Short fiction and ‘zines…
I’ve always loved short fiction. I read many collections and anthologies as a kid and still do as an adult, and I subscribed to some well known periodicals or picked them off the racks when I could. When I became a full-time writer, and even before, it was natural that I’d think of publishing in ‘zines and anthologies and making my own short fiction collections.
First problem: It’s not worth my time to submit a story to a ‘zine. Remember the Cancer Stick man from the X-Files? That’s most authors trying to publish short fiction. The ‘zines are little fiefdoms run by editors with a stable of authors they favor—the race is rigged in their favor. And the editors are often autocratic people with closed minds who control their fiefdoms with an iron hand and have no idea what constitutes a good story. Moreover, even if you consider that paranoia on my part (it’s not when the evidence I’ve obtained over the years confirms it, of course), it takes as long to get a short story or novella published as it does a novel. This was true of the classic ‘zines (some still exist) and it has become true for most online ‘zines that have appeared. They’re all cliquish, and it’s hard for new authors to break into the clique. I don’t have time to waste on such things.
Second problem: It’s not worth the money. Publishing has evolved to the point where most writers find it impossible to make a living writing their stories (that’s true of most creative art nowadays), and doing it writing short fiction is even worse. Pennies per word means selling a short story means chump change that doesn’t even qualify as minimum wage when measured by the hour.
Given these two problems, I now prefer to give away my short fiction. When I start a story, I rarely know whether it will become a short story, novella, or novel. The first two I generally give away nowadays. There’s the unusual event where I’m invited to participate in an anthology; I’m inclined to do that for free, especially when it’s a good cause (Howling at the Moon is an example). That requires some time, but it introduces me to different readers and hopefully adds to the anthology’s success. But I’ve stopped publishing my own short fiction collections (Sleuthing, British-Style is a recent exception, but it was an homage to British-style mysteries that helped me get through the COVID pandemic and served as an experiment to test an alternative to self-publishing, Draft2Digital). They just don’t sell well in general.
Because some of my stories will entertain readers—reading snacks, if you will, to pass the time—I have included most of them as posts in this blog. When I get around to it, I gather some up and make PDFs I give away fro free ( see the list on my “Free Stuff & Contests” web page). I have no idea if any of this free fiction is popular, but giving it away allows me to have an outlet for material that doesn’t quite make it to novel status. (Some short fiction turns into novels eventually, and novellas are just short novels.)
A sports analogy might be applicable: Writing a novel is like running a marathon, a novella is a mid-distance race, and a short story is a sprint. Writing short fiction can be used to train up to writing the novel, where endurance is required. But the analogy isn’t quite appropriate for me because I don’t know what my story will become because I content edit as I go, and sometimes there’s no more content. Pacing is required for the novel (which one reason NaNoWriMo is a useless exercise in futility) as well as short fiction—that doesn’t mean counting words; it means finishing stretches of prose in a logical manner—it’s more a decision to know when to stop when your story’s limits are reached.
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Comments are always welcome.
The Last Humans: A New Dawn. This long-delayed sequel to The Last Humans is coming soon! Penny Castro survived the biowarfare apocalypse and created a family. Her post-apocalyptic idyll on their citrus ranch is interrupted by the US government’s plan to stop another attack…and get some revenge. Penny and husband Alex, along with others, are drafted to carry out the plan—in their case, forced to do so by the government’s kidnapping of their young children. But the enemy has surprises awaiting them when a submarine delivers them to that foreign shore. This thriller novel will be available wherever fine ebooks are sold…except Smashwords. Look for it. Ir’a an ideal holiday gift for the thriller reader in your family (maybe that’s you!).
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
