Your short story questions answered.
If you don’t find the answer to your question here, send me an email.
Editing Services
No.
Yes, length and style depending.
Yes.
I do not discriminate. Every genre presents its own fascinating puzzle in its short form. Add your unique voice and style, and I’m in. If you want to make sure that my curiosity extends to the subject of your piece, book a free consultation, and we’ll see if we’re a fit.
Developmental Editing
The simple answer is that if the plotline or character arc requires development, and the story’s structure doesn’t support the plotline, most writers find it overwhelming to revise both simultaneously.
There are also no hard lines between compositional elements, though. If the bulk of your story’s editorial needs are structural, with a few minor developmental changes, I classify the edit as structural and suggest you tend to developmental revisions first.
My rule for short stories (and prose in general) is that you can do what you want as long as it works. “Works” means that the story meets three criteria: what you are saying is clearly communicated to the reader, your reader experiences the level of satisfaction you mean them to, and your desired publisher agrees that the piece is a good fit.
Anthology Editing
An anthology is an assembly of works from many authors into a single volume. Broadly, a collection is the work of one author assembled into a single volume, though traditionally, the stories are previously published and then collected.
Ideally, you are selecting stories that already have well-developed plotlines, character arcs, POV, and world-building. But sometimes a less-developed premise is too good to pass up, or you are intentionally inviting emerging authors to complete their revision process within the scope of the anthology, and the critique groups are unable to provide enough support to unstick a stuck story.
Whatever the case, I offer developmental and structural editing and, if the author prefers, discounted one-on-one coaching to help with the feedback integration process. During project development, we will address whether the author will cover these costs or whether they will be within the anthology budget.
This is not a question, but if you’re considering putting together an anthology, a reader, writer, editor, or publisher may have told you that anthologies don’t sell. While anthologies don’t sell as well as novels or even collections, they do sell. I think what they want to say is that anthologies are risky or aren’t worth it. Let’s talk about it.
Readers might bypass anthologies because they read one where the stories felt precariously linked or unevenly written.
Writers may hesitate to contribute their best work because the distribution of an anthology is often far less than that of a journal.
Publishers might turn down an anthology because they can be difficult to market, they’re rarely reprinted, and they involve more complex administration.
Editors. I’ve left us till last because this is where I hear the words most often. Editors often don’t take on another anthology after their first for a few reasons:
1. There is often only enough in the budget for a copy edit when some stories require much more. Print (feels like it) is forever, and it is hard to see an author’s work go to print before it is ready.
2. Editing is built on trust, and it takes significantly more unpaid time to develop a trusting relationship with twelve authors than with one.
3. Anthologies are logistically complex compared to a collection or a novel. Managing simultaneous deadlines, multiple point persons and authors, plus the editing and relationship building, takes practice.
And, if any of this goes sideways, you can understand why it wouldn’t be worth trying again.
So why publish them? Some readers love anthologies, which is a great reason. So is seeing your work in print, accumulating publishing credits, or promoting your group. But for an anthology to succeed for everyone, I think the central reason needs to be collaborating to create something bigger than you could on your own. They are an opportunity to make use of every writer’s skills and strengthen every writer’s weaknesses. They’re about learning together.
It doesn’t take the risk out of publishing an anthology or provide you with a bulletproof rebuttal, but my solution is to make the collaboration process a focus of the anthology from inception to publication. The quality of writing goes up, the cost of editing goes down, and the cohesion of the book has a better chance of being unforgettable.
Collection Editing
No.
Rates
My prices are in Canadian dollars (CAD) unless otherwise specified.
I will send you an invoice with instructions for your preferred payment method. If you have a Canadian bank account, I accept Interac e-transfer. For international payments, I accept WISE Transfer. I am unable to accept Venmo or PayPal.
Short Story Writers of the Earth
I lifted the phrase, “Omit needless words,” from the seventeenth chapter heading of The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr and EB White. Strunk’s description is as follows:
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.
It kind of makes you tear up, no? I wanted to give a nod to the literary traditions that have brought us to where we are today and felt that Strunk summed up the demand of the short story pretty well.
There is no cost for a SSWOTE membership. The Short Story Dispatch subscription, member events, and presents are free to all short story writers.
Everything you need to send your stories out into the wild! A submission-ready short story Word template, a cover letter boilerplate, and a submission-tracker spreadsheet.
Short Story Writers’ Group
When you present your story, you can specify areas of feedback or not. Critics are encouraged to stick to structural and stylistic feedback, as copyediting is too time-consuming for writers’ groups.
You can specify any areas of feedback that would be helpful to you, but here are some common examples:
– How did you feel at the beginning of the story versus after the story?
– Did your attention wander at any point? Why?
– At which point did the story grab your interest?
– Which qualities make you empathize with the main character?
– Did the ending surprise you? Satisfy you? Make you think?
After a writer reads their story aloud to the group, you will be asked to provide productive feedback. If this is your first time critiquing, don’t worry—we’ll show you how it’s done, and you can join in when you’re ready.
You will need a piece of short fiction, a reliable internet connection on a device with a camera, and a way to share your work (either via screenshare or a link to the writing).
Short Story Write-In
Google Meet works on any up-to-date browser but works best on Chrome. Check you’ve installed the latest updates, or, if you can, switch devices. If none of that works, send me an email and we’ll sort you out.
We are sad you can’t come, but there are some other great options:
– You can start your own write-in, and I’ll post it here.
– You can join the writing community at Flash Fiction Magazine (don’t worry, short story writers, they don’t discriminate). They have write-ins six days per week at different times than ours.
About Lisa
Unlike many of my editing colleagues, I did not come to editing as a writer. My passion lies in mediating between the written word and the reader’s interpretation. I do try to write, though. It is important to me to understand what it is like to put your work into an editor’s hands, so I take creative writing workshops and read my work at our writers’ group.
Not every business is welcoming to every person. It is important to me that writers coming my way don’t have to guess about my values, intentions, and experiences.
Our identities inform our daily lives and work. I identify as part of the neurodivergent, disabled, and queer communities. I am committed to helping writers feel confident, including the diversity of humankind in their work and representing every character, culture, and community authentically.
Not sure where to start?
Book a free consult. I’ll read your story and help you decide.