: Re: Should a short story be submitted to a publisher in order to know if they would be interested in a book based on it? I wrote a very compelling science fiction short story. I am currently

@Moriarity138

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A very good short story --or better yet, many of them --can definitely lead to a publishing contract for a novel. (In fact, that's been the classic path for generations of science fiction writers.) But not unless it's published. An unpublished story does less than nothing for you (submitting it as a sample of an unwritten novel is more likely to hurt than help).

Submit your short story to any of the many great outlets for science-fiction short stories, starting with the most prestigious, and working your way down. If it's as good as you think, it will make it into print. (Contests are fine too, but frankly, publication in a reputable magazine is better.) At that point, you're perfectly welcome to try to expand it into a full length novel --Ender's Game, Flowers for Algernon and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep being among just a few of the notable science-fiction books that were previously published in short-story form.

Once your story is published (to universal acclaim, of course!), include that fact prominently in your query letter (together with any significant positive response, such as a review, an award, or inclusion in an anthology). Better yet, ask your editor to recommend you to agents or publishers. As a established, published writer of good short stories, you'll have a huge advantage over unpublished writers in making your way out of the slush pile. (Science fiction writers have a step up in this regard, because there's a healthy market for science-fiction short stories that doesn't necessarily exist for all genres.) This route also has the feature that it gives you an advantage querying for either book --it doesn't necessarily commit you to the one based on the original story.

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