Shoert stories

[Joanne Mitchinson]

Do collective short stories of different authors work, or is it more likely that a collection of short stories by a specific author will go into print?

[John Jarrold]

In terms of commercial publishers, both are poison. Anthologies of different authors have sold terribly for over ten years, although they used to be a mainstay of SF lists. Collections of stories by one author sell roughly one-sixth of that author's novel sales.

Sad, but true...

[John Jarrold]

Margo Lanagan's BLACK JUICE is doing pretty well, and I can only hope it signals new shoots in the SF/Fantasy story collection, commercailly speaking. I'd be delighted if it were so...

[Wayne Blackhurst]

Writing shorts, for me, is a great way of getting a quick 'creative fix', when the desire calls. They're easy to bang out whilst fresh, provide a great break from that longer work sucking the life from you, without their effort sapping that much needed stamina. They can be self indulgent, therapeutic and a chance to try something different without expecting them to see any commercial light of day. Plus, they're great to practice your writing on: You only get better by actually writing and shorts provide the ideal playground to graze your knees. Whatever level you're at. Published or not.

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by John Jarrold

Margo Lanagan's BLACK JUICE is doing pretty well, and I can only hope it signals new shoots in the SF/Fantasy story collection, commercailly speaking. I'd be delighted if it were so...

I've seen this around in many of the major book shops. Did it win an award, or something? Ottakars in particular has been marketing it pretty hard. I thought the cover was particularly striking - so much so that I almost picked it up last time I saw it, though I had sworn to myself that I would not pick up any more books as I don't have time to read any more right now!

I must confess that I didn't even realise it was a collection of shorts.

[John Jarrold]

No winners, but she has been noticed since day one...

[Joanne Mitchinson]

I like reading short stories - I have been chomping though collections of late.
Science Fiction stories were originally short. The sci-fi novel's success has been a recent phenonema (past 1/2 century) - different world different publishing and reader needs. Short stories are very important to science fiction and anyone who keeps that going deserves praise and purchase I would say!
A tall story should be short, light and refreshing, as an escape from usual literary work - [idea quote] from Lucian.

[Justin Thorne]

Yea, shorts are a tough sell to publishers, especially if you are an unknown... Hell, I write them and I have only ever bought two anthologies, Clive Barker's Books of Blood and China Mieville's looking for Jake... and I have yet to finish them!

The problem with shorts for the reader, is that you invest your time and your connection with a chartacter for very little pay-off... it's over in less than 5000 words, sometimes even quicker, as a lot of magazines like their shorts around the 2000 word mark.

I feel very lucky, especially reading this thread, to have a collection coming out next year with a small press, and even then, the prologue for my novel project is going in it, to give a taster and hopefully encourage an upsell to the novel.

The publisher was only interested because most of the shorts have appeared in print already in the shorts market, and because I was introduced to them with a couple of novel projects on the go... I wouldn't have approached a publisher with a book of shorts if this opportunity hadn't come up.

[Cloud]

Originally Posted by Justin Thorne

The problem with shorts for the reader, is that you invest your time and your connection with a chartacter for very little pay-off... it's over in less than 5000 words, sometimes even quicker, as a lot of magazines like their shorts around the 2000 word mark.

I dislike short stories in general for this very reason. I read so fast that a book I'm interested in goes by like that, so most short stories are not very satisfying. Like chewing gum instead of eating a full meal.

In addition, SF/F short stories suffer a handicap because there's no time to set up your universe, unique worldview/magic use/etc.etc. So the only short stories I'm likely to read are set are ones in which I'm already familiar with the author, the genre, the universe, etc.

However, for those very reasons, the best short stories, original and well-crafted, are like jewels. They are excellent vehicles for a writer to polish her craft. There's also a rich tradition of short stories in SF/F so they are worthwhile to keep in mind.