This is related to the problem that I have been contemplating all this week: to wit, that there are no markets for novellas, novelettes, or even longer short stories anymore. The cupboard is not just bare: people have gone in and removed the shelves and back wallpaper. We’re lucky they didn’t take the actual doors, too, but I guess the idea was to keep up appearances.
:pause:
That turned out to be a surprisingly apt metaphor.
Anyway. When it comes to longer form stuff I pretty much have to publish it myself. As I see it, I have four options:
- Publish them as standalone novellas, either on Kindle or another platform. Pros: Effectively free, and I already know the mechanisms involved. Cons: ‘effectively free’ means ‘no cover art,’ and that will be an expectation. Also, people can get itchy-titchy when you sell them a short story for ninety nine cents, even when you tell them upfront that this is what they’re getting.
- Publish them on Kindle Vella. Pros: also effectively free, and the ‘no cover art’ problem is minimized. Cons: the ‘no cover art’ problem is not actually eliminated. Also… does anybody actually make money on Kindle Vella? I’m not sure the program is a success.
- Publish them on a paid Substack tier. Pros: It’s essentially like Patreon, for people who don’t like Patreon. Cons: I would have to charge more per month than I do on Patreon, and publishing on Substack is kind of ephemeral. I mean, even more so than the Internet is in general.
- Keep collecting them and making them into illustrated chapbooks. Pros: print option! Cons: …come, I will conceal nothing from you. My illustrated chapbooks won’t make their money back for a long, long while. The illustrations cost money. I mean, I’ll turn a profit on these at some point, but the idea is to generate more revenue now.
I don’t know what the answer is, yet. If somebody has an opinion, feel free to share it.
#commissionearned
In truth, I’ve only ever seen shorts collections work for *well* established authors who are just filling in cracks around what they’d already built up, i.e. Jim Butcher’s Dresden or Correia’s Monster Hunters Int’l.
I know that’s more work for you to get these marketable. I’ll still buy them.
I concur with this assessment.
There are also themed collections. (e.g. Raconteur Press solicited Plasma Pulp earlier this week.)
Collections of humorous essays used to be big, but I haven’t seen one in a while. Bet there’s still a market, though.
Some collectors include stories by lesser known names – or by people writing in a different genre than they are known for.
Some of the Baen collections – “Chicks in Chain Mail” and the follow-up “Chicks in Tank Tops” – are simply themed collections.. and include a bunch of different names and fame levels.
IF I were to offer a suggestion…. get known as interested in contributing and as a good writer. I mean, we know you’re good, but do they?
Let it be known that you’re a short story guy who wants to contribute something.
Mew
“More visibility” is part of the plan. This is a hell of a career path for an introvert, though. 🙂
First, I don’t know what ‘no market’ means – I’ve bought everything you’ve offered. Am I not market enough for you? Greedy Bastid.
Secondly, “The illustrations cost money.” I’ve heard about this new thing called “AI Art” that is supposedly free, so we’ve solved that supposed problem.
I value all of my readers. I value them so much, I wish I could clone them en masse so that they can all have their very own library. 🙂