Finding the best medium for your story

By Sravani Hotha

When you have an idea for a story, whether it is fiction or nonfiction, like a memoir, how do you know which format is best?

Let’s go through some of the most common creative writing formats and publishing platforms. 

We’ll look at fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. As you consider which format is best for a particular piece, keep these things in mind:

  • word count

  • the publication process

  • your goals for distribution and audience

  • your overall goals for the piece and yourself as a writer

The publishing industry is an ever shifting landscape, however there are certain norms and standards that are important to know as a first time writer. Aspiring and emerging authors are strongly encouraged by industry professionals to research and follow the latest guidelines. The word count information in this article is based on the 2025 standards compiled by Reedsy Studio, but always research whether the accepted word count for your genre has changed. 

Note that this is not a comprehensive list of creative media. With the advent of social media, there are numerous multi-media formats at your disposal. We’re only focusing on the written word here.

Before we dive in, a word of caution for fledgling writers seeking a career as an author. Be careful about posting your written work online on a personal blog, your Instagram account, or even as videos. Most literary magazines, journals, and publishing houses want first publication rights to your work after which publication rights will revert back to you. Anything original you post online is automatically copyrighted to you and considered published, so you won’t then be able to get it published through the traditional routes. It doesn’t mean you should never post your creative writing online. However, if you do, those pieces will be limited to a self publishing route for any future printing and distributions. 

Fiction 

Fiction stories usually take the form of novels, novellas, novelettes, short stories or flash fiction. The main differences among these formats are the word counts and how they’re published.

Novels are between 70K and 100K words with certain genres like science fiction and fantasy allowing room for much longer works to accommodate for world-building. Most genres are between 80K and 100K words. In some cases, novels can be as short as 40K words. 

Children’s novels are shorter and have a slightly different publication process, but we’ll look at those specifically in a later article.

Back to adult fiction!

Novellas are between 17,500 words to 40K words. Novelettes are between 7,500 to 17,500 words. Novels, novellas, and novelettes are either traditionally published by a publishing house or self published by the author themselves.

Short stories are typically under 7,500 words and are published in literary magazines or journals. The accepted word length can vary vastly depending on the genre and magazine or journal. Most literary journals don’t require a literary agent, however some of the larger publications like the New Yorker have so many submissions that they require a literary agent to submit on your behalf.

When you want to submit your short story for publication, it must be complete and revised to perfection. Unlike with longer works, you won’t have an agent or an editor helping you bring it to perfection. Magazines and journals have open submission periods or contests. Their website will have submission guidelines that detail the word count and formatting. 

Make sure you research what types of stories they publish and make sure you follow their submission guidelines. Not following guidelines is often an automatic disqualification. 

If you don’t know where to start looking for magazines or journals, take a look at Submittable and Duotrope. Chill Subs is another great resource to find open submission calls.

Once you publish a short story in a magazine or journal, the publication rights revert back to you. Your short stories can be compiled into a short story collection. Collections usually consist of 10-20 of your best stories that fall into a similar theme. The number of stories included can vary depending on the length of the story. Most presses that publish short story collections want a minimum of 40K words. 

Flash fiction is an even shorter form of the short story. These stories are usually under 1000 words, but some magazines and writing contests like to challenge you further by asking for stories under 500 words. If you go even smaller (under 300 words), it’s micro-fiction

While short stories and flash fiction are most commonly published in literary magazines or journals, they can also be published in zines (print or online) which are self-published and printed by an individual or a small group focusing on a very niche sub-genre. The circulation for zines is limited to 1000 copies or fewer and they are distributed only to the enthusiasts of that particular subculture.

Creative Nonfiction

So what if you have something closer to home? Personal narratives can be memoirs, personal essays, or blog posts. This genre is called creative non-fiction (CNF).

Memoirs have a word count of 80k to 100k similar to most novels. 

Unlike fiction novels that you pitch to literary agents after you finish the manuscript, memoirs and other non-fiction books require a book proposal before you write the book. Of course you may already have a working draft, but it doesn’t have to be complete or pristine. A working draft will help you write an excellent proposal for the book and most agents require a sample chapter before they sign with you to confirm that you have the writing chops.

If you prefer not to go through a traditional publisher for your memoir, you can self publish it. The process of self publishing a memoir is more or less the same as self publishing a novel.

If the story you want to tell doesn’t fit that word count, you can write a personal essay that can be published by magazines or journals. They are usually between 1000 and 6000 words, but can vary by publication. When you are researching the market, make sure you read and follow the submission guidelines.

Some writers will use a published personal essay as part of their book proposal to generate interest from literary agents.

Another option for CNF is blog posts. They are much shorter than memoirs and you can break down blog posts by topic and release them on a schedule that works for you, or contribute to an existing media site, similar to contributing to a literary magazine or journal. With your own blog, the biggest advantage is that you maintain complete creative control, which might be very important if the subject is close to your heart. In contrast, as a contributor to a media site, you may need to propose your idea and possibly make suggested edits to align with the overall brand of the site. 

Keep in mind that any blog you post online is copyrighted to you and considered published, which may limit you to the self publishing route if you want to compile your blog posts into a full length memoir in the future.


Poetry

Traditionally, poems were published by magazines or journals similar to short stories, and once you had enough for a collection (40-100 poems), you could compile your best work into collections usually based on theme or style of poetry. 

Chapbooks are similar to collections, but they are much smaller booklets consisting of up to 40 pages or 15-30 poems.

With the rise of “Instagram poetry”, modern poets are finding an easy and accessible way to distribute their work. It’s a wonderful way to find your audience and build a literary community on your own.  

But remember, posting on Instagram, a personal blog or any other online platform means that a poem is already published. Even if it is a recording of you reciting your poetry at an open-mic event, if it is available to the general public, it could be considered published. 

If you are not interested in having a literary magazine, journal, or a major publishing house publish your work, then posting on Instagram or a blog is a great option for you. 

Final thoughts on format

There are so many different formats available for your story idea. The ways that our stories differ can also mean our stories have different paths!

To find the right one, you should think about your goals for the specific work, as well as your overall goals as a writer. Pair this with research on the format and genre, and you can give your work the best home possible!

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Traditional v. Self Publishing

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How To Get Your Novel Published: Self Publishing