But here in Egypt, many serious authors self-publish, or do something much like it…but most serious young writers slog and toil and then slog and toil some more, getting their book printed, shepherding it into bookstores, and getting it sold. Much of it on their own dime.

This almost makes it seem like the “slog and toil” of getting their books into print and then selling them to bookstores is a rite of passage. And self-publishing commands much more respect than sending off a manuscript to a traditional publisher and having them do most of the work.

Compare that to the US, for example, where the stereotype of the self-published author is that he/she is not good enough of a writer to get a traditional publishing contract. That is slowly changing, in part do to the rise of ebooks where authors can distribute their novels to a large audience via the internet, with no need for a traditional publishing house.

Also, in Egypt there is a “middle ground” between self and traditional publishing:

According to a piece about self-publishing in Daily News Egypt, there’s also a middle ground between self-publishing and publisher-publishing. Local publishers often ask writers to share in printing and other costs—even if a work has been deemed worthy of the imprint.

This is an interesting model because it places the burden of the initial publishing investment on the shoulders of both author and publisher. By doing so, the cost to the publisher are less, letting them spend more revenue on marketing the book or paying the author higher royalties.

I’m always fascinated by the literary world of different cultures and how they do things differently. It’s easy to get tunnel vision and only think in terms of one’s own culture, not realizing that authors everywhere struggle to get their words into print and into the hands of readers.

Do you have experience self-publishing in areas of the world like the Middle East or Asia? If so, leave a comment and share your experience.

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The logistics of a dream like this would be a nightmare – not to mention bankrolling the drive around the country. It’d be hard to break even. But the thought is still nice because it embodies the independent spirit that many of us have pulsating through our veins.

You don’t need to sell books from the trunk of your car to get people to buy. Last August, I wrote a post about a man who walks his neighborhood streets selling his self-published book by hand Author sells self-published book one copy at a time. For those who are too shy to do that, you set up your book with a POD publisher, get your website/blog going and use the internet as a virtual street to hawk your wares.

Ebooks are making the process of selling even easier for indie authors. Publish your ebook on sites like Smashwords or Feedbooks and readers can download your book in any number of formats. Or you can offer your ebook as a download on your own website. The big advantage ebooks have over POD books (for example) is the ‘instant gratification’ factor. No waiting for shipping and delivery. Your new book is ready to read within seconds.

Digital content delivery is becoming the new car trunk. The out-of-pocket costs to the author are minimal and with ebooks rapidly rising in popularity, it’s a gold rush out there. You probably won’t make the bestseller list with these distribution methods, but I doubt the goal of any indie author is to be on the bestseller list (at least, that’s not my goal).

By the way, if anyone out there really is selling self-published books from the trunk of your car, leave a comment or contact me, I’d love to hear from you.

What other unique and creative methods are you using to get your book into the hands of readers?

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On a simple level, all of you have seen this before (especially those with young kids). When you buy a kids book, the book has the written story, but it also has illustrations that complement the story and bring it to life in a way not possible with just words. Some childrens books even have accompanying stuffed animals and other toys (sold separately, of course).

Recently, I bought the Grateful Dead Scrapbook: The Long, Strange Trip in Stories, Photos, and Memorabilia (aff link). Yes, I’m a deadhead and not afraid to admit it. The book contained the usual written history of the band. But the real value to a reader like me came with all the extras included.

Along with the text, there are pull-out posters, hand drawn ads for concerts, a thank you letter from Hugh Hefner for the Dead’s appearance on his ‘After Dark’ television show, and a multitude of other memorabilia that really brought the book (and the band) to life.

Poetry and fiction also work well with this idea. Like I mentioned above, I love when novels contain those little extras alongside the text. Of course, I’ve never seen a novel or collection of poems go as far as the Grateful Dead scrapbook, and I think most publishers would balk at the idea (and added expense) of including more than is absolutely necessary.

