Many authors can't do short stories well but publishers feel no qualms about putting those books out there for sale.

Which makes it vital for any aspiring author to painstakingly edit and evaluate his/her own work, and to seek comptetent critique prior to submitting their manuscrpts AND be willing to heed the critique/advice.

In my mind the worst stories aren’t the spectacular failures, stories so poorly written, poorly edited, and poorly produced I frown and think, “I wrote more coherently in first grade.” In those cases, I just shake my head and blame the publisher and editor/editorial team because they should have recognized the writer hadn’t reached a competency where his/her work met expectations of a paying clientele.

The worst stories are the “could-have-beens,” books revealing genuinely talented writing, but still lacking all the ingredients to make a “good” read. Maybe characters are stereotyped, one-dimensional, unbelievable, or unsympathetic. A weak plot is disguised by dramatic “filler”. Maybe the writer offers imaginative story line and world-building, but his/her writing itself lacks technical strength and/or style. Maybe the book’s poorly researched (i.e. inaccurate historical details in historicals, crime/legal/medical thrillers featuring unrealistic or incorrect procedural information.)

And don’t get me started on erotic romance. Books classified as erotic romance sometimes wrote all the romance out of the story, assuming romance was ever present in the first place.

Technical writing also matters. A writer may have a fertile imagination, but writing’s part of the package in creating a book, and if an author’s writing skills are weak or underdeveloped it impacts reader enjoyment.

I recently gave up on a writer I finally realized was not a good writer. I liked the author, a popular multi-published erotic romance writer. I saw — and still see — genuine creativity in her work and the ocassional “moment of greatness.” But her writing itself is awful. I assume she deliberately overwrites her stories in order to raise her word counts and royalties. I got tired of purchasing and reading overblown novellas sold as short novels. Characterizations and dialogue in her stories stayed pretty much the same with minor cosmetic adjustments (i.e., the characters’ appearances differed, as did scenarios.)

Despite my giving up, I’ve no doubt publishers will continue to contract and to sell her books. I’ve no doubt reviewers and readers will continue to praise the author’s work. Because of this, I doubt this author will ever recognize she can do better, or even want to do better. And why should she? She is being rewarded for what she does now.

This kind of writing and these kinds of books are like dating a guy who’s really great but has some kind of bad habit or character flaw to which one cannot be reconciled. After a while you have to let him go and it’s MORE frustrating than dumping a jerk you dated once or twice due to the additional emotional investment.

Excellent -’ or even good -’ short stories are not easily crafted. It takes a very gifted author to craft tight, concise, complete short stories.

But this is my point. Many authors can’t do short stories well but publishers feel no qualms about putting those books out there for sale.

For short stories I go by Samhain or EC’s pricing. I think $2.50-$2.99 for a story of 20k or less but more than 10K is reasonable. I also think that an author can do a decent job within that framework of word count.

If you want to talk excellent short story writers then I would say Katrina Strauss is one of them. Two of her short stories that I’ve read have been amazing and yet, they only cost $2.50 and $1.99. And they were between 12-20K.

Then there are epubs like Loveyoudivine who charge $2 for 4K and it’s one awfully written sex scene. I mean, seriously, I don’t even get the point that something like that is even offered for sale.

I think if there are epubs out there like Samhain, EC, Loose-Id, Red Rose, Phaze that offer short stories for $1.99- $2.50, then what’s with all those others charging more for less WC? I’ve reached the point where I refuse to buy those kinds of stories anymore.

Some pubs have what they call quickies that are 7k and less, but they only charge $.99. That is fairly reasonable.

Regarding price, even a very short work has production and overhead costs (i.e., editing, formatting, cover art, etc.) Some of the expenses remain firm regardless of the book's size. This makes short stories more expensive (at least in terms of content value.)

I totally get that. But it comes back to again what’s the point to put out a 3-5K story that sucks eggs and charge the same as a 15-20K short story? The satisfaction level is going to suck and it comes back ultimately on the author because it’s a feeling of getting ripped off. And I’ll think long and hard before buying from that pub again.

So for me, just thinking of a recent experience, length is one thing, and quality is another, and both come into play.

I don't want a novel plot crammed into a novella length book, or a short story bloated to novel length, but that's not something you can tell until after you've paid you money.

Again, I think a huge part of the problem is that most people don’t recognize that crucial differences exist between shorter works, moderate works, and longer works. You do, but not everyone does.

@MB (Leah):

As far as short stories go, they are THE biggest ripoffs from epubs going. Some epubs even charge like $4-$5 for a short story that's only 7K. And some I've found charge $2-$3 for like 3-5K words including all that crap about copyright and intros and author bios and so on.

