Short Story, Long turns 2! 🥳 🎂 🥳

I have a a handful more lists of favorite stories of the century (so far) contributors’, as well as some other fun bonus material like interviews with authors and essays about short stories over the last 25 years, but I just realized it’s the anniversary of launching this site, and so I’m going to hold those off until next week and throughout June and just do a quick little reflecting on the last year….

First:

Submissions are open now, for just a few more days, until the end of the month!

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Second…

Last year, I put together some “stats” from the first year of Short Story, Long. I don’t know if people find this stuff interesting or not, but I always enjoy transparent peeks behind the curtain. Last year, that looked like this:

This year’s version of the same:

• 18 stories published (2 solicited)

• $3300 paid to contributors ($100 to each writer & artist)

  • $1500 to writers (3 asked to put the money back into the journal)

  • $1800 to artists (I didn’t do any art myself this year)

• 904 submissions (and counting (submissions open right now, for a few more days); 3 month-long open sub periods)

  • 12 acceptances

  • 54 withdrawals (again, assuming mostly accepted elsewhere? if so: congrats!)

• 2099 Substack subscribers, 74 paid

  • $4014 “gross annualized revenue” (per Substack)

A few takes:

• Published fewer stories this year. Last year, I launched with a weekly (solicited) story for the first couple months, to start strong. Also, last year’s “summer break” was after the first full year of publishing and I’m now in the middle of this year’s, so it is kind of double effecting this year’s numbers and not at all the first.
  
  This year’s 18 is probably closer to what feels right. A story every other week would be 26 stories in 52 weeks, but then take a month or two off. I think shooting for an even 20 in a calendar feels even more right. Something I’ve been brainstorming is publishing a limited run print anthology of those (20) stories. A kind of Best American Short Story, Long Short Stories. Make that a gift for subscribers. I’ve been in some kind of informal talks about the logistics of figuring that out. I wonder if people would be into that?
  
  

• If those money numbers are right ($4014 gross, $3300 paid), Short Story, Long made a little money this year? I hadn’t realized. The money is sitting in an account I only use to pay contributors. The number of paid subscribers has grown, though slowly (62 → 74). I don’t really care that much, though part of being a human (in general, but especially in 2025?) is to pay attention to numbers, and Substack’s interface kind of makes it hard for you to not. That said, my goal was for it to pay for itself, and it’s at that level! I don’t have much interest in making money on it myself; if that number of paid subscribers keeps growing, so will contributor payment.
  
  

• Here’s a couple “paid subscriber notes”:
  
  

  

  
  I love Jennifer’s note here because that hasn’t ever really been the intention or a conscious thought, but I love that way of thinking about it. Writing and reading can be such solitary activities, but I think of them as so social as well. I love talking to other people about stories, I love feeling a connection with a writer when reading their story, I love hearing from readers who so connected with a story. I agree with Daniel in that I think supporting short stories and short story writers is important, but even more than feeling “important,” this all really brings me great joy, it makes the world feel more beautiful and meaningful, and I think for many of you, it does as well. I’ve loved hearing similar sentiments from many of you, and doing this journal the last couple of years has only clarified and deepened that belief for myself.

• When I launched the journal and started taking submissions, I added a component to the submission form:

  “Tell me something about a Short Story, Long story”

  I wanted to encourage submitters to read the stories. I wanted submitters to be familiar with who they were submitting to, and, honestly, I wanted to encourage (to make!) people to read some of these stories I so love. I wasn’t sure what people would think or how it would go… and it’s largely been a real success! So many submitters have said such kind, thoughtful, amazing things about the stories, and at some point I started sharing some of those with the writers themselves. Sharing that feedback has easily become a favorite part of doing this. Submitters have said the prompt made them read a story they wouldn’t have otherwise, and have appreciated the that nudge. Many have said they’ve discovered new writers, have searched out other writing by them, have picked up their books! It all feels related to that idea of the literary magazine functioning as a community.
  

Thank you — so much, so many of you — for reading & sharing stories & submitting & just all of the kind, supportive, encouraging words!

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Thanks!
-Aaron