I’ll be defending my dissertation today so I’ll turn the thought-provoking question-asking duties for the day over to one of our readers. In response to Terry‘s Magazine Monday post, Mark Lawrence asked:

I’m a fan of the short story both reading and writing (not that any of mine were Nebula-nominated). I’ve always felt they deserved a bigger press/market/readership. It’s odd really… we’re told the public’s attention span is getting shorter and shorter, and yet the short-story market shrinks day by day and the best selling fantasy is delivered in 1000+ page door stops!

So, readers, why do short stories not have a bigger press/market/readership?  I personally love short stories — they are wonderful for lunch time reading, or a quick tale before bedtime — so I’m not much help here. What do you think is going on?

We’ll pick a commenter at random to win the book of their choice from the stacks.

Author

  • Ruth Arnell

    RUTH ARNELL (on FanLit's staff January 2009 — August 2013) earned a Ph.D. in political science and is a college professor in Idaho. From a young age she has maxed out her library card the way some people do credit cards. Ruth started reading fantasy with A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — books that still occupy an honored spot on her bookshelf today. Ruth and her husband have a young son, but their house is actually presided over by a flame-point Siamese who answers, sometimes, to the name of Griffon.