There’s lots of excitement bubbling about new publishing opportunities for writers of short stories, essays, journalism and other less-than-book-length works.
Both established authors and self-publishing newcomers with short-form pieces that once appeared only in places like literary and news magazines are finding brand new markets with Kindle Singles and other digital venues like Byliner and Atavist.
Scroll down for my advice and tips for authors of short works
What’s a Kindle Single?
Kindle Singles is Amazon’s newest publishing imprint, launched earlier this year and designed for “compelling ideas expressed at their natural length”. That includes short stories, reporting, essays, memoirs and other narratives that are typically between 5,000 and 30,000 words long. Works are published using the Kindle Direct Publishing platform and authors choose a selling price from $.99 to $4.99, receiving royalties of 70 percent. Like all Kindle books, the singles can be purchased and read on Amazon Kindles, and all devices using the free Kindle reading apps, including Mac and PC computers, iPads and smart phones.
There were about 75 Kindle Singles published the first half of this year, with six of them reaching the Top 20 bestselling titles in the Kindle Store, which includes all Kindle books. Not bad! Take a look at the current Kindle Single bestseller list. At #6 today is The Bathtub Spy, a 15-page “offbeat but tender” short story by Tom Rachman, the New York Times bestselling debut author of The Imperfectionists, published by Random House. Rachman appears to have self-published his Kindle Single story.
Byliner and Atavist
Amazon’s not the only player in the short-form arena. Two other recent start-up digital publishers include Byliner and The Atavist, both focused on investigative reporting and other works of nonfiction narrative. Both also distribute their published works on Kindle Singles, with several starring on the bestseller list there, including The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin (Byliner) by Elizabeth Mitchell, a 44-page true-crime account of a brutal bank heist taking place in turn-of-the-century Manhattan, and Blind Sight (Atavist) by Chris Colin, a 38-page nonfiction narrative about a Hollywood movie producer’s horrific car wreck that killed his new wife and his subsequent 10-year journey recovering from devastating brain injuries.
Mainstream publishers are also taking advantage of these new channels, notably Tor.com, the science-fiction imprint of MacMillan, and Penguin eSpecials, both publishing low-cost short-form works by their existing authors in the form of excerpts, reprints and original new pieces.
Fingers crossed
Book publishers and agents are hoping with fingers crossed that these new venues will develop into reliable income streams, and will also draw readers to their authors’ full-length books. The senior VP of digital and audio publishing at Hachette Book Group told Publishers Weekly recently that author David Baldacci’s Kindle Single 15-page short story No Time Left, priced at $.99 was “tremendously successful” for them and characterized the publisher as “extremely satisfied with the results.”
A big appetite for short works
Readers have made many best sellers out of traditional books of short form work, including Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, and the perennial best-selling The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. Meanwhile the appetite for essays, articles, and in-depth journalism remains unabated, for example What the Dog Saw, the current bestselling collection of essays by Malcolm Gladwell.
There’s so much good short form writing out there, past and present. Choose from classics and contemporaries like O’Henry, Guy de Maupassant, Katherine Mansfield, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, J.D. Sallinger, Alice Munro, Stephen King, Malcolm Gladwell, John McPhee, John Updike. It’s inspiring, so read and enjoy!
You might be interested in an earlier post called Why Book Publishers Love Short Stories – take a look.
More success stories
Three Cups of Deceit, best-selling author Jon Kraukuer’s 75-page expose of Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea, has sold 30,000 copies, according to a reliable source.
Leaving Home, a 43-page story by Jodi Picoult, the well-known author with 14 million copies of her previous books in print, submitted to Kindle Singles by Picoult’s agent Laura Gross Literary Agency and reported among the top 20 bestsellers of all Kindle Books.
Pakistan and the Mumbai Attacks: The Untold Story, by foreign correspondent Sebastian Rotella sold 1900 copies in its first two weeks by ProPublica which published the 38-page work of investigative journalism as a Kindle Single that went as a high as #2 on the Kindle bestseller list.
Russ Grandinette, VP for Kindle Content at Amazon has said “Ideas and words should be crafted to their natural length, not an artificial marketing length that justifies a particular price at a certain format.”
Hear hear! Authors of short form fiction and nonfiction reading this post will no doubt agree and look for a way to sell their own short-form work online. But as an insider who champions digital and self-publishing in all its various new options, I nevertheless urge you to consider the following tips and precautions.
