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The
Warren Adler E-Sheet 57
In this issue:
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Greetings From Publishing Central
We are happy to offer you another issue of
the Warren Adler E-Sheet, which
keeps you up to date on what is happening
in the author's world. |
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The Return of the Short Story
   
The short story is making a long delayed
comeback. Thanks to a program pioneered by
Amazon.com called
Amazon Shorts and the text and audio
capabilities of mobile devices and the
internet in general, the market for short
fiction is, in my opinion, about to explode.
Some of my
short stories have always been digitally
available on
Fictionwise, but these new previously
unpublished stories on Amazon.com, with its
enormous worldwide reach, should help fulfill
the promise of digital fiction content that I
have been flogging for years. Many other
writers who practice this form should derive
great benefits from the Amazon.com program.
With imagination and verve, and for the
munificent sum of 49 cents a story, Amazon
Shorts will ignite this long dormant market
and lead the way to a resurgence of the short
story, bringing it back to respectable
popularity. In my case, with six
previously unpublished stories now live on
Amazon.com and more than a dozen more available in
the next few months, I am encouraged to
enlarge my short fiction portfolio.
Indeed, the return to my native city of
New York from a long exile has inspired me
to write long-postponed stories of the
wonders, joys and
sorrows of this greatest of all world
cities. I hope others will share my enthusiasm
and enjoy the
characters and
plots spinning out of my brain and heart
about the
people and
places in my hometown.
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Writing short stories is part of the
curriculum, or should be, of every school
in the world. |
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Most writers of fiction start out as short
story writers. As early as elementary school,
perhaps earlier, young people are encouraged
to spin their yarns in this short form.
Writing short stories is part of the
curriculum, or should be, of every school in
the world.
"Tell me a story" is every child’s request of
a parent. It is the way we learn about the
human condition, the way we understand that
life itself is a story with a beginning, a
middle and an end. "What happens next?" is
the ultimate question, the beating heart and
soul of every story ever told.
Writing short stories used to be the
traditional path of the career-minded fiction
writer. There were hundreds of markets,
perhaps thousands, where writers could ply
their trade. Pulp and slick magazines
proliferated. Most writers cut their teeth on
the short form and could actually make a
modest living writing for these markets. Every
magazine worth its salt carried at least one
short story. Some magazines were completely
dedicated to short fiction.
The decline has been precipitous. Short
fiction markets have, until recently, almost
disappeared. It is about to be rescued by
technology.
My first published stories appeared in
anthologies associated with
The New School in New York City. The
stories grew out of courses taught by my
sainted freshman English professor at
NYU Don M. Wolfe, who later taught
creative writing at the New School in which I
enrolled. Among the writers in these
anthologies were
Mario Puzo,
William Styron and others of equal,
perhaps greater talent, who never gained any
real traction for their careers.
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Every magazine worth its salt carried at
least one short story. |
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Although I have been humbled by optimistic
predictions about the speed at which so-called
ebooks would proliferate, I do not believe I
am taking a wrong tack by predicting the
resurgence of the short story. Mobile
technology has made it possible for people to
access content at will, and not everyone will
choose video and music downloads to pass the
time on the road.
The time factor will be crucial. While the
novel will continue to have its many loyal
fans who will read them on new reader-friendly
devices like the one soon to be launched by
Sony and others, the ability to read
shorter fiction content will allow a reader to
experience the completeness of a
fully-realized story in a shorter time,
perhaps on a single trip on a commuter train
or a short plane ride. The short story will
attract readers who will also welcome the
shorter form to the home computer.
Believe me, it is quite a challenge for an
author to keep himself viable in this age of
rapidly advancing technology. It is almost
impossible to keep up. Worse, we authors must
also cope with dismal predications about the
decline of readership by younger people and
their ever-shortening span of concentration.
Perhaps the short story, for obvious reasons,
will attract that audience and give them
reasons to understand the value of the
imagination as a powerful life force and
provide them with the insight and
understanding to navigate the minefields of
our contemporary condition.
I certainly hope so.
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Warren Adler
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