There have been many reports that the Internet is wreaking havoc in the book industry, but it seems to be a good thing for short story writers. In a NYT’s story entitled “Good Fit for Today’s Little Screens: Short Stories,” writer Leslie Kaufman discusses how short stories seemed to have found a home on a variety of digital options.
A number of well-known authors have recently published new short-story collections. George Saunders, Karen Russell, Jess Walter, among others, all have new collections. Cal Morgan, the editor of Harper Perennial Originals, believes the Internet has made people more willing to read story forms different from the novel. In recent years, many literary magazines have closed making it difficult to get a short story published. The Internet has created an outlet for this creative output.
Amazon created Kindle Singles for publishing short fiction and nonfiction that can be read in about two hours. The price charged is very low, one or two dollars, but the author gets to keep 70% of the royalties. Other Internet publishers like Byliner are buying up short fiction and attracting new readers.
If this trend continues in popularity and profit, perhaps there will be a resurgence of short-stories that will be available online as well as in print form.
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