Self publishing is the perfect avenue for this kind of idea. For example, I’m compiling a chapbook with some poetry and other goodies. It will be handmade and I plan to include a few extras to make it more than just another self published chapbook. If I had any artistic ability you can bet I would also include original artwork in the chapbook as well.

Even ebooks can get in on the action. If you publish your novel as an ebook, why not include extras like all those alternate endings you wrote and threw out, or your original plot outline, character sketches, the list can go on.

The idea of giving your reader more than just a story/poem is to give them a glimpse inside your imagination – a peek into your creative process. This gives the reader a deeper relationship with the writer. They will appreciate your work more and will spend more time with your book, rather than just reading it and then letting it collect dust on a bookshelf.

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Fast forward to 2009 and ebooks are becoming much more mainstream (still a small segment of the publishing industry, but growing) and publishers are now scrambling to figure out how to deal with this new form of consuming our favorite literary works. Add to that the family of ebook readers from Sony, Amazon and now Barnes & Noble, I think it’s safe to say that ebooks aren’t going anywhere.

What will the next decade bring? While I can’t predict the future with 100% accuracy (if I could, I’d be living the high life by playing the stock market). I am going to roll the dice and list what I think we’ll see over the next 10 years. Only time will tell if any of my predictions will pan out.

1. The publishing industry: I think the worse is yet to come for large publishing houses. They’ll continue to resist ebooks and struggle to realize that digital content is not going to spell doom for them. Publishers will impose strict DRM, try to keep ebook prices high despite market pressure for low pressure and this will result in a spike of piracy. In other words, I believe the large publishers will repeat the same mistakes the music industry has made (and is still making) with disasterous consequences.

2. Indie authors: These authors who strike out on their own will become the new face of publishing over the next 10 years. They realize that ebooks provide an opportunity to distribute their books/short fiction to a wider audience than ever before – with very low investment.

3. eReaders: I find this the most exciting topic to ponder for the new decade ahead. I think that as technology improves and as ebooks gain in popularity, the devices we read ebooks on will become more sophisticated and improve the reading experience in innumerable ways.

I always like New Year’s Day because I feel it represents a new beginning, a fresh start. I can put the past year behind me, at least all the negatives, and push forward with a renewed spirit. But New Year’s Day 2010 will be different because it’ll mark a new decade with an entirely new cultural shift taking place.

What do you predict for the new decade for your self and society as a whole? Leave a comment below and share your ideas.

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Independent ebook websites like Smashwords and Feedbooks are giving indie authors an unprecedented advantage by letting these authors distribute their work without the gatekeeper of traditional publishers. While the digital domain has not been perfected, indie authors are coming out of hiding and setting their writing free into the world.

Authors Can Learn From Music Industry

For a long time large record labels controlled the music industry. If your band didn’t have a contract with a record label, your music career wasn’t going anywhere. But as the internet began to spread and music became digitized, the record labels fought these new distribution methods while musicians embraced the new technology.

The result? Bands have little need for large record labels today because they can do everything on their own thanks to the technology that’s available. Over the last decade the record labels have become less relevant and the RIAA has resorted to suing their own customers for alleged copyright infringement. Indie authors are following in the same footsteps as these bands who gave the virtual finger to the record labels.

I think the trend will continue and we’ll see more authors taking the indie route. There is still a stigma to self-publishing, but the stigma is slowly dying as self-publishing  becomes more mainstream and accepted. It helps that a lot of bestselling authors today self-published their book before landing a publishing contract. My favorite example is Lisa Genova’s book  Still Alice (aff link), which had been rejected by numerous publishers until she sold it on her own.

Large publishing houses still have one advantage

I will give credit where credit is due. Publishers do have the advantage of a vast distribution network and can get books onto the shelves of chain bookstores (i.e. Barnes & Noble and Borders) with ease. They have the infrastructure and network in place to move a lot of books all over the world.

To further complicate things for indie authors, however, the large bookstores usually won’t consider stocking a self-published book for one reason: The books can’t be returned if it doesn’t sell. This must-be-returnable policy has long been a controversial issue among publishers and authors alike, and a pain in the side for all indie authors. Again, this gives the large publishing houses an advantage because of agreements with the book chains and their large distribution network.

