by Jay Hartman
Q: I’ve seen references lately to “slim volume books.” What are these? Is it something I should look for?
A: You know the old adage “everything that’s old is new again?” That’s the easy definition of slim volume books.
You see, once upon a time, publishers used to make a lot of money selling short stories. I know, crazy, amiright? The ebook space was ripe for this kind of material. Online retailers such as Fiction-wise sold thousands of short stories every month and readers grabbed them up. It didn’t hurt that Kindle didn’t exist and no other type of reader out there could hold that many books. I still have my original Rocket eBook device, and I remember being thrilled when I got twenty books on that thing. Most of those were short stories.
Then, KDP came along. The ensuing chaos had publishers saying, “where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?” Self-published authors decided ninety-nine cents was a logical price to charge for a full-length work they spent months of their lives writing. Needless to say, this was the death knell for short stories and novellas. After all, why pay ninety-nine cents for a ten-page story when you can get a full-length novel for the same price?
Anthologies and short story collections didn’t fare any better. Authors chose to promote their own singular works instead of anthologies they appeared in, and many had little to no experience writing short fiction. To this day, there are plenty of publishers who won’t touch an anthology or a collection because they’re pretty much guaranteed to lose money on the deal.
But the times, oh they are a’changin’. Just like fashion of the 60s, we’re seeing a resurgence in the popularity of the short form of fiction. So, what’s changed that this type of writing is making a comeback?
Time. We all seem to have a lot less of it these days compared to even ten years ago. We’re constantly on the go, always working and rarely getting the opportunity to curl up in an easy chair and engage in a full-length work. Now we consume content on our phones in short video bites or we stream individual songs instead of listening to full albums in a sitting. It only makes sense that our reading patterns would follow the same path. Whether you’re on a plane, standing in line at the grocery store, waiting at the doctor’s office…the amount of time we have to consume content is a lot shorter. Bite-sized works that can be enjoyed in those periods have their attraction.
Affordability. Publishers charge ridiculous amounts for full-length paperbacks and ebooks these days. However, the cost to print a much thinner volume means the margins are higher and there’s a better chance of seeing a return. Plus, you can fit more slim volumes on your shelf.
It’s too early to tell if the swell in popularity of short form fiction is here to stay or just one of many passing fads in the industry.
Looking to get The Publisher Perspective? Send your questions to jhartman@thejayhartmanagency.com with TPP in your subject line. If your question is used, we’ll send you a free ebook from Untreed Reads.
Jay A. Hartman, founder of Untreed Reads Publishing, promotes ebooks with an emphasis on independent authors and publishers. He’s written about the ebook industry for fifteen years and previously served as content editor for KnowBetter.com, one of the internet’s oldest sites reporting on ebooks and epublishing.
