@shylilfox asked: I write a lot of short stories. They’re explicit. Some of the ones people have…

@shylilfox asked: I write a lot of short stories. They’re explicit. Some of the ones people have read told me I should publish a book. Are short stories worth publishing? If so, how would I go about it?

Short stories are definitely worth publishing. And short story collections can do pretty well in the market. (Personally, Stephen King’s countless short stories are what first made me consider becoming a writer.)

To accomplish this, there are a few routes.

1. Post some of them online and gauge the reaction. If they get traction, you can decide what to do with that momentum (see No. 2). If they don’t, it might be a sign some edits or rewrites are needed, which is still good information.

2. Submit to outlets that publish short stories. There are a ton out there and if you get a story or two or three published that way, you can then go out to book publishers with a pitch for a collection of those and your other stories. (This is also a good way to land an agent, by the way.)

3. Self-publish. Now, I know everyone loves this idea for their writing and I’m not against it. You can make sales with self-published books, it just requires more hustling than anyone usually expects. However, if your goal is simply to have a book of your short stories out in the world, this is a good way to make that happen fast and solely on your terms.