How to Write, Publish, and Market Short Stories

Write more stories, strengthen your craft, and grow your author career.

Short stories give you the freedom to experiment with new ideas, characters, and genres, without committing months or years to a novel. They can help you strengthen your craft, build your creative confidence, grow your audience, and create additional streams of income. But how do you turn a promising idea into a satisfying story? Once it’s finished, what should you do with it?

Bestselling author Joanna Penn shares practical guidance drawn from her experience writing, publishing, licensing, narrating, crowdfunding, and marketing short fiction as J.F. Penn.

You’ll learn how to:

Find compelling story seeds and develop them into complete short stories

Create emotional impact and land an ending readers won’t forget

Experiment creatively while improving skills you can use in longer fiction

Distinguish between self-publishing, professional markets, competitions, anthologies, audio, and collections

Understand rights and contracts so your stories can earn in multiple ways over time

Use short fiction to attract new readers, grow your email list, and expand your existing story worlds

Turn a collection into a marketing event or special edition

Each chapter includes questions to help you apply the ideas to your own writing and author business. You’ll also find real-world examples from Joanna’s career, along with the complete short story The Black Church and its author’s note as an example.

Whether you have an unfinished story tucked away, an idea you’ve never dared to explore, or a collection you’re ready to publish, this book will help you take the next step.

Your stories matter, even the short ones. It’s time to write them, publish them, and help your readers find them.