Ellen, your response--to me and to Chuck--yes, you're right, counter-examples in AND out of the genre would help. I think King means to suggest that the stories in the Best of ARE his counter-examples, but we shall see.
I'd say that short genre fiction suffers in a similar way to non-genre, though--I read so many horror stories that are mediocre--the prose is competent (though just competent--not enough in my book), but the story is flat. And I'm not just talking about my slush pile, but about published stories.
But again, counter-examples would have been helpful: what magazines delighted him--and not just with one story, but consistently? What authors regularly delivered?
What about the state of the short story re. publishing? It's my understanding that publishers--big and small press--limit the number of short story collections they publish because the short story doesn't sell (I'm picking your brain, here, Ellen--I'm very interested in this topic). Why don't publishers put more advertising muscle behind short fiction? The kind of promotion that leads readers to try new stuff? Any ideas?
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Date: 2007-10-01 03:22 am (UTC)I'd say that short genre fiction suffers in a similar way to non-genre, though--I read so many horror stories that are mediocre--the prose is competent (though just competent--not enough in my book), but the story is flat. And I'm not just talking about my slush pile, but about published stories.
But again, counter-examples would have been helpful: what magazines delighted him--and not just with one story, but consistently? What authors regularly delivered?
What about the state of the short story re. publishing? It's my understanding that publishers--big and small press--limit the number of short story collections they publish because the short story doesn't sell (I'm picking your brain, here, Ellen--I'm very interested in this topic). Why don't publishers put more advertising muscle behind short fiction? The kind of promotion that leads readers to try new stuff? Any ideas?