Is the short story market no longer viable?

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Jinsune

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That page is for Kindle Singles, which is not needed to self-publish a short story on their website. It's an optional programme in addition to their usual stuff.

For the usual route, you publish shorts the same way as novels. Just upload it, fill out the details, and off it goes.

Well that makes sense. :D
But if the OP's goal is to make a name in the short story world, wouldn't it be hard getting a short story noticed on Amazon? I don't buy books from there, so I'm curious.
 

Polenth

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But if the OP's goal is to make a name in the short story world, wouldn't it be hard getting a short story noticed on Amazon?

Yes, which is why I keep saying it's not great for money. If you want to make a name for yourself, submit to the top markets in your genre. If that completely fails, self-publishing will still be there later. But you can't go the other way very easily. Once it's published, few places will want to look at it.
 
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Hoplite

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Yes, which is why I keep saying it's not great for money. If you want to make a name for yourself, submit to the top markets in your genre. If that completely fails, self-publishing will still there be later. But you can't go the other way very easily. Once it's published, few places will want to look at it.

Pretty much my thoughts. I've been thinking of self-publishing some short stories that were originally published by small-presses.
 

Ken

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Pretty much my thoughts. I've been thinking of self-publishing some short stories that were originally published by small-presses.

Fine if you do, but you needn't. Short stories are frequently reprinted. Sell one to some pub/mag and then sell it again to another and another ...

Cool thing about short stories.
 

Hapax Legomenon

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Fine if you do, but you needn't. Short stories are frequently reprinted. Sell one to some pub/mag and then sell it again to another and another ...

Cool thing about short stories.

Well if a magazine publishes reprints, then where's the harm in self-pubbing as well?
 

Hoplite

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Fine if you do, but you needn't. Short stories are frequently reprinted. Sell one to some pub/mag and then sell it again to another and another ...

Cool thing about short stories.

I'm currently trying to get 1 reprinted. I have another that will be available for me to self-pub/reprint in September, when the contract ends. Reprinting appears more difficult, as some mags wont look at them at all, or you need to query about it first rather than just send in the story. I figure I'd try to reprint first and if that fails after some arbitrary number of attempts, I'll look to self-publishing on Kindle/Nook or something.


Well if a magazine publishes reprints, then where's the harm in self-pubbing as well?

I think (emphasis on 'think' as I have no experience in this matter) every time a story is published (whether done by self or publishers) it makes trying to sell reprints to publishers more difficult, as the story has appeared multiple times in the past. So there might be some incentive to get a story reprinted as many times as possible before self-publishing.
 

Ken

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I'm currently trying to get 1 reprinted. I have another that will be available for me to self-pub/reprint in September, when the contract ends. Reprinting appears more difficult, as some mags wont look at them at all, or you need to query about it first rather than just send in the story. I figure I'd try to reprint first and if that fails after some arbitrary number of attempts, I'll look to self-publishing on Kindle/Nook or something.

Seems like a good way to go. G'luck either way.

Well if a magazine publishes reprints, then where's the harm in self-pubbing as well?

$

(Not to say that needs to be the main consideration or that self-pub'ing can't be lucrative, too, or an end in itself.)
 
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Rechan

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First, thanks for the answers so far. However, I guess I used the wrong word. I'm not concerned about making a living. When I said "viable" I meant from a "getting published" standpoint, as well from a "getting lots of readers" standpoint.

My concern is if readers are buying fewer short story books/magazines/website/e-zines/whatever and thus more venues are dying out than ever. If they're dying out, then there's fewer places to get published, a much stiffer competition because all the writers are submitting to the few remaining venues, and fewer readers reading those stories overall.

I see a hell of a lot of tiny publishers calling for the "40% of royalties split among all authors" anthologies and I know that not only will that never pay, it will also not sell. I see almost as many token pay open calls. While I don't want to submit somewhere that pays $.02/word or less, the money is secondary. What I'm worried about is 1) getting published in the first place 2) in somewhere that will reach as many readers as possible. I don't want to get a story in an anthology that won't sell, because then I just sold the first print rights to something no one will read because no one is buying; I'm out of decent pay AND a good story.

I also worry that short stories are not a way to recognition any longer. A lot of writers up to 20-30 years ago cut their teeth and gained notoriety with their short stories - primarily horror writers, but some Sci Fi writers too. Now I can't think of any authors in the last two decades who got big with their short stories. I say this because short stories are what I'm good at, novels are a beast I can't seem to tackle, so I'm worried there just aren't the readers there to build up a fanbase with.
 
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Polenth

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Well if a magazine publishes reprints, then where's the harm in self-pubbing as well?

Fewer markets take reprints and they often pay less. Plus there's nothing to stop you selling it to someone, then self-publishing it once that's done, then selling the reprint rights to multiple people. This isn't a situation where you have to only do one thing. You can do them all.

If I did it again, I'd have delayed releasing the collection until I'd sold a few more of the stories. For the next collection, that's exactly what I plan to do.

So it's not that it's harmful as such. Just that with a bit of patience and planning, you'd earn more per story.
 

dondomat

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reprint markets not Yeti--this is 2014

Check the "accept reprints" box in the grinder search engine. Type "reprint" into your browser's search window while vieweing Ralan's lists.
 
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WriterBN

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Now I can't think of any authors in the last two decades who got big with their short stories. I say this because short stories are what I'm good at, novels are a beast I can't seem to tackle, so I'm worried there just aren't the readers there to build up a fanbase with.

Maybe not in SF or fantasy, but Jhumpa Lahiri won a Pulitzer with her debut short story collection. For me, that would be the ultimate in getting big!
 