And as much as they have been criticized for putting the indie bookstores out of business, the large chain booksellers are vital for new releases and any author who wants to make the bestseller list cannot survive without the likes of Barnes & Noble. This might be a necessary evil, but it certainly doesn’t help indie authors.

A light at the end of the tunnel

I think it’s fair to say that not all indie authors have aspirations of making the bestseller list. Look at some of the titles on the list at any given time – a lot of those books are popular because they appeal to large audiences, meaning the writing can be mediocre at best. A good example is Dan Brown’s most recent book The Lost Symbol. Many around the web called Brown a hack and deeply criticized his writing.

Indie authors want to be independent for a reason. They want to write something unique, that probably won’t appeal to the masses. For indie authors, it’s not about reaching the largest possible audience, it’s more about reaching an eclectic group of readers that can truly appreciate a book or short story that is different than what you find in mainstream literature.

My own goal as a writer is not to reach the bestseller list, and not even to land a contract with a large publishing house. My goal is to write what I want to write and find a niche audience to cater to. I also want to control my own career and not be bound by a contract that takes away even the copyrights to my own writing.

Even the distribution advantage that traditional publishers have is being minimized. The internet is becoming the great equalizer and letting authors publish their works, many with great success, in digital format without the need for a large expensive distribution network. And if those indie authors want to release their novels in print, they can do so easily by self-publishing their books and selling them on their own via their author website/blog.

Indie authors becoming a formidable foe

In conclusion, traditional publishers have a lot to fear from indie authors. Their role as gatekeepers to the collective literary canon is being chipped away at with great speed. These publishers are decreasing the number of new authors they sign, and giving these new authors only minimal marketing support. They are throwing most of their money behind the big-name popular authors who can rake in millions of dollars.

Authors now have a choice when publishing their work. They can go the traditional route or the indie route. What real advantage does the traditional route to publishing offer?

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fcb/ / CC BY 2.0

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Indie authors have several advantages over authors who go with a traditional publishing house. And it’s these advantages that could be the downfall of  the traditional publishing business.

- Indie authors can distribute their books in any manner they please. They can sell ebooks online and sell print books out of the trunk of their car. The distribution channels for authors is opening, thanks to the internet (the great neutralizer, as I call it).

- Indie authors can seriously undercut large publishers’ prices on books. These authors don’t have a very high overhead and can offer their books at much lower prices and still make a tidy profit.

- Indie authors become their own brand. They create an online presence through their own websites, Twitter, Facebook and other sites. They sell their books to a built-in fan base.

- Indie authors can control the copyrights to their works.

Example: Joe Konrath

Even when publishers do get into the ebook game, it does not always benefit the author – at least not financially. One of my favorite author blogs is A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing by Joe Konrath. He talks about making a living as a writer, including a lot of discussion about ebooks.

In a post he wrote back in October entitled Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing vs. Self Publishing. Joe “spills the beans” about his earnings and posts what he has made on ebooks from Hyperion (a traditional publisher) that have been published on the Amazon Kindle. And then he posts his earnings from ebooks he has self-published on the Kindle. Here’s how it breaks down:

Ebooks from Hyperion sold on Kindle

- Earnings from Jan. 1 to June 31, 2009.

- 6 titles published on Kindle.

- Price range per book: $3.96 -$7.99

- 1237 ebooks sold in 6 months.

- Total royalties: $2008

Self-published ebooks sold on Kindle

- Earnings from Jan. 1 to June 31, 2009

- 4 titles published on Kindle.

- Price range per book: $1.99

- 9800 books sold in 6 months.

- Total earnings: $6860

Joe made $4853 more self-publishing his titles on the Kindle. He offered fewer titles sold at a much lower price ($1.99). Why so much success with self-publishing? I think this big difference is due to the fact that when Joe self-published on Amazon, he got roughly $0.70 per book sold (35% of the price he sets).

