Short Fiction Market Question

…for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, aka the grand triumvirate of speculative fiction.

The question posed over at the SF Signal: Is the Short Fiction Market in trouble?

The pros chime in, and a few editors respond in the comments below. In terms of financial viability for the traditional print magazine, most seem to think the answer is yes. It’s the same old same old of high costs, an aging subscriber base, and competition for the entertainment dollar and attention span. Several of the writers point out that payment for short stories has essentially stagnated since the 1930s and no one is making their living writing shorts any more.

Some of the other comments point to no. The reason, of course, this interweb thingie (thanks again Al!) with all the e-zines and sites, as well as a greater number of quality anthologies (think Best of… and Themed works). Not to mention all the new writers who have more niches and opportunities to fill. (I would add, this applies as long as you are writing shorter short fiction).

So where does that leave us?

Have a good look at the various answers and note how no one’s sure. Several of the writers talk about how they write short fiction between novels as a means of keeping the name out there, or because they enjoy it, or try new approaches. Certainly If you look at the ‘pro’ mags (F&SF, Asimov’s, etc.) you’ll see a good proportion of writers plugging an upcoming or current book in their credits. Nothing wrong with that.

For me the general business model is thus: get some short fiction out there to build some name recognition and confidence. Then when you transition to longer more lucrative fiction, it should be easier to find an agent, an editor, etc. At least that’s how it’s worked out for some of the other successful writers I know. So now if I could just figure out how to write some really good 10-12 pagers…