By Edward Nawotka
Earlier this month in the UK Bloomsbury pronounced 2012 as “the year of the short story” and announced plans to print a new collection each month to mark the occasion.
It’s no surprise: 2011 has been rife with startups, announcements and other endeavors focused on publishing short form literature. The promise these companies are making is that they will be able to deliver a reading experience that fits into the busy, saturated lives of the digitally distracted.
What’s the bet here? The short story is form long derided by traditional publishers as unprofitable, at least when published in book form.
It’s interesting to note that the phenomenon has come about at the very moment when there’s been a massive explosion in the number of works being published — one fueled almost entirely by the self-publishing community.
What has changed to make traditional publishers suddenly interested in stories?
3 Comments
Tablets, smartphones and eReaders (and now the Fire) have opened up perfect opportunities for a short story renaissance by making it convenient and fashionable to read during those in-between moments of downtime (waiting in line, subway and bus rides, while waiting for the kids…etc. Short stories also provide a way for writers to expand the worlds and lives of their novel’s characters, providing more content to their fans, including stories and material that may not be suitable or sufficient for longer works. I, for example, am using the short form to explore ideas and characters in an upcoming novel.
I’m betting it is. Attention spans notwithstanding, readers want in and out of a good read quickly. The devices aid the readers wishes and those who write same will see increased attention. I’m not the only one who has 3-4 reads going at the same time. Shorts and/or novella’s are great entertainment and writers need to describe length (pages, digital KB, etc), in offerings descriptions, and certainly price accordingly.
I agree with Saul Tranpepper, digital era we live in is a dream age for the short story lovers around the world. Thanks to sites like Amazon, I’m able to buy collections that are not distributed in bookstores in my countriy – and so I can finally read short stories by Tobias Wolff, Michael Chabon or Haruki Murakami. Besides, there are houndereds of collections there, therefore, you never know what are you going to find. For example, I recently came across a delightful anthology by Joel Strivewell, called “Windowjumpers”. And tho’ I haven’t heard of this guy before, now I’m a huge fan. And there are hundereds of “strivewells” over there, so it’s really a great era for readers.