#102. Reasons Why Stories Get Rejected and Tips For Getting Them Published

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Transcription follows below (this excludes the initial story brainstorms where Exquisite Corpses are generated (this is extremely free-style!).

Show notes: The list of categories for the second round of brainstorms is: 1) A book or magazine 2) A job or role, taken on reluctantly, 3) A pub or café, 4) A portal or means of travel, 5) A piece of treasure or magical, sought-after object, 6) A monster or creature, 7) An invention and 8) A weapon.
Link to Spotlight Indie podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@Spotlight-Indie

Hello imaginative people. I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 102 of Brainstoryum.

​Finally, spring is here in the UK. I smelt it at 9:30am on Monday 2nd March, therefore it is spring. I don’t know how, I’m not even completely sure it’s a smell, but there’s always this moment each year when I get this feeling.
 
As per usual, I checked back with my mum who gets the same annual feelings: she lives a little further north than me, in London, and she confirmed she had the feeling the next day, which is actually consistent with my understanding that spring travels upwards, up the map, from south to north, so this slight delay makes sense to me, in this oh-so-scientific theory of mine!
 
The only thing is, the spring feeling is like this underlying feeling of excitement, a little spike of excitement, and because it’s there in the background almost permanently, even when the sun doesn’t come out, I keep thinking I must be on the brink of a new idea, a really big one. I mean, maybe I am, but I’ve been feeling like this for over a week now, and wondering if anything is going to come of it (besides flowers opening and trees sprouting leaves). Maybe inspiration is about to strike in the most unexpected way. (Well, on this show you can expect that kind of thing; if nothing else, you know you can expect the unexpected here.)
 
But moving on to less ethereal theories and more practical things for your writing. I decided, since I’ve begun in the last few shows to share publishing opportunities, why don’t I share some tips on how to give your short stories the best chance of being accepted by a publication. This is based on articles I’ve read by magazine editors, some of the more pointed advice I’ve come across on some submission pages, and advice from an editor who ran a flash fiction workshop I attended in FantasyCon last year—a bit of a blend.
 
So I rummaged through my brain and my notebooks and came up with the following main points:

• First and foremost, follow the guidelines, including on format. If they don’t suggest a particular font, just use a plain one. Usually, they say the story must be unpublished anywhere else. Bear in mind previous publication includes posting on a blog, or having me read it out on this show. But if you’ve changed the story substantially, it should be fine. Often it helps to “air” the story by sharing it first in one of these ways, then that gives you more of a chance to reflect and potentially develop it. If in doubt, or if you’ve only tweaked it here and there, you could check with them. Some say they accept ‘reprints’, which means they would be happy with something published elsewhere.

• If the story doesn’t match the theme/ doesn’t do something unique with the theme or prompt, that can be a reason for a swift rejection.

An example I came across was of the colour red being the prompt. A story about someone’s car, which happened to be red, or where they happened to like that colour, wasn’t a strong enough or unique enough use of that theme: it could just as easily have been blue or any other colour. Try to think outside the box. An editor taught me a great exercise for early brainstorming that helps you push beyond the first ideas that pop into your head, to kind of get past the ‘obvious’ ideas, and you can check this out in episode 94, Trying Out A New Story Brainstorming Method.

• Beginnings. I know I’ve talked quite recently about a subtle question or mystery you can raise in a reader’s mind, to intrigue them. Often you can achieve this by withholding some information. But: don’t be too dizzying at the start. I read an article recently by an editor of a literary magazine, who pointed out that there’s always that moment when you first start reading someone’s story, where you have to settle in and get used to the writer’s style; you allow for a little fizzle of confusion, because the writer is usually trying to intrigue you with this hint of some mystery. But bear in mind, this editor reads through who-knows how many submissions like this every day, doing this over and over, and it gets dizzying. If we try too hard to startle or shock the reader, they can get overwhelmed, and you don’t really want them to be so confused as to what’s happening, or who the character is, that they have to slow right down and re-read your first paragraph. The advice I’ve seen says, let it be interesting, and use a few choice details that quickly and efficiently bring the scene to life. Avoid a deluge of questions or unsolved mysteries in the reader’s mind.

 
This is why giving a story a rest of at least a few days is always a great idea, to look at it with fresh eyes—and always read it aloud to yourself, without intonation. Let the language speak for itself.
 
