I've been writing a lot of short fiction lately, but I have a question. What is an publishable length for a short story? When does it go from flash fiction to short story to novella to novel, and all things in between? Please, Oh wise Muses of Literature, have mercy, and tell little old me. ~Sheena
Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :
Flash (< 1K) Short Story (1-7.5K) Novelette (7.5-15K) Novella (15-40K)
According to Duotrope.
Posted by PaulUK (Member # 7906) on :
Hi Sheena,
I was just about to reply, but I refer you to my learned colleague above (thanks Bent Tree!)
Cheers,
Paul
Posted by Wolfe_boy (Member # 5456) on :
Generally, Flash is sub-1K. Some markets will accept flash in excess of that, but 1K is the typical limit.
A short story doesn't become a novella until somewhere beyond 10K. In the 15-20K region I think. Novels begin at about 50K (for a short novel).
I swear we just had this conversation in a recent thread. Anyways, them's the numbers as I understand them. There might be some slight differences in the amounts, or terminology (short-short vs. flash, novella vs. novellette) but a lot of that is kind of an academic exercise. The important numbers you need to look at are the limits for the publications you want to get into. Mags will have a defined word limit (sub-1K, 1K-5K, not exceeding 10K) that will be far more useful to you than the textbook definition of the lengths of a given piece of writing.
Duotrope is pretty good about finding out that kind of info.
Jayson Merryfield
Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :
You people are awesome. ~Sheena
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Aren't they, though?
Gotta love 'em.
Posted by smncameron (Member # 7392) on :
On a related note: If the publisher is asking for short stories, is there any danger in dipping to close to the 1k border?
Posted by Cheyne (Member # 7710) on :
What are the markets for Flash fiction? I hear about contests etc., but is there a serious, steady market for the form?
Posted by smncameron (Member # 7392) on :
http://www.FlashFictionOnline.com pays professional rates for flash-fiction, as an added bonus it's run by a hatracker,
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
quote:If the publisher is asking for short stories, is there any danger in dipping to close to the 1k border?
No. The "short story" category includes flash. All that matters is that it work as a short story.
Posted by Wolfe_boy (Member # 5456) on :
Cheyne, also take a look at Every Day Fiction. They're a market I tried (unsuccessfully) to break into. They pay zilch (well, $1) but they do publish a fair bit of stuff - a story, every day.
Jayson Merryfield
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Postcards from the... publishes flash fiction exclusively (preferably under 600 words), too.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited April 29, 2008).]
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
quote:All that matters is that it work as a short story.
I second this. If you are thinkng about writing flash-length, don't dismiss those pesky details like plot and character just because it's a short piece.
Posted by oliverhouse (Member # 3432) on :
I don't get back here often enough since I started the zine, but I saw people coming to Flash Fiction Online from this thread and had to see what was going on. Thanks for the link. I'd just correct "run by a hatracker" to "run by a bunch of Hatrackers." I couldn't do it without eight people who post here regularly. (Soon I'll have a staff page up to prove it. )
Another market to consider for flash (ostensibly a competitor of ours, but publishing flash is hardly a zero-sum game) is 365Tomorrows. If you write literary stuff, consider Vestal Review or Smokelong Quarterly. I believe we're still the only pro-rate flash-only market, and I think we're the only one contending for SFWA pro status (hopefully to be achieved by Dec 2008, then retroactive to our first issue), but these other venues publish some good fiction.
Regards, Oliver
Posted by Cheyne (Member # 7710) on :
smnc, WB, Iab, et al, Thanks, I'll try my luck!
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
The shortest short story I ever recall seeing was in a Larry Niven collection. (If it saw magazine publication, the book credits didn't say.) It ran like this:
quote:There are certain things mankind was not meant to know.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
My stories all tend to be either flash fiction or Novellette/Novella. I seem to hop over the short story completely.
Posted by oliverhouse (Member # 3432) on :
Wired Magazine published a bunch of six-word stories a while back.
I hesitate to call them "stories", myself.
[This message has been edited by oliverhouse (edited April 30, 2008).]
