Excerpt
Are you a short fiction writer wondering what opportunities that work opens?
Are you a long-form fiction writer wondering if short fiction is worth the investment of your time?
This book will provide the answers—and the time is right.
Short fiction is enjoying a resurgence. In a 2013 article titled "Good Fit for Today's Screens: Short Stories," The New York Times reported that "the Internet may be disrupting much of the book industry, but for short-story writers it has been a good thing. Story collections, an often underappreciated literary cousin of novels, are experiencing a resurgence, driven by a proliferation of digital options that offer not only new creative opportunities but exposure and revenue as well."
The Guardian reported in 2018 that in the previous year "almost 50% more short story collections were sold than in the previous year. It was the best year for short stories since 2010. Booksellers are reporting a surge in popularity for the form, commentators note publishers are buying more collections and issuing them with greater care and enthusiasm."
Kristine Kathryn Rusch has written that "The one bright spot in traditional publishing, and this bright spot isn't just bright, it's luminescent … is short fiction."
Short fiction is uniquely suited to our increasingly fast-paced lives and decreasingly available free time. Readers are looking for stories they can consume during their train ride to work, while waiting to pick up the kids from soccer practice, over their lunch break—even over their coffee break.
And as Geoff Shaw says in his online course "How to Succeed with Kindle Short Reads," sometimes the reader doesn't want the feast of an entire novel. Sometimes they just want a snack of short fiction. Or perhaps they really do want a feast, but they are more likely to go to your feast—to read your novels—if they have a little amuse-bouche of a piece of your short fiction to whet their appetite.
Or, to apply the nautical metaphor that Matty uses for the writing craft and the publishing voyage, sometimes what you want is a trip on an ocean liner, but sometimes what you want is a jaunt in an elegantly crafted dory.
Despite the technical environment that has provided all the tools readers need to easily consume short fiction, as well as the societal environment that makes it an appealing option, the short fiction market is far less crowded than the novel market, at least in the independent publishing space. The writer who knows what's possible with short fiction can meet an underserved need.
We are enthusiastic about the opportunities short fiction offers the enterprising author for creating income and connecting with readers and offer this book to help you make the most of those opportunities.
