The Creative Penn interview about new edition of Playing the Short Game

Submitted by Douglas Smith on Thu, 2025/02/13 - 4:05pm

Playing the Short Game ed 2 coverI was recently interviewed by author and publishing guru, Joanna Penn, on her popular podcast, The Creative Penn, about the new and fully revised second edition of my writer's guide, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction.

The original has been called "a classic in the field" by no less than multi-award-winning author and editor, Kristine Kathryn Rusch. But that first edition came out a decade ago in 2014, and ever so much changes in any decade, including short fiction markets and how best to sell to them.

This second edition addresses every change in the short fiction landscape in the past decade. In her brand new intro, Kris says "Doug has gone through this new volume carefully, updating every possible detail. That makes this second edition as indispensable to the short fiction writer as the first."

In Joanna's interview (which you can listen to here), we talk about what went into the revised edition and why. Plus lots more. Here's a short list of what we covered: 

  • How I got into writing and short stories in particular
  • Why write short stories? Is it worth it when most indie authors in particular make their money from longer works?
  • My tips for writing short stories that leave people wanting more of the author's work
  • Why you never 'sell' a story and the things to keep in mind when licensing rights for short fiction.
  • How to sell short stories to the traditional paying short fiction markets.
  • The options for indie authors who want to publish short stories, outside of the traditional story markets.
  • Tips for grouping short stories into a collection and what extra material is needed (e.g., intros and afterwords for stories)
  • My process for updating the original edition and deciding what needed to go into the new version.

I hope you'll check out the interview!

The fully revised second edition of Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction, is available in ebook, paperback, and (new for this edition) hardcover, from all major retailers.