Anthologies, collections and other things too short.

[scalem X]

Inspired by the other topic on horror stories, I come here to explain to you why anthologies don't sell (as much as novels) and why that is a problem for publishers. (I know I'm not right 100% it's just an opinion, but just to get things started.)

The problem why anthologies and the likes sell less than novels and why that's a problem is I think the size. Most anthologies are as large as novels. Take as a standard that they feauture about 10 to 15 stories and each story is about the tenth or a fifteenth of a novel.

This means that for some reason people publish short stories and make the collections look like novels.
Now as a buyer, I'll have the idea of buying a book of stories for some more than the price of a novel (anthologies seem to be slightly more expensive). The book is as large as a regular novel and in general there is no difference. The only difference is that when you buy a book and finish it, you can say it's either bad or it is brilliant. With a collection, you'll always have weaker and stronger stories. Therefore people are more likely to recommend novels than short stories. (that's why anthologies will sell less than novels of the same size and because they are in the same market and cost the same to be produced, it's easy to see the weaker brother. Yes anthologies that look like books, are the size of books and cost more than books sell remarkably less *Shock-horror*)

Now is there a future for short fiction? Is it doomed to remain as something which writers read/write in magazines as a step up to get better at writing?

Personally I think the publishing industry is making the mistake of seeing short stories as 'stories that are too short to be novels'. They add them in collections that are too large. You can with some effort read a book in one try. Try this with an anthology and your mind will give up. That is because each short story is a story. You don't start a book by another author, the same hour or day you've finished a novel. Same goes for short stories. You can read two or three at most and then your mind needs some rest.

Therefore I they'd do well in publishing three or four stories together instead of the 10 to 15 they're doing now. It would be nice to have something to buy something new and decent at a bookshop for just 2-3 pounds.

Anyway with this post there's also a poll about anthologies/collections.

[Meadowhawk]

Interesting, scalem. If I understand correctly, you are advocating making anthologies much shorter, say the length of a novella or novelette. I'm not sure where the economics fall for producing such an animal, as we do not 'do' novellas--at least not to date. I assume you're talking trade paperback? I'll crunch some numbers on it out of curiosity.

Now, the benefit anthology we produced this fall, titled Touched By Wonder was just over 300 pages (28 authors), and we priced it the same as a comparable novel. It seems to me the proper challenge would not be to shorten the work to the point a reader doesn't get bored, but rather put stories in it that are fantastic from the first to the last. Balance the pieces, edit sharply, and pay attention to production quality and cover art. Maybe that is not the norm, [shameless plug] because the feedback from reviewers we are getting is one of surprise. Things like, 'usually anthologies have a few good stories and the rest are weak--but I didn't find any stories lacking'. [/end shameless plug] I didn't vote in the poll because I HAD to read all these stories.

[Ian Whates]

In the past twelve months, I've produced two anthologies that are closer to 'novella' length - Time Pieces Timepieces at 101 pages and disLOCATIONS Untitled Document at 136 pages.

I've attempted to make them more desirable by having the collections themed, including original stories (8 in the first, 9 in the second) by well-known authors, and releasing the books as limited, signed-by-all editions.

Touch wood, the strategy seems to be working. Time Pieces was launched in November 2006 and there are now less than 30 of the original 500 copies remaining. disLOCATIONS has only been out for three months or so and we are already a third of the way through the 500 paperbacks and over halfway through the 50 hardbacks.

So smaller length anthologies can work.

[j. d. worthington]

I seem to be odd man out on this one (not surprising). I've never had any trouble with either anthologies or single-author story collections... far from it. I greatly enjoy them, and no, they don't take me any longer than a novel of the same length. It's like a sampler as opposed to a box of a single type of chocolate... you get to stimulate different responses as you go along.