Tips for writers
1. Price flexibly
Kindle Singles permits pricing from $.99 to $4.99. The Bathtub Spy is priced at $1.99 for 15 pages, while No Time Left by bestselling author David Baldacci is only $.99 for a story of the same length. Stephen King’s 80-page novella Mile 81 is selling for $2.99, though some readers are griping that the last 20 pages are really only a preview of an upcoming book.
My advice is to set the lowest price you can and hope for volume rather than testing a shot-in-the-dark higher price that the market might or might not tolerate. Readers are used to paying lower prices for digital writing these days, particularly when many short- form works are available as time-limited free samples on author web-sites.
2. Read the fine print
Many reputable vendors have dense boilerplate legal language in their standard agreements that grants them exclusive rights, license and ownership of your intellectual property. This is not to your advantage, needless to say, so don’t just sign whatever they give you. Get legal advice if you need it.
3. Market as usual
The same principles of online self-marketing apply to long-form fiction and nonfiction. Just like how a normal business tend to rely on the marketing services like SEO, website design (check out west palm beach website design agency for better reference), content marketing, etc., authors can also make use of such services to achieve a digital recognition. There is no proportionate slackening of effort permitted if you’re serious about being an author in these times. If you publicize your work on social media by using Twitter or Instagram, don’t stop now. You should put out regular content regarding your work; you can buy Instagram followers to get the ball rolling at first, but you will need to have good content to draw in the interested readers.
Not only through these, but you can also promote your piece of writing by informing people about the contents of your book by making short videos and posting them on YouTube. Whenever there is a new product launch, be it a book or any other merchandise people often want to learn more about it through online resources before making a purchase. Sometimes, a book doesn’t make good sales, not because of its content but because it was not marketed well. So, if you do not want your book to end up on that list, choose smart strategies. In case you do not have time for making these videos, you can also contact a youtube influencer marketing agency to take care of your marketing needs on this platform. With this, you can also balance your marketing and work at a comfort level and still get a few hours’ sleep. Nobody said it was easier now than it’s ever been!
4. Be sure your work is ready for prime time
Short-form work needs to be tightly focused and carefully organized. In these respects it can be more difficult to write than a full-length book. So be sure your work is fully baked before sending it out.
Even seasoned veteran writers can make mistakes – there were some scathing reader reviews on Amazon of Lee Child’s Kindle Single Second Son, with one disgruntled fan posting: “This left me cold and disappointed. The sketchy plot went nowhere…” And more than a few readers of David Baldacci’s story No Time Left wrote blistering comments. One reader, describing himself as a “rabid fan” of Baldacci’s novels, posted this: “This is the weakest writing that I have ever read from Baldacci…This first efort at a kindle short story is predictable, implausible, and never links the character motivation that drives the ending.” Whew!
Many successful writers now use private professional developmental editors prior to submitting work for publication. Full disclosure: I work with a limited number of private clients, but I’m not the only developmental editor around. There are many others out there, and here’s my advice on how to find the best editor for you.
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What about you?
Are you a writer of short stories, or narrative nonfiction? Are you considering submitting your work to Kindle Singles or another of the short-form venues out there? If you’ve already done so, please share something about your experience, positive or otherwise.
You may also be interested in these posts: Growing a short story into a novel and Why book publishers love short stories
I am in the makings of a novel, which I have been waiting to produce for twenty-seven years, “Mortuary Murder” Just you wait to read this amazing tale…this is my fortune. Go to Writers Café James Nuzzello, and see. While you’re at it, read some of my short stories. Such as my favorer…” Find Yout Own Way” and “Ivory Coast Inn” Which have been criticized, but there still there. What is in a moment oy your time…great stories
“Be Immune to Rumor”
Jimmy Nuzz
A word to the wise, do not settle with so called publishers, which ask for up front fees, because they’er jumping on making some extra money knowing some of the largest self publishing houses are eating their lunch. Once traditional publishers gone self publisher oriented are making the biggest mistakes by allowing talent to slip through their fingers,and thus by missing out on potentially huge selling authors over a couple of measly dollars. Thank you very much, and “Be immune to rumor” Jimmy Nuzz
Well its high time I join the ranks of published authors. My novel Komeo will hopefully be a top seller eventually. I can see it happening. Its about an ex-crime fighting journalist, who unknowingly stumble on a neighborhood trash picker. The neurotic journalist suspected the garbage picker, as just not to be exactly what he wants people to make out to be. Newsman happened to be fixing his gate one day. Komeo lived directly behind his house. Newsman. the ex-journalist sees the junk collector coming up his driveway pushing his cart. Spotting him, and keeping an eye on Komeo and his cart. newsman thinks what he sees, is Komeo tilting the cart forward. And believes he sees a rolled up body slide out. The journalist convinced this guy is a stalker killer, builds a lookout in his attic over his garage to keep tabs on Komeo. Newsman records several bodies, and then call the cops in. They investigate, but Komeo vanishes before they have a chance. The police see Newsman and his spying very suspicious. I won’t go into the bigger story, but KOMEO…remember KOMEO is the title. ‘ Be Immune to rumor’ Jimmy Nuzz
I am a little nervous about publishing my first short story (later this year). Thanks to everyone, for sharing. I have learned so much reading all of the comments posted in this blog. I realize that I have so much to learn about marketing and selling a short story. After reading all of the postings, I am so inspired to publish my story.