If you’d like more on beginnings, don’t forget to check out the discussion panel of Spotlight Indie’s Big Weekend event last month, which I was a part of, entitled Writing Better Beginnings. Link in the show notes.
Another reason stories rejected is that:

• There’s not much generally happening. Now it might be that you’re exploring a psychological or emotional change of a character. Even if the entire story hangs on this, and you see this psychological reveal or epiphany is the main crux of your story, still add in physical movement. You want to evoke the feeling of change, of things going on. When we read stories, we want to be somewhere else, and for things to happen, so a change that happens only inside the protagonist’s head is not really enough (unless you’re writing some crazy dreampunk, in which case it might technically be in their head, but this will surely involve an adventure that shows… stuff going on). Be especially careful when using first person narrative if your story is steeped in emotions or thoughts, because you might get caught up in the character’s interior dialogue and their thoughts playing out, which is likely not enough to engage the reader who wants to be somewhere and experience things happening. Trying adding sensory details about the setting, what does it look like, what does it smell like—use all your senses to imagine the place.

This all feeds into:

• Pacing: Whatever you write, that is where the reader is. That is what they are imagining, experiencing. It sounds obvious, but sometimes you have to step back and ask, Where do I want my reader to be spending their time and energy? Where do they want to be spending their time and energy? A paragraph spent on description alone, or on interior dialogue, with no movement, is a section of time spent in stillness, for the reader. These may be important parts that you need to include in the story—but if that’s the case, weave in movement, action, and a sense of change. Keep the motion going; don’t let it stand still for more than a few beats.

• And finally, endings, but not just endings: If your story doesn’t encapsulate an entire story, this can be a reason for rejection. Some magazines may accept a “slice of life” type of story (though usually they’ll be more literary style magazines, so it’s best to read what they publish); or if your story is one piece of a bigger tale. The editor is looking for something that will give the reader satisfaction in what they’re going to read in that publication. Now, endings in a short space can be tricky; the shorter you go, the harder this is. But a satisfying tie-off can be achieved with a change that has some kind of significance to the character; or an answering of the question that was subtly posed, in whatever way, in the beginning.

 
The “payoff” of the ending is most satisfying if it’s unexpected, but still makes sense within the context of the story. But when I was in the FantasyCon workshop last year, the editor from Apex Magazine who hosted it (which is one of the best known and longest running literary magazines); she said that with a flash fiction piece, an open-ended tale is an option, but it has to intrigue, and you have to make the reader feel emotionally invested.
 
Right, well I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you with too many ideas, but don’t worry, if you want to pick up on these points again and try and digest them more, just read the transcription of this show, which is linked from the Brainstoryum page at annatizard.com. Just scroll under the embedded audio of the show to find a link to the transcription of episode 102.
 
***
 
Right, before we move on to new story brainstorms and new publishing opportunities, I have some great fiction to share from my talented listeners. First up, a poem sent by regular listener Rene Winfield, to celebrate the 100th episode and beyond of Brainstoryum:
 
Seems only a yesterday (or month or year) of yester-dreams, stumbling across 
the world-wide-web-weeds into the land of Episodes with plants that drop the 
seeds that grow the imagination—so imagine where an inspo-show sails all  
crafts of many tales, tips, podcast quips—and time has grown 100 from 1, 
let’s CELEBRATE Brainstoryum! 
 
This is wonderful, thank you so much Rene, I love the rhythms and the assonance you’ve got going here, and I especially love the image of the show as a kind of ship sailing along.
 
I know you’ve been spreading the word and telling friends about Brainstoryum which is just great, it really helps me to grow the show’s audience.

I did also have some responses to the “velvety sleuth” which came up on episode 101.
 
Paul Monteith commented, this prompt truly did not want to play, but then went on to write a short story. Now, bear in mind, if you’ll recall, I did some deep-delving into the origins of the words “velvet” and “sleuth”, and both of them, bizarrely, had roots connected with deer.
 
This is:

Velvet Sleuth

My office door opened, and a woman walked in with legs till Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, who am I kidding, there were not enough days in the week to name her legs. Her hourglass figure compelled me to request a time-out, and as she walked toward me, I put on sunglasses and smeared myself with sunblock because she was hotter than Chernobyl.

"Are you the Velvet Sleuth?" she asked.

"Yes, but you can call me Buck."

"Because you're a male deer?"

"No, because I have buck teeth. My parents couldn't afford a dental retainer." With my forehoof, I pushed a chair forward. "Have a seat."

"No thanks, I have these chairs at home. Why do they call you the Velvet Sleuth?"

