A popular post from Feb. 2014
by Annette Lyon
by Annette Lyon
For about
two years, I’ve been fortunate to be part of an anthology series. As of February 2014, we have put out six
Timeless Romance Anthology collections, and will continue to do at least four a year. Each has been fun and challenging
in its own way.
For those
unfamiliar with the series, each collection has six stories, three by continuing contributors (PEG’s own Heather B. Moore, plus Sarah M. Eden, and yours truly). We select a theme and
then look for three guest writers to join us who are established, published writers we know will produce a great
story.
We have few
rules, but the ones we have are written in stone: No story can go over 15,000
words, so the entire collection is no more than 90,000
words, not counting author bios and other back matter. Each anthology is roughly the length of
a typical novel.
The other
two rules:
- the stories must all follow the theme
- they must all be sweet romances (read: clean romance, with nothing beyond kissing in them and no graphic violence, etc.).
We recently
made the first anthology (the WinterCollection, featuring historical stories set in the winter) available in
paperback, and we’ll likely put more of the e-books into print as we move
forward.
So why are
am I talking about these stories? Because in today’s e-book world, we’re seeing
the return of relics from the publishing past. There was a time—before the Internet
and all of the many distractions it brings—when magazines and book publishers
regularly published short stories, novelettes, and novellas.
Short
stories lasted a bit longer than the other two, especially in magazines. I may be dating myself here, but I
recall a time when teen magazines still included a short story in each
issue. Novelettes and novellas pretty much went the way of the dinosaur
decades ago, and a big part of the decline of those literary forms was the cost.
With the printing, shipping, and other costs that mirror the costs of
full-length novels, but with lower price points, novellas and novelettes simply couldn't make enough of a profit to stay viable.
As for the space short stories used to take up in magazines: It was quickly replaced by other content, with the belief that "no one reads short stories anymore."
In the last
few years, however, many people, from the Big 5 publishers in New York to
self-published writers, have changed their tune. Formatting for
e-books is inexpensive, and a lot of writers have learned to do it themselves. There are no costs for printing or shipping, and little to no cost for delivery.
Plus, they can be produced far faster. In other words, they're profitable again.
As a result,
many writers, including bestsellers, have
contracts to write novellas, often as a prequel before a new book
comes out, or to give hungry readers a taste as they wait a year between volumes in a series.
Anthologies
are one the few places that never stopped publishing shorter fiction entirely.
A lot of them were and are produced by fantasy or science fiction publishers, and
getting into one was a great way for a writer hoping to publish novels to break
into the market.
Anthologies
are still a great way to get started and break in. At the 2013 League of UtahWriters conference, Paul Genesse taught a great class about short fiction. He's had success making a name for himself through contributing to many anthologies over the years, and while he’s admitted that you won’t get rich
doing that, you will grow a readership and develop a name for yourself.
But before
you attempt to submit to a collection, be sure you know the varying lengths of the different forms. Today's readers aren’t yet that familiar with the terms, so if you self-publish a shorter work, the technical term won't be nearly as important as if you plan to submit your work to a contest, publisher, or anthology.
According to
both Paul Genesse and SFWA, the following word counts are pretty
standard in the industry:
Short Fiction Word Counts
Short Story:
under 7,500 words
Novelette:
7,500 words – 17,500 words
Novella:
17,500 words – 40,000 words
A few things
to keep in mind with those numbers:
Middle-grade and early chapter books often fall below 40,000 words but don’t
get the novella label, even though they're in that range.
Word count is a far better guide to story length
than page count, especially in fiction. Why? Word count per page can vary
widely. For example, a page with mostly description will have many more
words than a page with a lot of dialog, where a new paragraph starts every couple
of lines, creating a lot of white space.
For example, the Timeless Romance Anthology stories,
which typically run 13,000 to 15,000 words, will take up from 45 to 60 pages double-spaced in Word. That's a pretty broad page count for
stories roughly the same word length.
As you can tell
by the guidelines above, the TRA collections are technically made up of six novelettes
per collection, yet in our book descriptions, we still call them novellas, because
that’s the term readers are most familiar with. As novelette becomes a more familiar term to readers, we may use it.
So, you want to publish a novella/novelette/short story?
As
with any potential market, be sure to research the submission guidelines and
follow them exactly. Thinking you're the exception to the rule only shows you aren't a professional taking the job seriously.
If it’s a contest, submit by the deadline or even before.
Follow the format required. And, of course, know in advance if the market is open to
submissions at all. (The Timeless Romance Anthologies are invitation only, for
example.)
How do you write short fiction, anyway?
Actually writing
short fiction is a very different animal from writing a full-length novel. For me, at least, it's been a wild but awesome ride learning how to create a good story in a small space.
For that matter, it's a topic worthy of its own post another time.
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