Excellent — or even good — short stories are not easily crafted. It takes a very gifted author to craft tight, concise, complete short stories. The author Rick Reed (he does a lot of horror, gay romance, and YA books) is a MASTER at crafting tight, interesting, and well-rounded short stories. When I think of a good “quick read” ebook, Reed’s the first person who springs to mind.

It goes without saying, though, that for every Rick Reed there are dozens, if not hundreds of authors attempting to write shorter (to appeal to the demand) and can’t do it well, either because they lack the talent, or they lack knowledge of the form. Sometimes it’s a conflict in style; sometimes an author’s voice lends itself better to epic work, others are more succinct in tone.

Regarding price, even a very short work has production and overhead costs (i.e., editing, formatting, cover art, etc.) Some of the expenses remain firm regardless of the book’s size. This makes short stories more expensive (at least in terms of content value.)

I don't necessarily blame the author because hey, if a person can get something published then why not? But I think an author has to think about putting out a story for sale that's crap or full of holes or should really be part of an anthology, so some blame does go to the author. I know that even if I could get a story published, if it's not well written or I'm putting out an inferior product, that's going to reflect on me as an author.

Authors need to be very conscientious of this. I think many newer, less experienced authors sink heart and soul into a story, offer it to a publisher. If the publisher contracts the work, the author is buoyed up and assumes the story’s “good.” Because why would any conscientious publisher contract lousy — or even substandard work?

The reality is, substandard work gets contracted. So does lousy work.

Authors need to learn as much as possible about writing’s craft and remember that, at the end of the day, the author’s name is on the cover.

When I review a book now, I post the word count and cost of the book.

I’ve discovered that most epubs will NOT post an exact word count, which I believe is due to the fact that if customers were to get really savvy on WC per cost, no one would buy their books. So I do go to Fictionwise often to find an exact WC.

I’ve also discovered that many epubs make it hard to find what exactly they mean by Novel, Novella, short story and so on. You really have to dig around their website to find out that their Novel = 50K-120K and so on.

As far as short stories go, they are THE biggest ripoffs from epubs going. Some epubs even charge like $4-$5 for a short story that’s only 7K. And some I’ve found charge $2-$3 for like 3-5K words including all that crap about copyright and intros and author bios and so on.

The price vs. length is such an issue for me I've actually taken to commenting on the value for the cost when reviewing a novella or novel.

I’ve been doing the same. When I read a short story that’s only 5-7K and it’s full of holes and missing continuity due to space constraints, and I paid $2-3 for it, I bitch about it in my reviews. It’s a rip off, plain and simple.

I don’t necessarily blame the author because hey, if a person can get something published then why not? But I think an author has to think about putting out a story for sale that’s crap or full of holes or should really be part of an anthology, so some blame does go to the author. I know that even if I could get a story published, if it’s not well written or I’m putting out an inferior product, that’s going to reflect on me as an author.

I do absolutely always blame the publisher and will think very hard before buying from them again.

One thing is true though, that I’m a little bit more forgiving of a novella which is priced $5 or more if it’s a good story and I was entertained. I will feel it a better value than a great short story for $3.

Also, on trade PB, they are ridiculously overpriced as well. But I like to read books in a special niche market and trade is the only format available. So in that case, I just deal. At least with a PB, I could sell it and recoup some money if I wanted to or give it to a friend.

I don’t want a novel plot crammed into a novella length book, or a short story bloated to novel length, but that’s not something you can tell until after you’ve paid you money. I don’t have an ereader, so when it comes to ePubs I usually plump for novella – long enough I don’t feel ripped off, short enough I don’t get a headache or get distracted. Having internet access when you’re trying to read is a temptation hard denied! For novel length stuff I still prefer print (even for 400k stuff – as said upthread, Sci Fi is more than happy to plow past any reasonable word count), but I tend to buy secondhand these days since most of what I’m drawn to is long out of print and unlikely to come back in a hurry. Print prices for new books usually make me scurry back to the charity shops anyway!

When I'm on an epub site, more often than not I don't get a word count, but just a general category. It says it's a novel, and the publisher says novels are “60-100K”. (And that range is no small potatoes, either.)

I agree with you! Ambiguity in this matter, to my mind, is tantamount to deliberate deceit. This is the age of information, and there is no good reason a bookseller or publisher should not provide readers with accurate word counts. I admit the publishers I’ve worked with do provide accurate word counts, normally rounded up to the closest even number.