For the books published by Hyperion Joe receives 25% of whatever the publisher receives. It’s also worth noting that Hyperion and Amazon have to strike an agreement regarding these prices. This leaves Joe with a lot less control and a lot less money in his pocket.

Here’s the interesting part, however, Joe does not own the rights to the books sold by Hyperion. If he did?

If I had the rights to all six of my Hyperion books, and sold them on Kindle for $1.99, I’d be making $20,580 per year off of them, total, rather than $4818 a year off of them, total.

Just by owning the copyrights to his own works, Joe can increase his own earnings by several thousand dollars. This makes a great case why copyright (especially in the digital realm) is becoming such a hot button issue.

Do you think I’m right in my assessment that indie authors will eventually bring the large publishers to their knees? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

In Part 2 (to be posted on Wednesday) I’ll be writing about the one large advantage publishers have over indie authors and how that advantage can be minimized.

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kylemay/ / CC BY 2.0

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This is the premise of the guest post I wrote for the LongShortStories blog. In a nutshell, digital publishing (i.e. ebooks) are helping short stories become more and more popular. Here’s an excerpt:

It’s ironic that the technology that drove out print magazines and newspapers also brought in a new era for the short story – a renaissance of sorts. The growing popularity of ebooks and related ebook reading devices hitting the market provides writers a perfect opportunity to distribute their work to a growing audience without going through mainstream publishing channels.

Enjoy!

P.S. You can also enjoy Wayne Long’s short fiction on his LongShortStories website!

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You can stream the interview directly from your browser via the BlogTalkRadio website here. Or, for all you Apple fanboys (and girls) out there, you can listen in iTunes here (opens in iTunes).

Here’s what the interview focused on:

- Some more personal information about myself, more than you’ll find on this blog’s about page. How my love affair with literature began. My writing and so forth.

- Using Twitter to promote my blog. My experience using Twitter and how it has helped my blog.

- Literacy and ways everyone can help those around the world who are illiterate. A little on how technology can also help with this.

- Self publishing and how authors can get their work out there in a more personal way than traditional publishing.

I had a fun time doing this interview. It’s a half hour long so I encourage everyone to give it a listen. Also, check out Mr. Webb’s other interview shows. He has very interesting guests on and many published authors. He is also a big advocate of literacy in America and around the world.

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Herz is featured in this Publishers Weekly article that details his unique way of getting his book into the hands of the reading public:

Using print-on-demand, Herz printed about 1,100 copies which he and his wife carried up to their fourth-story walkup in what Herz describes as the last neighborhood in Harlem untouched by gentrification. Since its June 15 pub date, Herz has sold about 300 copies both on the street and through his Web site, www.canalpublishing.com.

The article continues:

Every day he takes 10 copies out to the streets and does not come home until he sells all of them. He has accomplished his goal in as little as an hour and as much as 10 hours. The paperback edition of The Last Block in Harlem is $10.

Writers take note: This is a guy who is out there pounding the pavement to get his book into the hands of readers. He doesn’t rely on complicated and expensive distribution channels (that would probably jack up the price of his book!), rather, he uses own belief in his work and a little savvy salesmanship.

To date he has sold 300 copies since the first printing two months ago. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Herz is on his way to easily breaking the 1000 mark and then going beyond that, which for a self-published book, is very good.

Can you imagine going up to complete strangers on the street and urge them to buy your self-published book? While it seems unorthodox to a lot of us, this is the way a lot of publications were sold back in the days before corporate globalization turned the art of bookselling into a cut-throat business.

Herz is also following in the footsteps of independent writers who produced and peddled their own chapbooks back in the 16th century. Herz gives some good reasons for selling his book the way he does:

“I’m offering a direct experience with the author,” said Herz. He attributed some of his success with being passionate about his product and the fact that the book—which he wrote everyday from 5-7 a.m. before his day job—as a “love letter to my neighborhood.”

