SF Signal: MIND MELD: Is The Short Fiction Market in Trouble?

[ellen_datlow]

"One of the many perennial arguments in the science fiction blogosphere centers on the health of the short fiction market, so we turned the Mind Meld microphone to people in the field and asked them:

Q: Nobody questions the relevance of genre short fiction, but there is some debate about the health of the market itself. From your perspective, is the short fiction market in trouble? If not, why the debate? If so, what is the cause?"

David Moles, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Reed, Mary Robinette Kowal, Sarah Langan, Neal Asher, Jeffrey Ford, Paolo Bacigalupi, A.M. Dellamonica, Rudy Rucker, Abigail Nussbaum, Jason Sizemore, Charles Coleman Finlay take on the question:
Mind Meld

Comments

[unrealfred.livejournal.com]

It seems like there's been an explosion of short fiction markets in recent years, albeit increasingly few (my own zine included) that can offer more than a token payment, or whose circulation numbers are anything worth getting excited about. You can argue that there's less money in it than there used to be, and you can maybe argue that fewer people are reading it when it's finally published. But I think it's tough to make the argument that there's less quality short fiction out there nowadays, or that fewer people are writing it. I think that's demonstrably not the case. Short fiction markets may not be a sustainable business model...but then, did people really get into writing and publishing because they thought it would make them money?

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I certainly got into editing as a professional expecting to get paid for my work!

[unrealfred.livejournal.com]

Oh no, absolutely. It wasn't my intention to suggest otherwise, or that a professional shouldn't expect to be treated with common professional courtesy. I just think it's a little premature to ring the death knell for the short fiction market because it maybe isn't hugely profitable.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I agree. The death knell has been ringing since I got into the field in the early 80s.

[kaolinfire.livejournal.com]

A youtube remix of that could be quite informative. :)