, for novels or short stories. I get the impression that novellas are much rarer, much less the norm than either of those two. Which is fine, it just tells me that I may have to go slow and learn by trial and error. I'll still pose the question though: Does anyone know, if the publisher does not specifically state, if I can make multiple submissions of this work at one time? And are there any ideas on what I should put in a query letter for a novella and what sort of sample I should give as well?

Thank you for the responses! I really do appreciate them.

[KatG]

Thanks tmso! Very nice of you to say :) And a good description too.

I've taken a look at both Duotrope and Ralan.com today. Both were interesting and, while Ralan did not have much for me at the moment, Duotrope has a large listing for novella publishers. The problem now is deciding which one to submit to.

On that note, I've seen threads and conversations within threads in the past about multiple submissions. However, those were, again, for novels or short stories. I get the impression that novellas are much rarer, much less the norm than either of those two. Which is fine, it just tells me that I may have to go slow and learn by trial and error. I'll still pose the question though: Does anyone know, if the publisher does not specifically state, if I can make multiple submissions of this work at one time? And are there any ideas on what I should put in a query letter for a novella and what sort of sample I should give as well?

Thank you for the responses! I really do appreciate them.

You can certainly do multiple queries with samples. If a publisher asks to see the full ms., though, I'd guess that they'd want an exclusive at least for a few months.

[Sterling13]

Thanks tmso! Very nice of you to say :) And a good description too.

I've taken a look at both Duotrope and Ralan.com today. Both were interesting and, while Ralan did not have much for me at the moment, Duotrope has a large listing for novella publishers. The problem now is deciding which one to submit to.

On that note, I've seen threads and conversations within threads in the past about multiple submissions. However, those were, again, for novels or short stories. I get the impression that novellas are much rarer, much less the norm than either of those two. Which is fine, it just tells me that I may have to go slow and learn by trial and error. I'll still pose the question though: Does anyone know, if the publisher does not specifically state, if I can make multiple submissions of this work at one time? And are there any ideas on what I should put in a query letter for a novella and what sort of sample I should give as well?

Thank you for the responses! I really do appreciate them.

Multiple submissions = More than one submission to the same publisher
Simultaneous submissions = Submitting the same piece to multiple publishers

I believe you're talking about a simultaneous submission then, right?

If that's the case, on the publisher's listing page on duotrope, they have a checkbox for whether or not they allow simultaneous submissions. That said... I'd still confirm this by reading the submission guidelines on their website.

Good luck :)

[PeteMC]

Agreed - duotrope is useful but don't take it as gospel, always check the publisher or agent's actual guidelines.