How to Write and Sell Short Stories (Secrets to Success)

This is a short book offering basic advice to anyone wanting to try their hand at short story writing for women's magazines. The advice given, although good, is of the 'common sense' type - although to be fair perhaps common sense sometimes needs stating clearly, so that's not really a criticism.I should point out that Della Galton, who is a very successful writer for women's magazines, uses many of her own examples in the book and they are sometimes cringe worthy. I say this purely as a matter of taste of course! Those who like such clichéd storylines will heartily disagree, no doubt. A thought which frequently occurred to me while reading this book was what evidence do the magazines' editors have for believing that women actually like such stories?...Anyway, like 'em or not, Ms Galton is the queen of her chosen field and clearly knows the industry very well.

I've been writing short stories on and off for a few years now and bought this book cos I'd heard Della was good and I really want to get better at writing short stories now. I found this book excellent at helping me with weak spots I knew I had, like plotting, I always thought there was no use in writing a story unless I knew what the end was going to be. Della says the opposite, just write and work out the ending later. That seems to me to make so much more sense and is much more liberating than sweating buckets over a story you haven't even written yet but can't decide on the ending. Also this book showed me ways to do what I thought I could do ok but could do better, Della suggests using 'word pictures' to bring a text alive so instead of saying 'the dog ran upstairs,' you say 'the dog ran up the stairs two at a time with paws as big as tea cups,' because it makes reading that much more interesting. It's a lovely read too and thoroughly recommended.

Excellent book, a sympathetic but no-nonsense approach, practical and enlightening. Such invaluable tips as - study the adverts in magazines to which you want to submit material - those ads will tell you exactly who the magazine is pitched at, so that's the market you'll need to be writing for. In other words, if the ads are all about walk-in baths and lawnmowers, the readers aren't going to be impressed with chick lit aimed at 30-somethings.A very encouraging, well-structured guide to writing (and selling) which I found easy to read and full of interesting tips. Recommended for those starting out in this field, and for those that are wondering who've already had some success.

Much of what was written can be found in similar books. Ms Galton's style is very readable. I found the most useful tips were regarding tax and keeping track of expenses and work completed. This book is aimed at the British market - caveat emptor: a lot of these books are written by Americans and aimed at the American market, so unless that's the market you're aiming at, make sure you've got a British book!

For anyone wanting to break into womag fiction writing Della's book is perfect. She shares her experiences and tips on all the elements required in a short story - particularly when aiming for the womag market.Thank you so much for the inspiration. Now it's time to put down my Kindle and get writing!

Great help

very good information in this book, it feels fresh and the author is clearly enthusiastic about her topic. well worth the money and came quickly from suppliers.

Thought this book was an exceptionally well structured and well paced guide to the art of short story writing.Have highlighted many chapters for excellent future reference material and will definitely keep this book to hand as I commence my own short story writing future.Lost one star for the length. It did take me a while to get through and feel it was a little wordy and a slightly condensed version would be more suitable for newbie authors like myself.