Publishers reviving the short story in digital format
I’ve always maintained that ebooks and digital publishing will bring the short story back to the mainstream. For over half a century now, short fiction has taken a back seat to novels.
There used to be a time when writers could make a living writing short stories that they sold to magazines (who paid a healthy sum for quality work). F. Scott Fitzgerald financed his novels by writing short fiction, as have other writers.
Today, I think it’d be nearly impossible for a writer to make a living solely on short fiction. But with ebooks now in the mainstream, it’s a lot easier for writers to publish their short stories and for readers to consume them. And publishers are taking notice.
In this recent Wall Street Journal article, publishers Harlequin and Ballantine Books are making plans to use short fiction as a way of getting readers enticed to buy and read longer novels. Or, as the article says, the shorter works will be used as “bridges.”
Thriller writer Steve Berry will have a short story released that will tie in with an upcoming novel:
Separately, Ballantine Books, an imprint of Bertelsmann AG’s Random House Inc. publishing arm, plans to publish in September a digital short story, priced at $1.99, from thriller writer Steve Berry.
The article continues:
The 6,000-word piece, “The Balkan Escape,” is too short to have been published as a paperback original. In effect, it is a literary appetizer, inexpensive enough to attract potential readers who might otherwise not be willing to buy a new novel from an author whose works they haven’t yet read, said Mr. Berry.
I love that term “literary appetizer.” Even standalone short stories that aren’t tied into a novel can also be a literary appetizer for the simple fact that they are a great way to familiarize a reader with a particular author’s work without investing the time and money in reading a full-length novel. Mr. Berry does note that his short story can be read independently of his novels.
Because ebooks cost less to publish than print, and authors can easily self-publish their own ebooks, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of this in the near future. Short fiction is the perfect bite-sized literary “snack.” Instead of spending a lot of time reading a novel, one can read an entire short story in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, for example.
Matt Schwartz, president of digital marketing and strategy at Random House, seems to agree:
Although many publishers remain concerned that low e-book prices could one day lead to lower prices for physical books, Mr. Schwartz said that the digital work’s $1.99 price is justified because the work is a short story. “It’s the equivalent of buying a couple of songs online,” he said. “You can read it in 30 minutes.”
He’s right. I’ve bought several short stories from Smashwords (aff link) by indie authors and have enjoyed reading them on my iPhone.
Large publishers should not be afraid of short fiction. It’s a relatively small investment and they can use these stories as a marketing tool for the authors. On the flip side, indie authors can use short fiction to garner more exposure for themselves.
Short fiction has been, and continues to be, one of my favorite literary forms. I’m very optimistic we’ll see a short story renaissance hit the literary community.
Related Posts
- Is the short story dead?
- The revival of short fiction in a digital age
- History of the Short Story
- Read my guest post on LongShortStories: ‘Resurrecting the Short Story’
- Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Short Fiction
Read More: eBooks, Publishing News, Technology
