Write Short to Succeed Just Released in Audio! Read on for how to get a FREE EBOOK or AUDIO BOOK copy!
Much of the reason for my success in writing short stories comes from my avid reading of short stories. Recently, I've noticed a disturbing and major flaw in many of the short stories I read.
They're too long. They're padded. This is bad for a novel and much worse for a short story. This happens most often in anthologies or collections from a number of authors.
I've wondered about why this might be occurring so often and come up with a possible explanation. In this era of eBooks, publishers of anthologies, whether they be traditional or authors in a collective, sometimes focus on word count of the individual stories to the detriment of the collection.
Now I've submitted and published in many anthologies over, um, a number of years. Since I'm now focused on several other writing projects, I don't submit as often as I used to. However, I still check anthology calls.
A number of them now have strict limits on words. No less than 3500 words is common. In romance, often the short stories must be longer, no less than say 5000 or 6000 words.
Why? I believe it may be because the publishers are attempting to have a large number of pages. Because of eBooks, readers expect a lot of reading for their money. In order for a publisher to be able to set a good price for an eBook, there have to be quite a few pages. Or so many of the publishers seem to think.
I may be wrong in this, if so please mention it in the comments! Whether I'm wrong or right, there's an easy solution: have your stories the length they're meant to be. Resist the urge to pad to be able to submit. Realize that a satisfactory read is far better than one that slogs. Remember that a well written story will sell.
Now: FREEBIES! Today through this Friday Write Short to Succeed is FREE on Amazon!
AND: If you comment and give me your email address I will send you a code for a FREE download of the Write Short to Succeed from Audible. (Comments with addresses will not be published.)
ENJOY!
Now I've submitted and published in many anthologies over, um, a number of years. Since I'm now focused on several other writing projects, I don't submit as often as I used to. However, I still check anthology calls.
A number of them now have strict limits on words. No less than 3500 words is common. In romance, often the short stories must be longer, no less than say 5000 or 6000 words.
Why? I believe it may be because the publishers are attempting to have a large number of pages. Because of eBooks, readers expect a lot of reading for their money. In order for a publisher to be able to set a good price for an eBook, there have to be quite a few pages. Or so many of the publishers seem to think.
I may be wrong in this, if so please mention it in the comments! Whether I'm wrong or right, there's an easy solution: have your stories the length they're meant to be. Resist the urge to pad to be able to submit. Realize that a satisfactory read is far better than one that slogs. Remember that a well written story will sell.
Now: FREEBIES! Today through this Friday Write Short to Succeed is FREE on Amazon!
AND: If you comment and give me your email address I will send you a code for a FREE download of the Write Short to Succeed from Audible. (Comments with addresses will not be published.)
ENJOY!
