[Mark_P]

Hell All,

I'm new to this forum, and I look forward to all the resources and discussions herein.

I have a question; most articles about publishing a debut novel state the author should first publish short stories in a professional market. I have a hard time with the short story format; as I don't usually read them, it feels uncomfortable and forced when I try to write them.

Does anyone know of any sci-fi/fantasy/horror authors who were able to successfully publish novels without going the short story route? I believe Terry Brooks is one, but I don't know of any others.

Is trying to publish a novel without any previous short story success a much harder road to travel? Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!

[wwfward]

I think the short story market is more like a test. If short story magazines think you're good enough to be published on their magazines, then you're well on your way to having the skills necessary to create a publishable novel.

However, if you dislike short stories and don't feel comfortable writing them, then don't. There's many writers who don't do short stories. I think Christopher Paolini, the guy who wrote Eragon, is one.

[JimF]

I am sure there are many authors who publish a novel before a short story. I have not published a short story or novel so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Write what you want to write. I like novels and I am currently working on one. I have no interst in short story writing. I also feel writing a good short story is harder than writing a novel. A lot of my non-writing friends seem to think a short story would be easier because it is shorter. Maybe to some, but not me.

Jim

[shevdon]

Hi Mark, and welcome to the forum,

The short answer is that no, you don't need short story credits to get published as a novelist. There is an earlier thread on this below, which may be worth reading: ~

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22475

Personally I have no short story credits as yet, but I do have a debut novel published by Angry Robot (part of HarperCollins) last autumn, called Sixty-one Nails, with a sequel, The Road to Bedlam due out in the summer. This shows it can be done.

However, I am experimenting with the short form. I believe there are things you can learn from writing short stories that will feed into your writing and allow development. It's worth persisting, just to see where it takes you.

Also, asking someone to critique a 150K word novel is a big ask. A short story of 5K words is more digestible and makes it easier to provide constructive feedback. Why make it hard for people to help you?

Overall, if the short form doesn't work for you, you are not alone. Writing short stories is not the same as writing a novel. You need different skills. There are very successful short story writers who cannot produce a novel-length work and novelists who can't produce a short story. Then there are those who can manage both or neither.

Writing isn't easy. If it was, everyone would be doing it. You learn different things from different forms. The main thing is not to be disheartened if you don't get it straight away. Persist. The worst that can happen is that you'll learn something. What do you have to lose?

All the best,

Mike

[E_Moon]

Mark, some people are natural novelists, and some are natural short-fiction writers. If you are a natural novelist, you may not be able to write salable short fiction until you've completed a novel or three. (One of the reasons is that you may have a novel-sized idea filling your brain and you have to get it out of the way; another is that you may not know how much material--how much character/plot/etc--fits into shorter lengths until you've written longer lengths. I had both those problems.) You may never be able to write salable short fiction, in fact--some novelists never do.

The belief that short-story writing and sales had to come first--which was even stronger when I was young, came from an era when the newstands were full of magazines that were full of short fiction, both genre and mainstream. Even some newspapers bought short fiction before WWII (and definitely before WWI) and just about every magazine--no matter its main interest, no matter if it was regional or national in scope--bought some fiction. So there was a vigorous market for short fiction (there isn't now) and a range of markets from near-beginner to top-drawer to which writers could submit. These were already drying up by the time I was in high school, and today's writers at the start of their careers do not have that handy testbed for their work.

In my case, my first completed novels were published; my first completed short stories were not (and aren't to this day.) However, after completing the novels, I then had a grip on how much story fits into 5000 words (or so) and was able to write a few salable shorter pieces...and publishing those attracted an agent, who then represented the monster novels. So I'm a hybrid example, in a way...but I certainly did not sell my short fiction before I wrote novels.

Recently, a friend sold three books without ever having sold (or, as far as I know, having written) a short story. These were not his first books, but he has a demanding day job and he didn't write anything but what excited him--which was longer works. He much prefers reading books to reading short fiction--as you say you do.

Write what you want to write. What you like to read is a pretty fair indication of what you'll find most rewarding to write.

[KatG]

The majority of SFFH authors do novels and don't do short fiction. A lot of the ones who do short fiction started doing it after they got novels published.

That being said, doing stories and getting some published isn't a bad way to start getting noticed by the SFF community (less important for horror.) But do it because you want to try it out, not simply as a publication scheme, because there are no guarantees on that front.

[tdnewton]

Based on a lot of what I've heard at cons and read on blogs, I think the "short story" method of breaking into the business is kind of old guard... it harkens back to a time when the literary mags had subscribers and the cost of printing wasn't as exorbitant as it is today. I think online sources have tried to take over where literary mags have fallen short, but IMHO it's still as tough as it ever was to get an agent and a publisher for your novel.

I, personally, have never really enjoyed writing or reading short stories. I've tried my hand at them a few times, but they don't give me what I need when I write (that is, space to develop characters and a world). Tons of time could be spent on comparing the two, but I agree with what's been previously said: if you don't want to write shorts, then don't. It's a totally different medium to novels, so learning to write one doesn't properly prepare you to write the other. It's just one way to say you've been published before you get published.

[JT Billow]

Hell All,

I'm new to this forum, and I look forward to all the resources and discussions herein.

I have a question; most articles about publishing a debut novel state the author should first publish short stories in a professional market. I have a hard time with the short story format; as I don't usually read them, it feels uncomfortable and forced when I try to write them.

Does anyone know of any sci-fi/fantasy/horror authors who were able to successfully publish novels without going the short story route? I believe Terry Brooks is one, but I don't know of any others.

Is trying to publish a novel without any previous short story success a much harder road to travel? Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!

Short stories are a tricky business, and very hard to be successful with. I have read several, and it seems that they work best with the horror side of fiction. But there is one thing I continually find with short stories: regardless of how short, they are original. They grab the reader right from the beginning, making it difficult to put the book down. And the one thing I have picked up from every short story I read: it seems like the entire story is a climax until the end. No slow spots.

[Jon Sprunk]

Diving into the short market as a means to land a book deal does, in fact, seem to be a thing of the past for many authors, but I'm going to go against the grain (surprised?) and advise that any novelist should still try his/her hand at short-story writing in addition to the longer form.

I disagree that they are separate mediums. A novelist can learn a LOT from crafting shorter forms (including poetry, flash fiction, and journal-writing). One of the most important things you learn is the virtue of brevity, whether it be in description, setting a scene, or devising dialogue. Another lesson is pacing. When you only have a few thousand words to work with, you're more conscious about hitting your marks in the right spots.

None of this is to say that short-story writing is required to be a great novelist, just like you don't NEED to be able to read sheet music to be a great musician, but it certainly can help.

[tmso]

Hey Mark_P,

I'm in the 'I have a novel in me' camp. I don't really get into short stories, but attempting to write flash fiction and short stories has made me a better writer, and I hope that the two novels I have in various stages will benefit from those skills. We'll see.

Good luck with whatever you try. :)