"Because I solve crimes and mysteries. and I can locate Waldo's location anywhere on the planet."

"Is that useful?"

"It is for Waldo. He's geographically challenged."

"Do you like sleuthing?"

"No, but I meet interesting people who want to pet me and feed me snacks."

"Here, have some acorns and carrots," she said, gently patting my head.

"Thank you. What can I do for you, Miss?"

"I want you to track my partner. I think he's cheesing on me."

"You mean cheating?"

"No, cheesing. I am the heiress to Fromage & Curds. I think he's sampling other cheeses."

"It must grate on you?"

"It does," she said as she lifted a cigarette to her lips. "You have my number?"

I smiled. "48-23-38."
 
Very film noir detective, turned humorous, with a touch of the Carry On, I must say! Very bizarre imagery of this deer sitting there in an office.
 
You can find Paul Monteith on Bluesky as Quantum Fairy.
 
Eric Montgomery wrote: 

And that’s where I’m stopping, because it did go over the word count (just a little bit!) but also because Eric agreed to post the full story on his website, so you can look him up and read the whole thing. Just go to madp03t.org.

This is kind of eerie, with this tension building around this mystery; this voice, these whispers...
 
OK. It is with a spring feeling, with a tingling of newness and fresh ideas that we reach into the socks of destiny!

**
SOCKS OF DESTINY ORGAN JINGLE
 
This part of the show is un-transpose-able! There's much giggling and rustling of paper as I pull words at random from the Socks of Destiny to create three unique sentences according to the rules of Exquisite Corpse, going: “Describing word—noun—action—describing word—noun.” Today’s resulting sentences are:
 
1. The potbellied volunteer zookeeper danced around with the intent doppelganger.
2. The wind-scoured fisherman invited friends to tea for the powerful kitsune (fox spirit).
3. The frank mortician poked a litterbug with the terrifying otter.

***

Okay, this is tricky because there’s usually one or possibly two word combinations that just leaps out at me as being the one to try. I think I last time I hesitated as well, but kind of talked myself into the velvety sleuth, but this time… they each have something, some unresolved something… So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. Each Exquisite Corpse contains 2 describing word-noun combinations, right? So we have 6 choices altogether, and I will simply roll my 6 sided dice twice.
 
Here goes. Wish me luck.
 
6. The terrifying otter! But—in my mind it’s become this walking stick or some other implement which is used to poke a litterbug. I mean, yes, I will probably stray outside of that story, with the mortician, depending on what comes up, but even so.
 
Right, now I’m going to pick a category of interpretation by rolling another dice, but! Aha. I have another reveal: this list has grown from 8 to a tentative 12.
 
So in addition to the original 8 categories (which you can find in the show notes), I have in the last week come up with four more, which are: a hidden identity or disguise; a scar (which can be physical or psychological); a ghost; or a cocktail or special tea (which, let’s face it, is probably going to be a magic potion or poison). So those are numbers 9 to 12.
 
I will roll my 12 sided dice (but if in this first round the new ones don’t get a look in, I may, with the second round, cheat a little bit by using the 4-sided dice to pick out out one of these new ones).
 
Okay, so how shall we interpret the ‘terrifying otter? (This is the first time I’ve used 12 sided dice since buying the pack.)
 
9. It’s one of the new ones! A hidden identity or disguise. Oh, I like this. I have no idea where it’s going but I like it! It feels like it’s along the same lines as the walking stick idea, because that’s kind of like an extension of what you’re wearing. I mean maybe it’s not, technically, but people have cool-looking walking sticks, designer sticks that they’ve chosen to go with their overall style, so why not?
 
If this otter-embellished walking stick is part of a hidden identity or disguise... Is that a wand in disguise? Or someone whose identity as a wizard is only just hidden beneath the surface. They walk with confidence, only using the stick lightly. They have shiny shoes. He wears a suit, even has a pocket watch. The walking stick is maybe more for effect than anything; an old-fashioned gentleman. But for all we know, he might have strolled right out of another world, and he may have misjudged the usual fashions of this one by a hundred years or so.
 
His liver-spotted knuckles hide the face of the otter carving, its snarl smothered against the palm of his hand. Not yet, my dear, he whispers. The bottom of the stick stumps against the cobblestones, as if feeling for something. A sign. A clue left behind. The wizard is trying to trace someone who was here before, but it might have been hours ago that they passed by. There are marks left behind on the pavement that no naked eye can perceive.
 
(Why an otter, though? This must be the question; this must be the key.)
 