Which I guess is the equivalent of standing in the bookstore aisle and hefting the book in your hand, as you decide whether or not the book is substantial enough to be “worth” that $12 or $28. If we could see novellas printed out on paper, I suspect we'd find they're suddenly “worth” a great deal less than we're being asked to pay.

I guess it depends. My opinion: the popularity of e-novellas (and even shorter works) is based upon their brevity rather than quality. Once an ebook ventures past about 50k words, readers looking for a quick, light read get “commitment issues?”

Even so, the industry owes honesty to the public. There’s no good reason to present a book as more or less than what it happens to be. I think it also backfires on the publishers as well as the authors when readers buy ebooks advertised as “novels,” only to find they do not fulfill our traditional expectations of a novel.

I do list in what class the title was sold – novella, short novel, full novel, etc., and then what I would consider it. Yes, there are traditional word count thresholds, but I don’t consider a title with 45,000 words a novel. A long novella or a short novel? Yes. A full novel, no. And I look at what I would be paying for it in print. I buy hundreds of print books a year, hard cover, trade and mass market.

I honestly do not care what anyone says, a “novella” with just under 25,000 words priced at $5.20 and a ‘novel’ of about 75,000 words priced at $5.99 represent two very different values to me. Yes, I know the novella format has become insanely popular with e-readers. Of the 100 or so I’ve read so far I’d say fewer than 10% were worth the price. The vast majority were little more than bloated short stories with slight plot and little character. Even for $5.99 I’m hard pressed to justify an ebook when I can buy mmpb’s that I can re-sell or trade on sites like Book Mooch or PaperBack Swap and bring the average price – even counting mailing costs – to about $4.25/book.

Do I buy my favorite author on the day of release in hard cover? Yes. Favorite titles/authors I still buy in print even if I own the ebook. But I’m finding myself buying fewer and fewer ebooks of all types. Too much money and too little value.

@Janine: If you're interested: a new re-release of Diamond Bay will be out in hardcover for $19 and change -’ according to Amazon -’ on May 1, 2010.

Thanks! I wonder if it will be out in e-form as well. I don’t mind paying $19 for that particular book since it’s one of my favorites by Howard and my copy (a 2-in-1 with Midnight Rainbow) is falling apart, but I’d rather have an ebook than a hardcover.

It was such a rip off, and now LKH is doing it again with Flirt. That 192 pages “novel” will be sold for 30 bloody dollars, in Canada.

I expect short stories and novellas to be much cheaper than novels and I expect my novels (especially for epubbed books) to actually be the lenght of a standard novel. When I reach the end of the story almost 20 pages before I reach the end of the ‘book’ (eg. lots of promo for other books and authors, blank pages, etc.), I get v. annoyed.

But, most houses don’t want stuff under 60 for the novel length. 65K goes to about 140 trade pages (at least for the trade paperback that came readily to hand) For comparison, 80K is about 325 mass market pages.

Yes, I’ll pay more for a longer book or an especially desired book. I’ve been known to pay $22 for an anthology that had one story I’d been missing for years or $15 for a mass market high-acid pulp from the 50s.

But electronica? I’ll pay $3 tops for anything under 25K. $5 for anything between 25 and 60. $7 for 60-120. I haven’t bought anything longer than that.

However, I think knowledge of the word count is only helpful to readers with some understanding of traditional word counts of stories.

I think that depends on who’s giving the word count, too. When I’m on an epub site, more often than not I don’t get a word count, but just a general category. It says it’s a novel, and the publisher says novels are “60-100K”. (And that range is no small potatoes, either.)

If you look on Fictionwise (and maybe the other e-distributors do this, not sure), there you’ll usually find a more specific word count. Just picking a genre at random, the first two books have notated lines that say:

Words: 22431 – Reading Time: 64-89 min.
Words: 158254 – Reading Time: 452-633 min.

…and the third book says nothing because traditional publishers don’t tell you that. Doesn’t even tell you # of pages, for that matter, even though that’s really kind of a useless piece of info when we’re talking about ebooks.

The specificity of those word counts make me willing to bet it’s the value pumped out by whatever application creates the files, and is likely the literal word count, instead of the usual “take all characters and divide by six” mathematic shenanigans. This, I really like, because experience & some basic math has taught me that 22K is just shy of a half-hour’s reading, and a story in the neighborhood of 150K will occupy me for a little over 3 hours.

Which I guess is the equivalent of standing in the bookstore aisle and hefting the book in your hand, as you decide whether or not the book is substantial enough to be “worth” that $12 or $28. If we could see novellas printed out on paper, I suspect we’d find they’re suddenly “worth” a great deal less than we’re being asked to pay.