Short story strategy: a self-publishing diary

Congrats! That's happy news. Good reminder that things may look grim, yet the numbers can keep adding up.

Hooray for antidepressants! We'll still be here... lol

How many stories are those sales and earnings spread across, and how long since you first published them? I'd appreciate a recap. I think you've done extraordinarily well.

Parametric said:

Thank you! That's 32 short stories published in 4 series, with each series then being bundled into an anthology, for a total of 36 titles. First publication was June 2013. Total expenses were about $700 to date.

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So you've sold more than 2,000 copies across those 36 titles, and have earned more than $7,200. I think that's really good!

I'm still trying to interpret the sales and earnings data. I have a considerable number of completed novels in the trunk at the moment. From a business perspective, this experiment has turned a decent profit, so it's a success. But maybe that's because of the weekly short story format, and full-length novels might not sell so well.

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The only way you can find out if those novels won't sell so well is to get them out there.

There have been some negative reviews, although that may be partly due to the format - I can't seem to write a satisfying ending to a story so short. Or maybe I'm just not a good writer and I should leave all those novels in the trunk.

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There are always negative reviews. Always. Receiving them doesn't mean you're not a good writer, it means that you're getting read and reviewed.

If you're only getting negative reviews then perhaps you should pay attention: but mostly, reviews are for readers, not writers. Ignore them.

Leave your novels where they are if that's what you really want to do but think carefully about it.

I'm really having a lot of difficulty reconciling these enthusiastic sales with the dozens and dozens of form rejections I received for my novel. I think the agents were probably right.

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They might well have been. Or your query might have been weak, or perhaps you queried the wrong agents, or perhaps they already had an author whose toes you would have trod on if they'd taken you on... there are so many reasons why you might have been rejected.

Perhaps you have a trusted beta-reader who could give you her opinion on whether those books are worth putting out there?

Para, seconding Old Hack. I think you've done very well. Short story format is limiting as far as plot, character, and depth, and yours seem to be very strong. I'm sure your novels are as carefully crafted. I'd say put one or two of them up at a *reasonable, not super-low price* and see what happens.

A lot of us would rather spend money on longer stories than shorts, because we find novel-length so satisfying.

Ignore the reviews. Forget about the agents. There are any number of factors that might have led to their saying 'no'. You've come a long, long way since the time you queried those works.

Parametric, your results give the rest of us short story writers hope. Keep at it.

Your thread helped me with gaining the confidence to put up my own short stories, and I've enjoyed following your journey. I think you've done very well. Perhaps try one of the novels and see what happens. If you're still struggling with depression, then the little voice of "I'm not good enough" can be strong and insinuating. But in my experience, I've found that little voice is almost always lying, or I'm being way harder on myself than I need to be.

Para, I'm glad you're feeling better. Self-doubt can be a major stumbling block. It may be worth getting feedback from trusted first readers or to hire an editor on the novel you have the most enthusiasm for. Why not get into that trunk, pick one, and go for it? Or if you're still concerned it might throw you off if the sales are low, set a date to re-evaluate the situation.

When I first started submitting fiction after a long break I had similar concerns. I survived more than 100 rejections of my short stories in 13 months and decided to make better use of my time. I sold three and got short-listed a lot, yet I make all my income from writing, so that time-sucking submission process had to go. This year my focus is on getting out more eBooks. Thanks for your inspiration for selling short story collections -- few people seem to be able to pull that off, so I hope you give yourself credit!

As for agents, bear in mind agents and editors buy product. If quality was the top consideration, many bestselling authors would never have made it. Sometimes it's about whether a novel fits a marketable niche, what the competition is, what else the agent has on her list, and of course, personal taste. Rejection isn't about you and your novel.

Keep up the good work. BTW, Paul McKenna's book and CD "I Can Make You Confident" are excellent tools.

Parametric said:

I can't seem to write a satisfying ending to a story so short. Or maybe I'm just not a good writer and I should leave all those novels in the trunk.

I'm really having a lot of difficulty reconciling these enthusiastic sales with the dozens and dozens of form rejections I received for my novel. I think the agents were probably right.

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One thing that might help with the trouble you're having writing an ending is to read some short stories that others have written.

A good one is Annie Dillard's Total Eclipse. You can read it for free here: http://home.ubalt.edu/ntygfit/ai_05_mapping_directions/ai_05_see/ad_total_eclipse.htm
Also, I have a book called Autobiographical Writing Across the Disciplines, which is a collection of short stories/essays. It's fantastic. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0822332132/?tag=absowrit-20

Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories are excellent: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0451530209/?tag=absowrit-20

As are Poe's.

But the best short stories to read for inspiration are ones in your genre. Or if you have a favorite (or some favorites) that you've already read, read them again.

I always find that reading does two things:
1) Gives me time away from what I'm writing to rest and mull over it.
2) Gives me inspiration and guidance. How did this author do it? What do I think worked about that? Or, what didn't work?

I haven't read what you've written to comment on your writing skills, but your posts are interesting and well-written, so it seems that you ARE a good writer! Confidence is really important. Maybe get some feedback on your writing from other authors (if you haven't already); that could be helpful to your self-esteem.

This is my favorite book on writing:
Writing and Thinking: A Handbook of Composition and Revision
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1889439150/?tag=absowrit-20
You might want to pick up a copy. Always good to use as a sounding board.

Unless I've missed something in the thread, I didn't think you'd published any of the novels. So you don't know that readers think your books are boring, because they've not read them.

Being rejected by agents/editors isn't a good indication either way, as they reject for a whole lot of other reasons, like not a popular genre, doesn't fit genre classifications well enough, already have a book with a similar concept, and a whole bunch of things that have nothing to do with whether the story is any good. Some stories will never have the potential sales to interest trade publishers, but that doesn't make them bad stories.

You've made £5000. That's not doing badly. A new novel author might not get an advance any bigger than that. A short story writer has to sell well to pro markets to have any chance of those earnings. If it helps, write that number on a piece of paper and stick it above your computer to remind you that you're not doing badly.

I'm with Polenth on this one. If some of those twelve novels form a series, then publish them. All at once. Do the Liliana Nirvana method and see what happens. In my experience, people are much more willing to buy novels than short stories, so if you've done that well with shorts, think what you could do with novels. Did you read that post by Marie Force on her five year anniversary of self-publishing? Something to think about...Just because agents and editors aren't biting doesn't mean that customers won't buy. Maybe that key ingredient you're missing is the willingness to take that chance with your novels and risk failure. (And I know that feeling myself. It took me two years from self-publishing my first short story to finally deciding to put a novel out there.)