Quick answer: submit your stories to publishers! Detailed answer... First, make sure your manuscript is formatted correctly. There are many web sites that describe how to properly format a manuscript for submission. Here's are two good ones (www.sfwa.org/writing) and (http://www.sfwriter.com). Second, get a book titled, "The Writer's Market." It lists every publisher for every type of story. For example, if you write Science Fiction, examples of magazines that publish SF are Analog (www.analogsf.com) and Asimov's (www.asimovs.com). There are many others, including fanzines and web-based publishers such as (www.bewilderingstories.com/). But as a general rule, you want to submit to the highest paying market first, and work your way down (as you collect rejection slips along the way :-( By the way, If you don't know this already, I should mention that it's bad form to submit the same story to more than one publisher at a time. Yes, it's a lengthy process to submit your story, wait for a reply, submit it to the next publisher, etc., but publishers don't like their time wasted any more than you do. Yes, expect a lot of rejection! But unless your writing is utterly pathetic, you'll eventually reach a level appropriate to your writing skill, if only to get a free issue as payment for your story. As your writing skill improves, you'll gradually sell subsequent stories to better and better-paying markets... You might also try joining an online critiquing group such as Critters Workshop (www.critters.org). Critters requires that you do an average of 4 critiques of others' stories per month to remain a member (you may do more), and you are entitled to have one of your stories critiqued for every 4 critiques you write for others. It's a great way to get your stories critiqued AND practice your writing skills. A few other resources you'll need are: - A good unabridged dictionary (okay, I cheat -- if I want to look up a word, I type the word into MS Word and do a spell check on that word :-) - Strunk and White's, The Elements of Style There are other books you'll need too that pertain to your particular genre. Again, if you write SF, you'll need physics references, as well as books on speculative starship design, "alien world building," etc., etc.

This is a UK perspective, as the publishing industry varies between countries quite a bit: Short stories are notoriously difficult to get published, particularly by an unknown writer. A good first step is to submit to competitions, there are loads in the UK that run throughout the year, and there are also many literary magazines that will publish work from readers - and may well pay a small fee (though don't expect to make much money out of short story writing, it's highly unlikely to happen). Winning a competition - or even being a runner up- helps get you noticed and will get your name out there- many writers start out this way. Check out the magazines section of your local bookshop (Waterstones or Borders are best, but don't ignore independent booksellers) Before you send any work anywhere, you need to check you're sending it to the right place- whether its a magazine or book publisher: you can write the best story in the world, but if you send a horror story to a publisher who specialises in romance, or to a publisher who only does non-fiction, you aren't going to get anywhere. Check the website of any publisher first, as well as reading some of their other publications. Note that many of the major publishing houses will not accept unsolicited manuscripts- if you have no agent, begin with independent publishers- and always write first, giving a brief sypnosis of the kind of thing you do, and whether it would be OK to send a sample of your work. When you submit be proffesional - if you get used to buying writing magazines you'll pick up plenty of advice, but the essential points to remember ar eplain, simple presentation, one side of paper only, double-spaced and number your pages (in case they get mixed up). Always keep a copy of whatever you send. Also, don't ignore radio stations when trying to build your reputation- many have daily plays or short story slots featuring unknown writers, and many people find this is a much easier, less competetive way to gain exposure for their writing. In the modern age, don't forget the power of the blog or personal homepage- you are essentially publishing yourself for a potential audience of thousands. The power of the "blook" can't be ignored- several of the more popular blogs have now been published in book form (Most famous being Belle Du Jour's stories of a London Call Girl) - not to be underestimate das a way of getting attention. If you want a comprehensive list of the best publications and competitions to submit to I strongly suggest that you get hold of a copy of The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook - you can buy it off Amazon, or in a bookshop, but also check out the A&C Black Books website, as this gives details of their own short story competition, which is worth a look: www.acblack.com. The book comes out every year and is invaluable for any kind of writer, journalist, artist or performer. If you're really serious about writing then you might want to consider taking a creative writing course- most colleges run them, they will often be run by a published, experienced writer who will be able to give you plenty of inside tips on the business, which will give you a head start- as well as helping you to improve your writing on an artistic and technical level. Here's some other competitions you might be interested in: The Asham Award (women only) www.ashamawards.com Ideas for Writers Short Story Comp: www.ideas4writers.co.uk Dark Tales Flash Fiction (very short stories on horror or "dark" theme, the competition is ongoing, so you've got a reasonable chance) www.darktales.co.uk Some independent UK publishers: Cinnamon Press: www.cinnamonpress.com Comma Press: www.commapress.co.uk (publishes a regular anthology of short stories) Stride: www.stridebooks.co.uk I hope this helps. Good luck!