Dear Alan, thank you so much for your terrific website, I had learnt a lot. I am write short stories but in spanish and also poetry. Thank you so much to share with us your tips. All the best. Carolina
I have a manuscript in neat hand printing. Publishers will not accept those. I plan on dictating into digital using Nuance dragon, and copy several flash or discs. For right now, I can not afford or. My 45k novella is a fantastic read. It is a crime. detective story with mass murder, and lots of exciting set up, and action scenes. does any publisher accept manuscripts hand written, and absolutely legible. Please respond at any leisure, at your convenience. It is a sort of treasure hunt, thank you. Jimmy Nuzz 860-888-9233
Thankѕ for sharing your thoughts ahout amazon kindle books ora roberts.
Regards
Thanks Alan, glad to have come across your site. It’s really full, informative and welcomingly devoid of blab.
I’ll be seeing you . . .
You can publish your writings by using the web application Bookonlive.
https://www.bookonlive.com
Bookonlive.com is a web application opening the way to the edition, to the publication and to the sale of written works to each one of us.
More than simple narrations, you can choose to publish living texts. As each new chapter is published, your subscribers receive a notification by e-mail.
There is a lot of display options to increase the impact of your writings. You can even change the background of your story from chapter to chapter.
The royalties are 60% for authors.
Alan, this is invaluable information. Thank you so much. I have written a novel that I plan to shop around, and I have some short stories and a children’s book that I will definitely submit to Amazon. Also, now that you mentioned that Amazon gives advances, I will explore submitting my novel to them as well. I can’t thank you enough.
I have written 23 novels of the crime/thriller genre, and hundreds of short stories. I’ve sent off to most UK agents and many publishers. To no avail, as none have actually read anything.
I write mainly from experience as a Sgt, Royal Marines, a Sgt, NZ SAS, a Det/Sgt, NZ Police, and a 3-stripe Chief of Security on cruise ships.
I’, now looking at the States, been there many times and think there is a more professional attitude to writing there.
So, how do I get someone to read my stuff?
Gil Jackman
(Famous unknown author)
Okay- I figured out how to adjust the pricing. You have to choose the 35% royalty option. Thanks again, folks. I look forward to reading your work.
Today I uploaded my first short story, “Out of the Nest,” onto Kindle’s regular site. It would not allow me to charge less than $2.99 for my story, however, so I am hoping that once it publishes, I can either revise the price and/or submit it to Kindle Singles. Do any of you know how to adjust the pricing below $2.99 for a shorter work on the regular Kindle site? Thanks for all the great information!
Love this post. It’s just the information I need since I am self-publishing my own book of short stories called “The Blueberry Miller Files”. By the way, may I have permission to re-post this on my blog http://yaminatoday.com/, and link it back to your site, giving full credit to you in the re-post? Just wanted to know. All the best,
Yamina
I’m a little late in finding this but I just want to say a big ‘thanks’ for all the great information. I’ve found out so much here and through the links I’ve followed. The last 40 minutes has been packed with useful knowledge!
I’m writing a short story, not yet ready to publish. This has definitely spurred me on. Thanks.
Prue
I only just discovered this most interesting place—thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights. As for mine: I’ve just begun to experiment with trying to find a publisher for my complete collection of short and very short stories (almost all published in magazines). I put a number of excerpts up at a new site, Red Lemonade, and I’ve already been contacted by a publisher. If the negotiations aren’t successful, I’m seriously thinking about taking the self publishing route, especially after what you wrote about that market. Among short story writers, this information doesn’t seem to be widespread—there’s usually a lot of gloom regarding their ability to sell collections.
Thanks for the very informative article, Alan,and to the commenters as well – all very interesting. I have been working on a series of short (10k words) sci-fi stories, with the intent of self-publishing them. This is partly for practice/getting my name out there (even just a little bit), because I was under the impression that the short story market was pretty much dead (save for selling to journals). Seems I was completely off on that one!
