posted
The other day I picked up the latest copy of F&SF and wondered if its readership base was not just aspiring writers hoping to get published.
Does anyone read short stories anymore? How many people get, for instance, Asimov's or F&SF, and of those, do they really read the majority of the stories? Or how many buy anthologies?
Do you fear that you may spend time and effort to revise a short, send it out until acceptance, only to have a potential reader not read it?
At a given time, I might read anywhere from one to three novels, but hypocritically I can't find the interest or time for reading short stories outside of critiques. Somehow I am not my own target audience.
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited June 28, 2005).]
posted
Chris, I'm with you on this one. I'm not a short story fan and though I try (mostly as a part of market research) I can't get up the interest. I only write short stories because I hope to get a professional publication that will mean something to agents and publishers when I go to sell my novels.
I do think, though, that the big markets sell to more than just the submitting authors. I don't think they could keep their sales up on that small market group. I don't know who reads it, but I have to think someone does.
posted
I love short stories and over the years I have regularly read F&SF, Omni, Asimov's, Analog, Science Fiction Age, Interzone, Weird Tales, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, Story, Glimmer Train, Borderlands, etc.
I *always* buy 'The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror' every year.
Currently the only magazine I am reading each month is Cemetary Dance.
posted
I actually spend far more time reading shorts nowadays than I do novels. Anthologies mostly, although I do pick up a magazine from time to time.
Posts: 270 | Registered: Jan 2005
|
posted
If it's done right, I'm quite happy to go. But, yeah, that's the problem with short stories sometimes: they leave you wanting. Lately I've been reading collections by Charles de Lint, in which all the stories take place within the same mythical city. It's kind of cool, because I'm going in already familiar with the milieu, and a lot of the characters as well. A main charcater from one story will end up being a side character in the next, and so on, and so on. It's pretty neat, actually.
Posts: 270 | Registered: Jan 2005
|
quote:If it's done right, I'm quite happy to go. But, yeah, that's the problem with short stories sometimes: they leave you wanting.
Novels can be the same way. I got to the end of The Last Unicorn and I didn't want the story to end. Same with Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell. However, that didn't mean the stories weren't satisfying or that I didn't feel a sense of closure at the end. I just didn't want to say good-bye.
I'm rediscovering shorts. I read a few when I was younger -- mostly from anthologies -- and enjoyed the few I read. I had no intention of writing sf/f at the time though I did write a few contemporary shorts that were never completed.
When I was in my late teens, an older friend (in her early fifties) gave me a small stack of magazines. Included in that stack were a few Asimov's and F&SF. The stories in there didn't really appeal at the time. I liked novels better.
However, at the time, I was a single teen who had enough time between classes to devour novels in a week or two. I no longer have that kind of time.
I think what I like best about shorts is that they're... short. I don't have to worry about losing my place or forgetting who is doing what if I find myself cut off from the story for a couple weeks. They don't demand as much and that fits perfectly with my life at the moment. Because of their size, the stories also tend to be down-to-earth -- no room for Tolkien-esque epics or uber-complicated technology. I like that.
posted
I love reading and writing short stories. I think I have to credit my Language Arts teachers with that. We had to read and study dozens of shorts from the time I was in grade 2. We had to write short stories a lot, too. At least four or five every school year. When I reached high school, I was disappointed that the English program included a multitude of novels and essays but next to nothing in the way of shorts stories to read and none to write.
Don't get me wrong, I have always enjoyed a good novel (and still do ), however, I balk at books that are more than an inch and half thick -- especially when they are already 6"w x 8"h.
I like being able to sit down and finish something quickly.
I understand what you are saying. Particularly the comment about F&SF seeming a bit amatuer.
I recieved a subscription to Asimov for Christmas last year, and eagerly awaited the first issue. Both my wife and I found about 20% wortwhile. 20% we gave up after the first few pages. and the rest proved acceptable. So we picked up a book for Herbert to recuperate.
I purchased a newstand copy of F&SF and only enjoyed two of the stories.
I feel like short story authors are not putting in the hours per word that a novelist does. I grew up reading anthologies by Bradbury, Asimov, LeGuine, etc. and quite enjoyed them. I'm just not seeing that quality here.
However, like I said the issues of Asimov I've read do have some gems, and they almost made it worth the subscription fee.
I don't like to be critical, but I was very surprised by what was being published.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
), however, I balk at books that are more than an inch and half thick -- especially when they are already 6"w x 8"h.
