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| Some of the many publications containing my stories, including those that were mined from the files. |
If you’ve been writing for any length of time, as I have, you likely have a file drawer (or a file folder on your computer) filled with unsold stories.
Likely, some of them are unpublishable under any circumstances. Some, however, are publishable as is or with minor tweaking. Because you were unable to find suitable markets at the time, you disappeared the stories into your files. If enough time has passed, you may have even forgotten writing them.
This is a mistake. Every so often, you should reread your unsold stories and spend time seeking information about markets that have changed or that did not exist when you wrote the stories. You might be sitting on a gold mine (figuratively; you do know how well short stories pay, don’t you?).
This has been one of those years. Though there’re still thirty-one days left (as I write this) and I could receive additional acceptances that will impact the numbers I’m about to share, this has been a good year for mining my unsold stories file.
So, far, I’ve placed eight of those stories. I wrote the oldest—a bit of crime fiction—in 2013; the other seven are short romances I wrote in 2016. I placed them with three different publications, none of which existed at the time I wrote the stories.
Other than correcting typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors I hadn’t caught at the time, I only found it necessary to revise one story. I found a submission call for a winter-themed romance anthology, so I added a few sentences to one story to make it clear the story took place during winter.
UNFINISHED STORIES
I have another, larger, file of unfinished stories, and I frequently mine it as well. I’ve written about this before, but whenever I am not writing to deadline and have no specific project top of mind, I read my unfinished stories until one captures my attention.
Sometimes, I have a burst of inspiration and finish the story. Other times, I add a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire scene. Sometimes I create a rough outline for the balance of the story. If nothing compels me to finish, I move on to other unfinished stories.
Both “Blind Pig” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, September/October 2025) and “The Girl in the Shop” (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, September/October 2025) were stories I had started and which lay dormant for four years (“Blind Pig”) or three years (“The Girl in the Shop”) between the time I started them and the time I finished them.
So, whether you’re mining your files for finished stories and seeking new markets for them or you’re mining for unfinished stories in hopes of inspirational sparks that will propel you through to the end of finished manuscripts, mining your files can prove quite beneficial.
I know it does for me.
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“Forever Family” was published in Micromance Magazine, November 22, 2025.
Great advice, Michael, as always. I have a file of unsold stories and another of unfinished ones. I visit the unfinished ones often. Many of the unsold stories are from when I first started trying to publish, and most of them are weak, but I sometimes find a good line of description or dialogue I can recycle.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest sale is a story that received nearly a dozen rejections in 2009-10. Ten years later, I saw a submission call that it fitted perfectly, and it was accepted only weeks after I sent it.
Update: I've placed another bit of crime fiction, so that makes nine stories for the year that were mined from the files. This one was written in 2009.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's terrific, Michael. I need to get off my duff and write some unsold stories (grin - the novel deadlines are killing me) Melodie
ReplyDeleteYes, I need to get back into that bottom drawer and dig some of those old, old stories out. You never know. Thanks, Michael!
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