It’s great news that shorter works are getting a new forum in the ebook model!
Lee,
Journals are no longer the channel or format where most writers or consumers look for short works. The potential for readers and sales is shifting inexorably to a digital format on various internet outlets. So Singles and Kindle Direct are in my view excellent alternatives.
Carmen Anthony Fiore’s comments grabbed my attention.
When I first read Alan’s article, and read the Singles submission policies, I saw it as another option for short fiction writers who typically seek publication in traditional journals; Singles appeared to be something of an a-la-carte literary magazine. Amazon’s promised 2-week response time made it all the more viable in that regard (submit to Singles first, then continue to poll the print formats, whose response time can exceed 3 months (ugh)).
However, if Singles requires writers to submit their work to the Direct Publishing Program first, doesn’t that eliminate a piece from consideration at most, if not all, respected journals? “Previously unpublished in any format” is a common submission requirement. That would include self-publishing.
If submission to, and rejection from, Singles means your work cannot be subsequently published in the format most familiar to writers and consumers of short works, that’s a deal breaker for me.
Ahhh – the freedom of it all. Way back in the days of journal publishing (not that it has died altogether, but…) I was known as the short story queen around here. (That’s Western Australia)
I won awards, got commended, published collections and generally wowed them. My collections went out of print in 2003 or thereabouts. I have now re-issued them in smaller bundles, with a few single stories for good measure. They do adequately well on Kindle, and slightly better in paperback, believe it or not. I have one retailer here who makes repeat orders. Well – look out for more. I have a new one coming out shortly. On the Kindle, I have been told my stories make excellent commuting fare, or in waiting rooms, of course. Although they are not doing as well as my novels, my six collections do sell. My single ones too, especially one called The Red Volkswagen, rather well. I agree with Kathy – I just publish them singly, without going to Kindle Singles – it’s easier and much faster.
So yes, I believe there is a time and place for short fiction. The time – now. The place? Your eReader.
I really appreciated this blog post–it’s very insightful and helpful! I have two stories up on the Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords. I thought the Nook submission process was the simplest, with the least amount of formatting needed, but I haven’t sold a single copy there in over a month, despite directing readers to it just as often as I do to the Kindle book.
I prefer reading short stories on my Kindle and epics in paper (the Kindle just doesn’t give me that same satisfaction of cracking the spine every 30 pages or so…), and I feel like Kindle readers especially are very interested in trying out indie authors and short stories.
Does anyone know anything about the iBookstore’s new Quick Reads program? Apparently it’s Apple’s response to Kindle Singles…
I did work out an elaborate pricing structure for eBooks (a very good system, but all over the map).
Then I tossed it out, and went with this:
30 pages for $0.99
300 pages for $9.99
You want to do Triads/Trilogies of short stories that fit into 30 pages? Great. You want to do a 30 page short story? Great. The reality of the situation is Stephen King prices most of his eBooks at 10 bucks, and the ones that float up to 15 bucks are equivalent to 1000 page behemoths! These are HUGE HUGE books.
9.99 (just like iTunes album pricing) turns out to be the sweet spot for Full-sized (novel) eBooks.
And there is a huge huge benefit to getting on Amazon: most of the people you want to sell to already have their credit card loaded into the site. They’re familiar with the interface (more so than the ‘CC processing system on your website) ;) And the ability to buy RIGHT FROM THE KINDLE, is very cool.
Kathy,
You’re raising some excellent points. There may be more exposure on Kindle Singles as opposed to the Kindle store, which has books of all lengths. But as you point out, some authors on the Kindle Store are pricing their novels for as little as 99 cents. We’re still at the experimental, market-testing phase and the right price point for various book lengths and categories will be sorted out eventually.
As for Amazon turning down books in a traditional submissions process, the fact is, Amazon has morphed into a traditional publisher, with a staff of former New York editors and marketing people. They have numerous literary, genre, OOP classics and translation imprints, and they’ve already begun competing with traditional publishers by beating out Random House and others with big advances previously established best-selling authors.
Interesting article but I am wondering why somebody would go through Kindles Singles when you can sell your short story on Kindle as a single yourself. More exposure, perhaps? I have a couple of short stories on Kindle but the thing is, the least you can charge is .99 and many authors are charging .99 for a complete novel. It does make me wonder if works will be sorted out by length in the future – perhaps a minimum price will be set for novels rather than selling the at the same price as a short story. It also makes me wonder how they will handle self-pubbed works in the future. Kindles Singles seems to introduce a submissions process, much like traditional publishing. What goes around comes around…
Carmen,
Thanks for your description of what happens when an author is rejected by Kindle Singles, and explaining the distinction between that bruising experience and getting automatically into the Kindles Book Store with the same piece of writing. This is very helpful information, since Amazon itself doesn’t explain much about it.
