Free Samples
Sample stories are problematic. Why? Well, people might read them and decide I’m a hack, that’s one thing.
The other is that I’m actually trying to sell this stuff. If I write a great story (if?), it’s getting sent off to the slush piles to work for a living. Hopefully, it’ll send back a check, otherwise it has to slog on to the next pile. Posting the story on the web before it’s picked up would count as publication and completely nerfs the poor things chance at getting a real job.
If I happened to have a story that made the rounds and was rejected by every market, well, I could publish that. But its failure at selling might suggest that it has some inherent problems, and might not be the best example of my work. And so far, nothing has made it that far down yet. Yet.
That’s the problem. Here’s one work-around. I have a piece of flash sci-fi called Neverland that I did for a contest, mostly just to see if I could write an actual story that had only 500 words. I manage to wring something out, and it got an honorable mention, which hopefully means it’s not completely full of fail. I trotted it out to the one pro flash market, but it bounced. So, shazam, it becomes my gift to you, oh reader.
Mostly so that I can now say- ‘Check out my work at garykloster.com!’ And it’s true. In a truthy sort of way.