Monday, December 17, 2012

E-books and the short story

With the seemingly impending death of print publishing, whether newsprint or magazine, the already bleak market, and future, for the short story appeared to be near its end.  But the e-book market may well be the genre's savior.  Single short stories and essays are being sold for about a dollar.
Novellas are finding buyers at prices from $1.99 to $5.00.  Previously published and unpublished collections of short stories, often including at least three stories are finding an audience.  Fans of mystery and crime fiction, which commonly feature series about a recurring character and/or a regular cast. of characters, are issuing previously published but uncollected stories.  This is a delight of their fans.
This Michael Connelly fan enjoyed the release of two collections of short stories that would've been unavailable without e-Publishing.  Prequel and origin stories in novella form are also a welcome, and increasingly common, addition to the field of fiction.
Brent Battles released a fantastic origin novella about his series character Jonathon Quinn for the Kindle.
I am thrilled that this enjoyable form of story seems to have received a new lease on life as a result of the e-book phenomenon.