What if the ground flows with rain water? It’s been pelting it down for a couple of hours, by now. The mysterious wizard strides from a shadowy alleyway, walking stick poised. Splashing into the inch of water that rushes, its tiny streams like fingertips licking around the cobblestones. But there’s something in the base of the walking stick that feels the ground right back: whiskers, fine sprigs of them, protruding almost invisibly from under the rubber stopper.
 
The spirit of an otter, like a demon familiar, seeks the footprints and scents of the wizard’s quarry, dipping and diving ahead of him in the quickness of the water. Sliding over stones, sniffing and wiggling its muscular tail.
 
For the wizard strides between worlds, seeking a runaway, an inter-world spy. Maybe the spy is also a kind of creature that loves the water, or is attracted to it, like a shapeshifting mercreature who’s been breaking into government buildings and trying to steal secrets. But this is why the wizard is using his walking stick which binds the spirit of the terrifying otter, who seeks, who leaps ahead like a ghost slapping the rain; who sees the signs no-one else can see in the patterns of flowing water.
 
Okay, next. Let’s roll the 6-sided dice again to pick another word combination from the Exquisite Corpses first, and see what comes up:
 
4. That’s the powerful kitsune (fox spirit).
 
And now for the 12-sided dice to pick a category of interpretation: 8. A weapon!
 
But it doesn’t have to mean that the powerful kitsune IS a weapon, right? It might be that the story is about a weapon she seeks, or a weapon she devises. Or that only she can wield.
 
I’m drawn back to the entire Exquisite Corpse, which was “The wind-scoured fisherman invited friends to tea for the powerful kitsune.”
 
I like that original imagery, of the fisherman, inviting unsuspecting friends to tea, who are then astonished to find the empty space by the table filled by spirit fox.
 
But what weapons do you find at a tea party, if she has come unarmed?
 
I remember, she came with a warning. “The world is changing”, she says, as she stirs the tea. Her audience stares, holding their breaths. The soft, reddish hairs of her pointed ears prickle as if picking up a breeze, though they are all sitting in the helm of the fisherman’s spacious boat, and the sea rocks gently beneath them.
 
“In a world where weapons are confiscated, and held only by those in power, you have to find new ways to fight.”
 
She stirs the teacup and a wind swirls around the boat, turning it, knocking it around.
 
She taps the side of her cup with the teaspoon, and the sound reverberates, swells, like ripples through the air. Circles widen, the rings shivering outwards as the noise begins to pierce, undulating, and strangely silver, like the cutlery she wields in her paw.
 
The boat tremors and rocks. The fisherman’s guests leap to their feet with a yell.
 
Can a tea set invoke a storm? Does the powerful kitsune just have a talent for turning ordinary household objects into weapons? Do I know where this story is going?
 
Not yet. But maybe you do.
  
***
Now it's time for some publishing opportunities:

Lowell & Benson Publishing invites writers from around the world to submit original fiction inspired by folklore, myth, and cultural storytelling traditions for our upcoming anthology Roots & Rivers: A Journey Through World Folklore. Seeking fresh retellings, reimagined myths, original fables, and folklore-inspired short fiction from 1K up to 6K words. Submission window opens tomorrow, 15th March, and closes on 15th April.
 
Go to https://payhip.com/lowellandbensonpub
 
Indie Bites is a quarterly indie fantasy anthology, created to promote the work of indie authors. It features short fantasy fiction (prose and poetry) from self-published, hybrid and unpublished authors, together with author interviews. Indie Bites is a not-for-profit imprint of Silver Sun Books. Looking for fantasy stories up to 7.5K words on the theme of quests and quarrels, with a deadline of 31st May 2026.

Go to silversunbooks.com for more information.
 
Now, just to note, I have come across these opportunities in the wilds of the internet: I don’t have personal experience of working with these litmags, and I haven’t looked at them in any depth. Whoever you choose to submit to, always run a search on Google to see what people have said about them online, and check their terms and conditions of publishing to be sure that these will suit you.
 
Right. If you have any ideas you’d like to share or a story or poem up to 250 words long based on any of the prompts in this show, you know what to do: go to annatizard.com/submit. If you’d like your piece to be read out in the next show, please get in touch by the Friday after the release of this show.
 
I would be curious to see what you might do with the powerful kitsune or fox spirit, or, in fact, any ideas for the use of a tea set as weaponry. How about that as an imagination-bending exercise?
 
Until next time, go forth and be inspired!