Fruitbat

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I don't know that there's any current decline in the popularity of short stories. The time when a writer could expect too much beyond enjoyment from writing short stories ended with the Algonquin Round Table era. We could dig up a few rare exceptions, but still... I believe that what's considered "pro rates" today is even the same as it was in the 1920's, not adjusted for inflation, if that tells you anything.

There was a resurgence in the eighties, though. It could happen again. I recall when novellas and fantasy were hard sells, too. Things always keep changing.

But as far as being a plan for getting established or even earning a decent second income, nah. To me, shorts are for the love. Anything else is extra.
 
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Unhappy

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That page is for Kindle Singles, which is not needed to self-publish a short story on their website. It's an optional programme in addition to their usual stuff.

For the usual route, you publish shorts the same way as novels. Just upload it, fill out the details, and off it goes.

And then starts the promo to get people to know that the story is on Amazon.So I say, no, not that. I have now published the short story on my own website. For a free read.
 

OJCade

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Owen Marshall in NZ is pretty well known for his short stories. He's literary, as well.
 

Jinsune

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And then starts the promo to get people to know that the story is on Amazon.So I say, no, not that. I have now published the short story on my own website. For a free read.

I think this might be a good way of gaining a fan-base and getting noticed, but I'm not sure that you'll get major recognition. You can offer the work free on your website and draw in visitors.
 

Polenth

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And then starts the promo to get people to know that the story is on Amazon.So I say, no, not that. I have now published the short story on my own website. For a free read.

You still have to promote those free stories if you want people to read them. The issue is it can be harder to get people to check out a website from an unknown author than it is to get them to check out Amazon or an established story market. So putting them up on your website in the hopes of avoiding promotion isn't realistic.
 

WriterBN

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You still have to promote those free stories if you want people to read them. The issue is it can be harder to get people to check out a website from an unknown author than it is to get them to check out Amazon or an established story market. So putting them up on your website in the hopes of avoiding promotion isn't realistic.

Very true. I get a handful of downloads of my permafree short story on Amazon per day, simply from being on Amazon. Over the past 6 months or so, I think I've had one download from my website.
 

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I remember Philip k. dick saying how he could barely eat while selling only short stories. And of course Ray Bradbury not being able to afford a car until 36 or so... but he was afraid of them so take that with a grain of salt. The point is no one has ever been able to make a good living on them, so long as you have normal expectations of what it means to make a good living.
 

djunamod

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So glad this question was asked. I'm with the OP, in terms of loving short stories (reading and writing) and not looking to necessarily make a living or even earning an extra income, but more like wanting a readership that will enjoy the short stories and the writing style and keep coming back for more. That might sound terribly naive and unambitious, but I'm 44 and the idea of "making it big" in writing has long passed for me.

I thought I read somewhere also that a small collection of short stories (2 or 3 or 4) in ebook format tends to do better than singles, but don't quote me on that.

Djuna
 

Jamesaritchie

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I remember Philip k. dick saying how he could barely eat while selling only short stories. And of course Ray Bradbury not being able to afford a car until 36 or so... but he was afraid of them so take that with a grain of salt. The point is no one has ever been able to make a good living on them, so long as you have normal expectations of what it means to make a good living.

Well, Ray Bradbury made millions from short stories. He just did it a bit late in life.

It has been a while since anyone made a great living from short stories, but it used to happen pretty often. Magazines such as Saturday Evening post, and many others, paid thousand of dollars for short stories back in the thirties and forties. Some writers were paid $25,000 and more for a single short story. In the thirties and forties, that could buy a very nice house, and a new car, with money left over.

There are several writers out there right now who make a LOT of money from short stories. The only reason we say they don't earn a living from them is because they make so much money writing novels or screenplays.
 

Jamesaritchie

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So glad this question was asked. I'm with the OP, in terms of loving short stories (reading and writing) and not looking to necessarily make a living or even earning an extra income, but more like wanting a readership that will enjoy the short stories and the writing style and keep coming back for more. That might sound terribly naive and unambitious, but I'm 44 and the idea of "making it big" in writing has long passed for me.

I thought I read somewhere also that a small collection of short stories (2 or 3 or 4) in ebook format tends to do better than singles, but don't quote me on that.

Djuna

The thing is, readership goes with good, paying markets. Unless having nine people read your story is enough, going after readers means going after money, and the other way around.
 

Ken

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Magazines such as Saturday Evening post, and many others, paid thousand of dollars for short stories back in the thirties and forties. Some writers were paid $25,000 and more for a single short story. In the thirties and forties, that could buy a very nice house, and a new car, with money left over.

Neat. Cool too that some of those stories are finding their way back into print. Wonder if the estates are capitalizing? Guess that'd depend on rights for the stories. I'd suppose a mag that paid 25 grand would want all rights. Maybe not?
 

BrianJamesFreeman

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There are several writers out there right now who make a LOT of money from short stories. The only reason we say they don't earn a living from them is because they make so much money writing novels or screenplays.

Yep, pretty much.

For everyone else, I'd recommend writing short stories because you love the form and not because you want to get rich. ;)

Brian
 

HoosierJoe

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Viable? Yes. Profitable? Most likely not.

There are hundreds of outlets, mostly online for short stories of all kinds. There are lists and lists all over the internet. So, opportunity is there.

Now, my experience is that many of them do not pay or pay little. I look at writing not as a vocation but a passion. I have little illusion that I will ever make a living from it.

Yes, I believe there is a market for short stories. And yes, I believe that most of those markets are little read online magazines that don't pay.
 
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