The article also notes that he has tried selling his book in independent bookstores on consignment. However, it is interesting to note that he has not sold a book through that more ‘traditional’ method.

I’ve been interested in alternative ways of publishing and selling literature for a while now. So when I saw this PW article, I really became excited. Aside from wanting to self-publish my own ebooks (in ePub format, of course), I’m also noodling with the idea of publishing handmade chapbooks of my own poetry, drabbles and even short fiction. Ideally, I’d sell them for a dollar or two (depending on production costs), but I’d like to follow in Herz’s footsteps and sell to one reader at a time.

Don’t forget to check out Christopher Herz’s website at www.canalpublishing.com and consider buying a copy of his book (I certainly am). By doing so, you’ll help support a very independent author who is keeping an old tradition of handselling books alive. You can also visit his blog at canalpublishing.wordpress.com.

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I’m going to keep this introduction short because I think the interview speaks for itself, and I hope you find Wayne’s answers as inspiring as I do. And when you get to the end of the interview, you might find a surprise!

Without further ado…

1. How long have you been writing for and what got you started writing fiction?

First of all, thank you, Brad for inviting me to be interviewed by the mighty Brad’s Reader blog. Always happy to help a fellow Illinoisan (well, I was born and raised in Illinois, met my wife Diane at Northern Illinois University, but now live in rural Wisconsin, via a stint in the Los Angeles area).

I took to creative writing in high school and have been writing ever since. In those early days, I was always impressed by writers whose work appeared on television, such as the great Rod Serling of “The Twilight Zone” series fame. Rod and I are blessed (cursed?) with having a vivid imagination. I watched (and internalized) his storytelling work religiously. Also while in high school creative writing classes, I became entranced with the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was one of the fathers of modern American short story writing. Other early influences? Hemmingway. Shakespeare. Chaucer. Great tale-tellers all!

But it wasn’t until I was married and living in Chicago in the early 70s that I truly found the Mother Lode.

I was working for a very large international firm downtown and one day was assigned to visit a trade show at McCormick Place as part of my sales job. I bailed out early from that show and took a cab over to a tiny art-film theater on Michigan Avenue to see a groundbreaking independent film called “Faces,” written and directed by the immortal John Cassavetes. That critically-acclaimed black-and-white film really lit my fiction-writing fire! Probably the best hour and a half I ever spent in my life!

Cassavetes’ emotionally-tortured characters, his gritty story arc, and his deep understanding of the human condition really turned me on and I began, with my wife in tow, to seek out and find the best in independent cinema. To this day, I am constantly on the hunt for the best in indie cinema from both America and across the globe.

You might call me a frustrated filmmaker, but my “films” are digital “images” and not found on celluloid (not yet, anyway, hah)! Your discerning readers surely know the marvelous independent films based on equally marvelous short stories like Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain,” and “In the Bedroom,” based on Andre Dubus’ eight-page story, “Killings.” And the unforgettable 2006 Pushcart Prize-winning short story “Refresh, Refresh,” now filming in Oregon, written by my friend, author Benjamin Percy.

Critics the world over have characterized the short story as one of the most difficult writing forms to craft. Difficult yes, but oh so powerful in their “less is more,” take-no- prisoners brevity. That’s why I write short fiction.

2.  When did you get the idea for posting your fiction online for others to read?

I retired early (2003) from a three-decade-long successful career in environmental sales and wanted to build a Web-based platform to showcase my writing in my so-called retirement. I spent over a year researching the online short fiction marketplace. The handwriting was definitely on the wall, as they say.

There were early signs that the traditional publishing market was starting to fracture, under pressure from the power of the Internet to deliver digital entertainment directly to the end-user―through music downloads, via DVDs, iPods, and the promise of inventions like the now-famous Amazon Kindle. These things really were setting up the “perfect storm” for the launch of LongShortStories in June of 2007. It was time. My time!

