Comments on: Where have you gone?

By: fritz freiheit.com blog » Link dump

fritz freiheit.com blog » Link dump — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:15:34 +0000

[...] Where have you gone? – Suvudu.com (SF, SciFi, Fantasy, Publishing, ShortStoory) [...]

By: erik s

erik s — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:46:28 +0000

I tend to stay away from short stories. Too much time spent getting involved with characters that you will never see again.
A series of short stories with a reoccurring character(s), that I could get into.
Nearly all of my reading these days is in electronic format – Kindle or iPad – I’m a hoarder when it comes to books and I hate to part with them. The electronic format solves that problem

By: Jess Hartley

Jess Hartley — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:30:42 +0000

This is exactly the type of quandary that I think suits itself to experimentation with self-publishing or reader-sustained fiction projects. I’m experimenting with this right now, with The Shattered Glass Project, and while I went into it with very small expectations and great trepidation, it’s been very well received so far.
There’s a plethora of different models being used, by fiction writers and game creators alike… Maybe one of them might work for you?
Feel free to contact me (jess@jesshartley.com) if you want to brainstorm.

By: John Ginsberg-Stevens

John Ginsberg-Stevens — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:28:08 +0000

I love short fiction. I try to switch between novels and anthologies in my reading queue, and read a lot of short stuff online. I have appreciated them even more since the birth of my daughter, when I may only have time on the bus or before bed to read something quick.
My love comes partly out of being a writer. I admire the artistry and challenge of a good short story. They can be elegant, pithy, visceral, surreal. . . the ability of a short story to concisely embody one feeling or idea, and communicate that with brevity and verve, is what makes me seek them out. Even if I am disappointed by one, I often find something to ponder,and begrudge the time far less than a reading a mediocre novel.
I wish that the anthology market was stronger and more popular, because I think thematic collections like that are a good way to introduce readers to a new trope or writers they have not read before. I think they are quite vital to the larger SF market.

By: Jess Tudor

Jess Tudor — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:26:33 +0000

I’ll be honest – I don’t read short fiction. Usually because I don’t think about it, but more so because like you, I write novels, and read novels. And because I’m young enough that I don’t remember the short fiction market being prominent. By the time I really began reading fantasy, novels were dominant (especially for a reader of my age at the time). Also? Sow that I’m old enough to explore short fiction, there just isn’t enough there. I can read a novel in a day (like I did yours). Blink and I’m done a short story. Anthologies would work better for me in that regard, but I’m still left wanting more.
That doesn’t mean I’m not open to short fiction. My only published credit is a short story! i just need them to be more in my awareness.

By: Ari Marmell

Ari Marmell — Sun, 02 May 2010 23:17:53 +0000

“There seems to be a disconnect between novel length and short form fantasy that isn’t mirrored in sister-genre science fiction.”
You know, I’ve been having that exact same thought, and I’ve been wondering what brought it about. My theory is that, since short stories can afford to be more “experimental” than novels can (in terms of market acceptance), they eventually came to demand a more experimental form. Thus, traditional fantasy (S&S, heroic, epic, etc.) is actually rejected by many short fic markets in preference of more esoteric stories.
Now, I certainly have no objection to short fiction being the bastion of such tales; I just wish it wasn’t exclusively so.

By: Lou Anders

Lou Anders — Sun, 02 May 2010 18:26:26 +0000

I’ve been enjoying Beneath Ceaseless Skies, particularly Richard Parks’ Japanese S&S stories. And I’m curious about Rogue Blades Entertainment, a small press dedicated to ‘heroic fantasy.” I don’t read the current incarnation of Weird Tales, but my understanding is that apart from a new Elric story from Moorcock, there’s not much S&S in the magazine that debuted Conan, Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, Jirel of Joiry, etc. I’d love to see them return to their roots if that’s the case. And I would certainly agree with you that I wish there were more markets for heroic fantasy. There seems to be a disconnect between novel length and short form fantasy that isn’t mirrored in sister-genre science fiction.

By: James H.

James H. — Sun, 02 May 2010 15:05:40 +0000

I occasionally buy short fiction (prefer anthologies though). I don’t quite know how to solve the wider problem of lack of short fiction markets other than looking to e-zines or some form of backed magazine.
As for Lathaan, you could look to an “experimental” format like Toomer’s Cane or Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Sun, 02 May 2010 05:51:55 +0000

I still read short fiction when I can. I’ve got an issue of F&SF waiting to be read somewhere around here. It’s too bad that the short fiction market has dried up. When I was getting into the genre in the 1980s, I read more short fiction than novels. The magazines were a great way to be exposed to a wide variety of takes on genre fiction in one cheap issue, in addition to giving genre writers a way to develop their career outside the whole agent-publisher Catch-22 loop.