ellen, so glad to see the subject of short stories come up in your interview--as, of course, they invariably would. hopefully your live journal will continue to explore the subject, as you did way back when w/ the Stephen King entry (sept) and w/ the horror awards entry (oct.--tho, that entry unfortunately led to some of the most embarrassing--and essentially unrelated--public bickering I've ever seen in a comments field).
your interview comments cause me to ask why the short story isn't a viable way to earn a living as a writer? This is why, I presume, many authors turn away from short stories. I know that novels are generally easier to write, and yield a bigger paycheck to boot, but why don't short stories pay better? Why don't collection sell very well? why have readers fooled themselves into thinking a short story collection--written by someone who knows how to write a collection (Ligotti, Aickman, A. Carter, etc.)--is less satisfying than a novel? in part, I think its because the short stories that do reach a large audience--those in the New Yorker, for example--are often tepid and forumlaic. There's not enough complex--but fun!--short fiction reaching big audiences. It's a shame, for example, that Shepard's Dagger Key--so very readable yet rich, with fully developed characters and a sense of style--is such an expensive collection, and won't be found on the shelves of your local B&N.
And how can we repeat the flukes--the excellent short story collection that does reach a big audience--The Two Sams, Stranger Things Happen, or Doerr's The Shell Collector? Other than their excellence, why did those books make it through, when Terry Lamsley's brilliant Conference of the Dead can only be bought--at a steep price--in speacialty shops?
And do you think anthologies lead people to collections/new short story authors? Obviously, the value of an Inferno or YBF&H is in part getting the stories of authors like Shepard and Lamsley into the hands of readers who might not otherwise see their fiction. Does that ever translate to getting the collections of such authors into the big shops?
sorry to go on like this... it's a subject that interests me particularly. thanks for addressing it so well in your interview!
Hi Adam, Not to bust your bubble but The Two Sams while published by a trade publisher, did not reach a very wide audience. I have no idea how many copies were printed but I know that it didn't sell all that well which is why Glen's second collection was published by Earthling. The reason that Kelly's Stranger Things Happen did well (and of course it was published by Small Beer, a small press) is that Kelly and Gavin drove all over the country to universities flogging it in readings. Publishers do minimal advertising or publicity for collections--unless readers know they exist (like with any book novel or nonfiction) they won't buy it. Did Doerr's The Shell Collector sell well? I'd like to see the figures on that.
I feel badly that this is so and I'd love to see it change but I have no idea how to do so.
I think that sometimes stories in anthologies lead readers to pick up work and look for it by contributors...there are avid readers of short fiction and I cherish them. Will they ever be huge amount of readers? I doubt it. Why? I don't know.
It doesn't exactly burst my bubble. I guess I ought to define my terms better--by wide audience, I mean, much wider than, say, Dagger Key, which is published like a collector's item, whereas I walked into a mainstream bookstore and bought The Two Sams for a price I've come to expect to pay for new hardcovers. Was Stranger Things Happen reprinted by Harcourt, or was that only Magic for Beginners? And Doerr's book was a Penguin paperback, so even tho it wound up in remainder bins across the nation... well it was in remainder bins across the nation! People could/can actually buy it! That's a big difference from a title published in an edition of 500 or 1000 at $50 a pop. It's tough. There are so few collections that are great, and so many are published in such a way that the average reader will simply never hear of them. The Wavering Knife. The Star Cafe. Etc., etc. So when I see a title that's excellent, such as The Two Sams, actually on the shelf in a Barnes & Noble, I consider it a success. And I wonder why there aren't more worthwhile titles on the shelf.
And then when I see mediocre, boring short story collections out on the main display table I can't help but think: it's your fault! No one wants to read short stories because of you!
But maybe I'm wrong.
No, you didn't burst my bubble. There's no bubble. Maybe a half-blown saliva bubble.
Ah. I see what you mean and agree. Lucius's work was being published by Thunder's Mouth Press, which was killed by the PGW debacle. I don't believe he's tried to sell his collections to non-specialty houses lately.
A large, commercial publisher did want to buy Stranger Things Happen but Kelly and Gavin decided not to do it as they were making more money selling it on their own. It IS Magic for Beginners that Harcourt bought.
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ellen_datlow) wrote2007-12-08 12:55 pm
short stories
your interview comments cause me to ask why the short story isn't a viable way to earn a living as a writer? This is why, I presume, many authors turn away from short stories. I know that novels are generally easier to write, and yield a bigger paycheck to boot, but why don't short stories pay better? Why don't collection sell very well? why have readers fooled themselves into thinking a short story collection--written by someone who knows how to write a collection (Ligotti, Aickman, A. Carter, etc.)--is less satisfying than a novel? in part, I think its because the short stories that do reach a large audience--those in the New Yorker, for example--are often tepid and forumlaic. There's not enough complex--but fun!--short fiction reaching big audiences. It's a shame, for example, that Shepard's Dagger Key--so very readable yet rich, with fully developed characters and a sense of style--is such an expensive collection, and won't be found on the shelves of your local B&N.
And how can we repeat the flukes--the excellent short story collection that does reach a big audience--The Two Sams, Stranger Things Happen, or Doerr's The Shell Collector? Other than their excellence, why did those books make it through, when Terry Lamsley's brilliant Conference of the Dead can only be bought--at a steep price--in speacialty shops?
And do you think anthologies lead people to collections/new short story authors? Obviously, the value of an Inferno or YBF&H is in part getting the stories of authors like Shepard and Lamsley into the hands of readers who might not otherwise see their fiction. Does that ever translate to getting the collections of such authors into the big shops?
sorry to go on like this... it's a subject that interests me particularly. thanks for addressing it so well in your interview!
Re: short stories
Not to bust your bubble but The Two Sams while published by a trade publisher, did not reach a very wide audience. I have no idea how many copies were printed but I know that it didn't sell all that well which is why Glen's second collection was published by Earthling. The reason that Kelly's Stranger Things Happen did well (and of course it was published by Small Beer, a small press) is that Kelly and Gavin drove all over the country to universities flogging it in readings. Publishers do minimal advertising or publicity for collections--unless readers know they exist (like with any book novel or nonfiction) they won't buy it. Did Doerr's The Shell Collector sell well? I'd like to see the figures on that.
I feel badly that this is so and I'd love to see it change but I have no idea how to do so.
I think that sometimes stories in anthologies lead readers to pick up work and look for it by contributors...there are avid readers of short fiction and I cherish them. Will they ever be huge amount of readers? I doubt it. Why? I don't know.
Re: short stories
And then when I see mediocre, boring short story collections out on the main display table I can't help but think: it's your fault! No one wants to read short stories because of you!
But maybe I'm wrong.
No, you didn't burst my bubble. There's no bubble. Maybe a half-blown saliva bubble.
Thanks as always for your answers!
Re: short stories
A large, commercial publisher did want to buy Stranger Things Happen but Kelly and Gavin decided not to do it as they were making more money selling it on their own. It IS Magic for Beginners that Harcourt bought.