3. What inspired you to use a subscription-based model for selling your work? What is the story behind LongShortStories?

I owe a big debt of gratitude to my writer friend Bruce Holland Rogers out in Oregon for this model. I discovered Bruce’s work online and read of his great success with his subscription-based Web site www.shortshortshort.com. I became a subscriber to Bruce’s flash fiction collection, which delivered 2-3 stories per month via e-mail attachment to my in-box for a nominal annual flat fee. What a concept!

Just imagine this from the writer’s perspective. No un-answered query letters from print book and magazine publishers, no agents grabbing a percentage, no environmental damage from cutting precious trees, no big-box retailer taking his chunk. No middleman at all! The starving artist might actually be able to support himself by taking his work directly to his or her readership.

Subsequently, I wrote an article for the Spring, 2008 Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Association Journal, in which I interviewed Bruce about his success online. The title of that article was “Brave New World―Marketing the Short Story in the Digital Age.”

Bruce Holland Rogers is probably the most prolific online short story writer of our time. He has over 700 paying subscribers the world over. Maybe not enough to retire full-time, but by careful marketing of his work, he could magnify his initial Internet sales by re-selling the Web and print rights later on.

More and more top-paying print magazine publishers, like The Sun and Good Housekeeping, are accepting the work of Internet writers and don’t consider our e-mailed short story collections as a relinquishment of our first rights, since our work is not “published” in the sense that anyone who isn’t a subscriber can see them. The whole idea of the legalities of the traditional publishing world is being turned on its head by the e-book publishing revolution!

4. How successful has LongShortStories been (no need to reveal any specific sales details, just a general overview of your success)?

Remember that international company I worked for back when I first saw “Faces?” Well, that company was one of a network of Japanese Trading Companies, the so-called sogo shosha, that have powered Japan to economic leadership. Every one of them is vital to the Japanese and global economy, and every one of them does its strategic business planning on a long-term basis, something the West is just starting to wake up to. In America, it’s traditionally been all about short-term profits, not long-term thinking. And today, American business is paying dearly for its short-sightedness.

As a student of marketing, I adopted this long-term-payoff strategy for LongShortStories. It was a natural thing for me.

So, you asked, how successful is the two-year-old LongShortStories? As the proud father of this Internet business toddler, she’s growing by millimeters, penciled on the door frame of my writer’s garret. She’s just where she needs to be, in the bigger scheme of things to come. In this business (and my writing is a business), timing is everything. LongShortStories got in on the ground floor of the onrushing e-publishing phenomenon, and my subscribers are the brave early adopters of this technological change.

I am reinvesting all my subscription income back into the business, constantly tweaking things, installing Search Engine Optimization and the latest PayPal technology, to grow my baby. That strategy is paying off handsomely.

5. Tell us a little about the contests you’ve been holding. How has the response been?

Well, my friend, I believe in fostering the short story form like I believe in breathing! I also believe it is my writer’s duty to help cultivate the garden for future successful (there’s that word again!) short story writers who may not have published anything yet, due to the state of the print publishing world, or due to their not being fortunate enough to have a Web-based publishing platform like I do.

I kicked off my first short story writing contest in 2008 with a Pay-It-Forward theme. I found some really fabulous talent and highlighted the work of each of the winners on the “Wayne’s Blog” pages of my Web site.

We have been blessed with two anonymous donors who gave sizeable cash donations toward the LongShortStories Short Story Contest. But even more exciting is the recent gift of not one, but TWO complete Web sites valued at $800 each by my marvelously talented Web site designer and Web host, Eugene Barnes of Columbus, Ohio.

Still, LongShortStories is seeking even broader financial support for its contest prize winners, not only from the writing community (through a nominal contest entrant reading fee), but by actually soliciting small and large business sponsorship in exchange for banner advertising on my Web site. Surely some of your readers, know of or work for, companies who are constantly looking for the perfect place to target their promotional dollars. I feel strongly that, with the increase in popularity of the elegant short story, that it is a marriage made in win/win heaven.

