The Short Story -

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LindaGruchy Reading The Chandelier Ballroom by Elizabeth Lord

14 Sep 2012, 09:43 AM | Post: #1

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The Short Story

This post was last modified: 22 Sep 2012 06:59 AM by LindaGruchy.

This thread is inspired partly by a Facebook discussion of Love Rage and partly from the reaction of one reviewer to one of Dorte's books.

Years ago you used to be able to buy anthologies of an author's short stories, or perhaps a novella and short stories, sometimes as a "filler" between "Novel a Year" output expected of authors.

You could also buy anthologies of different authors.

Children's books too. I remember the Armada Ghost Books.

Then they seemed to fall out of favour with publishers, and the only people publishing short stories were a couple of science fiction magazines, women's interest magazines (now called womag) and a couple of literary magazines like QWF. Some specialist magazines do exist, but it's not exactly mainstream (except for womag).

Womag tends to be of a certain type, and though it's evolved quite a lot recently and improved IMHO, several magazines have dropped their fiction slot, and the only one which is at all edgy, is Fiction Feast.

Yet lots of people write short stories. People think writing womag is easy, because the stories tend to be fluffy and unchallenging, but it isn't. Writing a story which is short and yet still conveys that emotional impact is quite hard, and artform in its own right. It's a good discipline too, for the verbose such as myself.

With Kindle there are no constraints with word count, unlike magazines which have tight requirements.

But my anthology doesn't sell well, a freind's anthology doesn't sell well, short stories attract vitriolic reviews complaining of their brevity, etc.

So do readers just dislike short stories in general? Or do they feel somehow cheated that the book they bought as an oil painting turns out to be a pen-and-ink sketch? Or have we just forgotten about short stories as an art form in themselves?

Why have publishers stopped issuing anthologies? Is it because of low reader demand, or is it because it takes a lot of work to edit and put an anthology of different stories?

What do people think?

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B J Burton Reading Complete Works of H P Lovecraft

14 Sep 2012, 10:33 AM | Post: #2

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RE: The Short Story

This post was last modified: 14 Sep 2012 10:35 AM by B J Burton.

An interesting topic, Linda.
If collections of short stories sold well, traditional publishers would still be issuing them. I read recently an article by a well-known author (might have been William Boyd, but I can't be sure) in which he was complaining that his publisher reluctantly agreed to publish a collection of his short stories, but wouldn't accept it as one of the three books he was contracted to supply.
But there must still be a demand for this format, even if it isn't big enough to commercially satisfy mainstream publishers, and indies should be ideally placed to satisfy it via low-cost KDP.
Perhaps an author has to build a following by first releasing individual stories and then going on to publish a collection. The main problem with this approach, I suspect, is the charging structure. If we are happy to sell a 100,000-word novel for around £2, a reader may feel that a 5,000-word story should only cost 10p. Certainly, Amazon's minimum charge of 77p looks steep for a short story compared to the price of a novel and this may be making readers hypercritical.
I could, of course be completely wrong and it's nothing to do with price. Writing a good short story needs a different skill set to writing a good novel where the author has plenty of scope to develop characters and plot. Maybe reading and appreciating short stories requires a different skill set, too, and modern readers no longer have it.
Or maybe those readers who enjoy short stories don't buy Kindles and vice-versa!
Well, this is the Kindle Users Forum, so let's ask them.
Do YOU enjoy the short story format? If so, how much are you prepared to pay for a story roughly the length of a single chapter in a typical novel?

Barry

Occasional author - compulsive reader

http://www.bjburton.co.uk

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cecilia_writer Reading Bang

14 Sep 2012, 11:35 AM | Post: #3

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RE: The Short Story

I think there's another aspect to this as well as the financial cost - it's the investment of the reader's time. I realised this when I found out that I prefer to read a short story that's a sort of add-on or introduction to a series of novels or something. It's as if I can't be bothered getting to know the characters or scenario if I'm never going to see them again.

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Susanne Reading I Woke Up This Morning by Stuart Ayris

14 Sep 2012, 12:34 PM | Post: #4

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RE: The Short Story

I'm not keen on short stories - they tend to leave me either wanting more or thinking - what was the point in me reading that?

I like to get into a book and get to know the characters and find out what sort of people they are. A short story to me is a carrot being dangled at me and then withdrawn.

I got into a brief discussion with Linda on this and in particular her short story Love Rage (which she mentioned in her original post). I found the characters interesting and the story well plotted and very well written, but it made me feel that it could have been so much more and so, I was left thinking what a really good story it could have been, had it been written as a novel.

And I think Sheila is right that there is investment of reading time. I don't want a "quick fix", but a story I can live alongside for a while.