The rejection with no notification sounds familiar, unfortunately, since many agents and publishers do the same thing, leaving an author frustrated after months of no response. Why can’t these folks, and Amazon, just say “no thanks”? But I’m glad to hear you’re starting to see results for your 11 titles available on the Kindle store.
I forgot to mention how Amazon’s Kindle Singles people handle acceptance and rejection. When considered for acceptance, they will e-mail you with instructions. If they have decided not to include you in the Kindle Singles Program, you will not get the e-mail acceptance notice. In fact, you will not get any notice. They will tell you in their e-mail notice after having received your e-mail query, if you don’t hear from them in two or three weeks, you can assume your work has not been accepted into the Kindle Singles Program, but will still be available in the regular Kindle e-book reader store. I asked them why they didn’t accept my wife’s short stories, but never received an answer. I hope this information is helpful.
Kindle Singles requires writers to submit their work to their Direct Publishing Program first to get their ASIN number, then they want you to send Kindle Singles an e-mail describing your work, after its been accepted by the Direct Publishing Program for their Kindle e-book reader store. But, and it’s a big BUT, they do no accept every short story or novella that’s submitted to them. So far they’ve refused three of my novellas that I’ve published through their Kindle Store. My wife, Catherine, has submitted two short stories to Kindle Singles and they were not accepted. After checking out their published Kindle Singles, I noticed that the fiction was mostly by known writers with track records and nonfiction that was out of the ordinary. It looks like they prefer nonfiction over fiction as far as the offerings are listed. The five thousand to 30 thousand word limits are restrictive as well. But if they accept your work for their Kindle Singles Program, consider it a “feather” in your cap. If they don’t accept your work into the Kindle Singles, at least it will be listed in their Kindle Store, so that is a consolation for indie writers and publishers. Digital is where it’s at, these days. I’ve made 11 of my titles available on my bookshelf at the Kindle store and I’m starting to see results. Writers who are wary of going digital are making a mistake. The term: out of print, will become obsolete to our benefit.
I love this post. The shorts are such a great way to share more with your fans and following. I typically don’t write fiction, but can see how even the shorts can be used for short how-to’s and other great tips for people.
This is a great summary of relevant information, Alan; thank you! Short stories are certainly due their place in the sun. I hope these new publishing opportunities provide them with just that. As an aside, I’ll have a good collection soon that will need a publishing home — one of these (I like Kindle Singles) might be a good option to test the waters on my writing.
Thanks again!
Wow, thanks for posting this incredible info! I started out writing short stories and have several underway! Very appreciated!
Thanks for an informative post. Back in the spring, I set up an e-publishing business specialising in short fiction. I felt and still do that it’s a compelling idea to build your own anthology, and then take it around with you on your phone or other device. I thought at the time that the big players would follow, though not quite so rapidly.
My experience with Greyhart Press so far is that readers are beginning to dip their toes tentatively into short fiction, something new to most of them. But with so much longer-form self-published fiction available for 99cents or for free, newcomers to eBooks fill up their devices with quantity before becoming more discerning over quality.
I predict that novellas will become mainstream before short stories, and we will see increasing use of the term ‘novelette’.
I loved this blog post! It’s inspiring to hear about so many opportunities for shorter fiction. Sometimes it is obvious an idea or set of characters won’t support the length of a book. I’m glad there is a home for these works. Thanks for posting!
I have always loved the short story and like to write them in the crime / thriller genre. So much good info in this post, going to check out all the links. I know the SS is very much alive and thriving in the crime circles. Not many are getting paid, but lot’s are getting their work read and getting some attention. Really hoping others will comment and share their experiences.
Maria,
Thanks for pointing readers to XinXii. It’s a terrific site for indie authors to upload and sell their short stories and longer works online. There’s also some excellent marketing information for writers, including a piece I’m linking to here in The Buzz called “Rock Star Marketing for Indie Authors”.
Hello Alan, Thanks for the article. I publish my short stories on Lulu (print) and Xinxii (digital): http://www.xinxii.com The site is easy to use: you just upload your files, enter the information and the selling price, and that’s it. Xinxii accepts multiple formats (even mp3). The royalties are up to 70% (no costs).