I'd say there's a lot more where the fate of the short story is concerned; partly because so many books now are padded out of all proportion, so that people are used to that flab and see it as comfortable, as opposed to the precision and leanness that is required for a good short story, where every word counts. (Yes, even with the "wordier" writers such as Lovecraft, etc.) Partly, also, because for people who want "a good book" to read as they unwind at the end of the day just before going to bed, the shorter types of tale often fall somewhere between... not long enough to just finish before they drop off (meaning that they either aren't quite ready to sleep and have to begin a new tale they may not finish) or so long that they just miss being short enough for the same purpose, and so structured that it's difficult to break it into incomplete form, as you can with the structure of a novel.

Nonetheless, from my understanding, story collections (not so much anthologies, but still to a fair degree) have always been difficult for publishers, which is why they were reluctant to do them unless they were by established writers who would already have a market. Still, the long anthologies have a great deal to offer, and while I'm by no means averse to shorter versions, I'd really hate to see the long anthologies (and/or collections) become a thing of the past, as several of my favorite books are of this nature, and I'm always encountering new ones to add to the list....

Oh, and on the vote... I'll qualify my response: with very rare exceptions, I don't read almost all of them -- it's the whole enchilada for me.....

[Ian Whates]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Oh, and on the vote... I'll qualify my response: with very rare exceptions, I don't read almost all of them -- it's the whole enchilada for me.....

Likewise, j.d., which is why I didn't vote -- sadly, the options offered don't actually cater for those of us who read the whole of an anthology.

[scalem X]

Yeah well the brackets around (almost) can be left out. I just figured that it didn't matter whether you read 8-9 of the stories or all 10. I was looking to see if there were a lot of people who didn't finish anthologies or had difficulty getting through them at a regular speed.

Anyway it's just weird that there seems to be a hole in the market. After all if you compare it with movies/television. This new format would be sitcoms. Although you can watch two hours of sitcoms too, a lot of people will prefer to watch that movie when they have two hours. But at certain times and moment it's nice to have something shorter to watch.

Anyway it's not that in general I/we can change anything about the way the publishers act.

[iansales]

There seem to be several anthologies being published now, more so than in the 1990s. Solaris have just announced a new one, Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology. Other recent anthologies include The Next New Space Opera, The Space Opera Renaissance, The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy, Millennium 3001, Forbidden Planets, Infinity Plus One, Text: Ur, Twenty Epics... And I forget how many Best of the Year anthologies there are now.

Not all of these anthologies are the size of domestic pets - the Dozois Best of certainly is, as is The Space Opera Renaissance. But some of the small press anthologies are quite slim volumes - although perhaps not as slim as Ian's two anthologies.

While the print sf magazine market may be contracting, I think the short story market remains strong - chiefly because of the emergence of on-line magazines. Five years ago, perhaps one or two of the 15 or so stories in a best of year anthology might have been first published by a web magazine. I suspect the ratio is much higher now, perhaps even near parity.

[GOLLUM]

You didn't have the option of finishing the complete anthology Scalem. Any reason?

[Ian Whates]

Originally Posted by scalem X

Yeah well the brackets around (almost) can be left out. I just figured that it didn't matter whether you read 8-9 of the stories or all 10. I was looking to see if there were a lot of people who didn't finish anthologies or had difficulty getting through them at a regular speed.

Apologies, Scalem, for some reason I didn't register the presence of the brackets, so have now voted.

[Barney]

The way I read anthologies is to dip into them between finishing one novel and starting another. So it can sometimes take me months to finish an anthology, although if it is particularly good I will read it uninterrupted.

I agree with J.D. that appreciating the economy and concision of a well written short story is just as rewarding as reading a (possibly bloated) novel.
I re-read The Monkey's Paw recently (it would be my nominantion for an almost perfect short-story) and was struck by the similarities with Pet Semetary.
Although the details differ, the elements of each story are essentially the same. I like Stephen King, and enjoyed Pet Semetary, but i'm not sure it managed to say any more about grief and the dangers of "getting what you wish for" than W.W. Jacobs did in a fraction of the wordcount.

[Circus Cranium]

I like anthos, but I do tend to skip around, and only read a portion of the stories fully. I believe it is true they don't sell well, but they're still fun to be a part of. I have stories in 2 great anthos coming out within the month, and it was worth the experience because I love the challenge of writing to a theme, whether or not I earn enough to buy myself an icecream from them.