A small minority of writing marketplace Web sites still have a problem with some “bad apple”contest sponsors charging a reading fee to accompany an entrant submission, but I’m convinced that’s really the best way to build a prize pot for the direct benefit of those who enter my contests.

Times are tough these days for many folks, short story writers included. Many have found their day jobs disappearing. Many find that their urge to write is being held back by their low morale. Many have been burnt by unscrupulous contest sponsors whose only mission in life is to be the “bottom feeders” of the writing food chain.

But LongShortStories is driven by a different moral compass, which is summed up succinctly in my Web site motto: “BE what you wish to see!” BE that helpful mentor of the short story world! BE that better man or woman of the new era of Internet publishing!

Yes, I like to BE what I personally like to see and be treated as, in this changing new world order. The Bernie Madoffs of the publishing world cannot hide forever. Their greed alone will expose them for the frauds that they always were. LongShortStories, I feel, is that “breath of fresh air” readers are looking for, and I thank my maker every day for directing these readers and contest entrants to my subscription service.

6. Do you think this subscription-based model for distributing fiction in a digital format is more viable for authors than more traditional means of publishing?

My ongoing research in this area tells me that traditional authors and publishing houses must launch a Web presence or face extinction. It could be a dual track, with both a pulp-based presence and a digital, Internet-based one. But woe to the writer or publisher who does not adapt to the new readership, to the readership which was raised on video games, Napster and the like! As my author friend and mentor Bruce Holland Rogers wisely advised me, don’t put all your publishing eggs in one proverbial basket. Keep trying different distribution channels. Try them in combination. But keep trying!

I also offer readers a Pay-Per-View option on my web site www.LongShortStories.com, priced competitively with music downloads, as well as the battle-proven tool of subscription purchasing that readers are more familiar with from the traditional publishing world. Digitally-delivered entertainment, no matter what it is, is the way of the future (and that future is now!) for time-pressured seekers of short forms of entertainment like the short story. Advances in membership software technology and e-commerce have been utilized to build LongShortStories into the powerhouse that it has become. Authors who stay stuck with traditional models will likely feel the lash down the line for not trying every available means out there to become a truly “successful” writer.

7. What are your future plans for LongShortStories?

Thank you for asking, Brad! It is in this area that my imagination really takes over.

I’ll give you my wish list for LongShortStories:

• Adding audio technology to my short story delivery arsenal, through the use of voice-recognition software.
• Adding the ability for readers to purchase the entire story collection at once, rather than just purchasing them one at a time, or by purchasing one and two-year subscriptions delivering a new story automatically by e-mail every 12 days.
• Adding language translation software to the story delivery system. It’s a small world after all!
• To keep offering bigger and better prizes for contestants in my short story competitions.
• To work side by side with other writing colleagues like you, Brad, giving freely of our talents to lift up the whole field of writers.
• Keep delivering cutting-edge short fiction to an avid global readership family that has suffered through the drought of outlets for this magnificent art form, until finally finding their way to LongShortStories, Where the Short Story LIVES!
• To see that shining day when one of my short stories is optioned for delivery to the big screen by one of the creative geniuses of the independent film world, a genius not unlike John Cassavetes!

—

Thank you, Wayne, for your great answers and taking the time for this interview. And as promised, there is a surprise here. While discussing the interview with Wayne, he sent me this message:

I will offer a special, limited-time Brad’s Reader Readers’ LongShortStories Subscription Deal. That’s 45 great short stories for the price of 30, all for just US$12. A new story will be delivered every 12 days via e-mail attachment to their home or work e-mail in-box. Offer expires at midnight Central Daylight Time July 31, 2009.

Please take advantage of this generous offer and support a pioneer in the business of subscription-based publishing for short fiction. Note that I am not being compensated in any way for promoting this offer.

Finally, Wayne is eager to answer any follow-up questions you may have, so leave a comment below with your questions.

Related posts

• Read my guest post on LongShortStories: ‘Resurrecting the Short Story’
• One Post, Many Topics
• Listen to my interview on Conversations LIVE! Radio with Cyrus Webb