Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
Strictly speaking, they shouldn't be anything that recent publishing ventures would call a "book". They won't fit the economics of the modern publishing houses. Going back in time, though, you'd find print analogs in the days of pamplets and folios. Or, as suggested, specific items from the heyday of the literary magazines and the pulps.
If this succeeds in the marketplace it will be the place for the 21st century Conan Doyles, Dickenses (as pointed out), Asimovs and Clarkes, and, possibly Shakespeares. ;-)
Certainly worth a try.
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I think we need to be a little careful about our terminology here...
A book, at least as far as I am concerned is any bound and printed work regardless of length. Generally for adult fiction, works that are not at least 40-50 thousand words are not published as books. That being said, some (a very tiny percentage of all fiction books) are.
Works like this still are published in anthologies and in at least Science Fiction and Fantasy Pulps like Analog and Asimov's, they are still published in magazines (I suspect the same is true of mystery stories since they are the only other genre I know of that still has some pulps that feature relative prominently in the genre).
I would also point out that
modern publishing now includes ebooks which changes the economics entirely. Smashwords in particular has been selling everything pretty much every length of story since its inception.
In any case, I agree that a revival of short and intermediate length fiction can only be good in the grand scheme of things. Not only can they help a writer hone their craft, but they can be wonderful in their own right. A novella can be the perfect way to take a breather when you are in the middle of a big series of novels. You take a night or three off (at most!) and visit another author's imagination before getting back to the long series you have been concentrating on.
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Bill