Post by Captain_Riposte on Mar 3, 2012 12:51:12 GMT -5
Greetings, all,
Over the past couple years I have felt more and more that I'm primarily a short fiction writer. Works such as Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane and Harold Lamb's Khlit the Cossack stories inspire me with their ability to tell a thrilling adventure stories in short but memorable plotlines. The characters and settings can stand up to any novel--from the sword-bearing Puritan wandering across Europe and Africa and battling evil in its human and supernatural forms or an aged, shrewd Cossack outwitting the Tartar Khans along the steppes. As a reader I've found myself more interested in story collections than door-stopper tomes because I could have an adventure in a sitting with minimal commitment and get on with my life. And I think that readers of our texting-paced society are ready for that.
The question is, how to best market oneself as a short story writer these days.
Story collections and story cycles are the most obvious. Eventually I would want to compile select stories in collections or cycles, but the question is immediately or later.
A traditional market for short stories has been the short story magazine, but I seriously wonder how many people actually read them. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the readers are writers themselves! Still, I wonder if it is still viable to submit a story, then reprint it in a collection.
Another option I've considered is releasing a story individually in an ebook outlet such as the NOOK store, then compile like stories into a collection that would allow readers to collect the stories in a volume at a cheaper price than if they hunted them all down individually.
Then, there is the option of writing directly for a collection or cycle.
What are your suggestions? I'm open to ideas.
Thanks,
~Andy Poole
Ephesians 2:10
Over the past couple years I have felt more and more that I'm primarily a short fiction writer. Works such as Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane and Harold Lamb's Khlit the Cossack stories inspire me with their ability to tell a thrilling adventure stories in short but memorable plotlines. The characters and settings can stand up to any novel--from the sword-bearing Puritan wandering across Europe and Africa and battling evil in its human and supernatural forms or an aged, shrewd Cossack outwitting the Tartar Khans along the steppes. As a reader I've found myself more interested in story collections than door-stopper tomes because I could have an adventure in a sitting with minimal commitment and get on with my life. And I think that readers of our texting-paced society are ready for that.
The question is, how to best market oneself as a short story writer these days.
Story collections and story cycles are the most obvious. Eventually I would want to compile select stories in collections or cycles, but the question is immediately or later.
A traditional market for short stories has been the short story magazine, but I seriously wonder how many people actually read them. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the readers are writers themselves! Still, I wonder if it is still viable to submit a story, then reprint it in a collection.
Another option I've considered is releasing a story individually in an ebook outlet such as the NOOK store, then compile like stories into a collection that would allow readers to collect the stories in a volume at a cheaper price than if they hunted them all down individually.
Then, there is the option of writing directly for a collection or cycle.
What are your suggestions? I'm open to ideas.
Thanks,
~Andy Poole
Ephesians 2:10