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~Chinese Proverb

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B J Burton Reading Complete Works of H P Lovecraft

16 Sep 2012, 07:51 AM | Post: #5

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RE: The Short Story

Well, Linda, I think you have the answer.
After 129 viewings of your post only Cecilia and Susanne could work up enough interest in the topic of short stories to post a reply - and neither are enthusiastic about the format.
Fwiw I'm not keen. For me the pleasure in reading fiction largely derives from a sense of involvement and I simply can't generate that in a short story.
So, on the basis of this sample, every single sale is a triumph and calls from one of Stu's little jigs of joy.

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daveb Reading Bed by David Whitehouse

16 Sep 2012, 08:38 AM | Post: #6

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RE: The Short Story

I'm not all that keen on the short story format. It's like having a small plate of cheese & biscuits when what I want is a full meal. I dare say there are many good shorts out there however, for much the same reasons as Susanne, if I had 30mins to spare I'd rather spend it getting further onto a full size novel than read a short story. As soon as I see the 'Sort Story' label I tend to move on .... there is so much else to choose to read.

I do accept that the short story has some strengths e.g. often a good way to get across an unexpected idea, an unusual subject or a novel theme (which can be refreshing) however I feel after the 10, 20, 30 etc mins to the end that I'm left unsatisfied.

Probably the only area that I've delved into in any big way with shorts is many moons ago as an adolescent / young adult when I as heavily into Science Fiction.

Dave B.

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Ray Kingfisher Reading Skeleton Crew - Stephen King

16 Sep 2012, 09:27 AM | Post: #7

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RE: The Short Story

Hi everyone.
A subject close to my heart.
I started writing a few years ago, and concentrated on the short story as a less daunting format - with quick wins, quick mistakes and corrections, and a great way to shorten the learning curve of writing.
Then, two years ago, I started writing a novel, which I finally published in April of this year.
And so I have on Kindle a collection of my best short 16 stories, and a novel.
Neither are selling fantastically well, but I have to say there's been more interest in the novel.
From a sales POV the advantage of short stories is that they can be separated and sold individually. And I can say - although it amazes me - I have sold more individual shorts at 77p than the anthology, which is also 77p. So it's not all obvious, common sense stuff - people do buy Kindle short stories.

However - and here's the rub - I probably won't be doing any more shorts. Why not? Well, word count for word count it's a hell of a lot more work. And (really, really) not to play down the hours of graft involved in novel writing, but I can compare 80kwds of shorts versus 80kwds of novel from recent experience. Each short must have its own set of characters, scene setting, plot, tone etc. - and for a 3 to 5kwd short (about the average) that's twenty stories at the least.

I genuinely think that's another reason for the demise of the short story. Sad but true, as I love Steven King and Jeffrey Archer anthologies.

A great talking point though.

RK
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joo Reading Punchline by P.A. Fenton

16 Sep 2012, 04:36 PM | Post: #8

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RE: The Short Story

I don't mind a short story now and again. I rather liked Seesaw by Rosen Trevithick and also Wargeld by Linda Gruchy to name just 2. But as mentioned, you always want a bit more.
I don't like paying 77p for a short story. It's a shame Amazon doesn't have a short story pricing structure. Hmm, perhaps I'll send them an email asking them. I'm sure their computer model can easily count how many words an upload has.

Post Kindle, I enjoy novella length stories. I look at my tbr list and choose one that won't take me a fortnight to read. A few times I've thought I'd read a particular book, then change my mind when I see the length of dots Big Grin

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Chitma Reading

16 Sep 2012, 04:46 PM | Post: #9

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RE: The Short Story

This post was last modified: 16 Sep 2012 04:49 PM by Chitma.

i dont tend to read short stories probably cos it doesnt suit my reading style. i read too quick, speed read if you like and in order to read a short story properly i would have to slow my reading down and that takes a huge amount of discipline...
that said, i have enjoyed some, seesaw and ruins of the mind being 2 anthologies i have read and enjoyed...
and yeah for me 77p way too much for a single short...

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davidwailing Reading The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

16 Sep 2012, 04:47 PM | Post: #10

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RE: The Short Story

Great posts on this thread. I agree this is a fascinating topic, and like Ray, one that is close to my heart at the moment too.

I think 'investment' is the key here: of money, of time and of emotion. You get more from a novel all round - more words per penny, more of your time spent reading it, and more of a connection to the characters and story. There will always be those who enjoy short reads, but the majority seem to feel that a novel is generally a more satisfying experience.

I've written novels for most of my life, but this year has been a departure for me, and an experiment. I'm writing a series of short stories called the Auto series, which are all set in the same world (London in 2022) and all cover the same ground (what social media and the internet will be in ten years time). They are standalone stories with different sets of characters in each, so you can read one or many. But - next year I will compile them and write a new beginning and end that ties them all together. So the short stories will become chapters in a full-length novel. Hopefully I'll be able to have my cake and eat it!

Has anyone else experimented with making short stories more appealing?

www.davidwailing.com

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