Should I publish short stories individually or in a collection?

[Paul D. Dail]

I'm curious to hear the community's thoughts on this one.  I know that the more offerings a writer has, the more sales he/she can expect.  I was considering putting together a collection of short stories, but I've heard from many recently that publishing the singles is a better idea.

 

So what are your thoughts?  Or your experiences?  Successes?  Single shorts?  Or collections?

 

Thanks in advance,

Paul D. Dail

www.pauldail.com- A horror writer's not necessarily horrific blog

[Larissa Hinton]

I published my short stories in a collection and it has worked out great so far. Some readers want a longer collection in fact even though it's 70 pages long. So I'll probably put out another collection of short stories.

 

Another idea kinda hit me: Why not give one of your short stories away for free and publish the others in a collection? That way your readers can get a sample of work, determine if they want more, then buy the collection. 

 

But at the end of the day, it's up to you.

 

http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/

 

[Paul D. Dail]

Larissa, thanks for your input.  I've been searching around for people talking about this topic.  Lots of different opinions, but I think I've put a few together and come up with a good plan.   I think I will publish individual shorts and then also offer a full collection (that will be cheaper than having to buy all of the individuals). 

 

And an interesting comment about the free idea.  I just read an interesting post discussing this.  The author of the post offers all of his short stories for free on his website.  Just means you have to read them on the computer. 

 

http://www.markedwardhall.com/the-pros-of-publishing-short-stories-...

 

There's also the question of pricing based on length which many authors have discussed.  I guess the answer is that you do whatever you can do that will possibly boost overall sales.

 

Thanks again for your response.

 

Paul D. Dail

www.pauldail.com- A horror writer's not necessarily horrific blog

 

[Larissa Hinton]

No problem. I've been struggling with the price question. I usually determine it with length. I put my collection of short stories and poetry for 99 cents, just to test the waters. It seems I got some biters. :) So I'm happy with that. 

 

But that sounds like a great idea to sell them individually and one big collection. That seems like a good balance.

 

I know for me pricing is the most difficult part. Obviously, you don't want to overprice, but at the same time, you don't want to undervalue all of the work you've done.

 

But it's really all up to you. 

 

I'm glad it helped you! :) Stop by my blog and you can check out my sales figures so far: http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/11/lets-talk-ab...

[KW McCabe]

What I have done on Smashwords is put out my short stories for free to get reviews and see what type of reception I get.  I gauge what types of covers get more of a reception by how many downloads are made of a book- and I see how well people like the book by how many people save them to their libraries or like them on the facebook button. Then I put them together and make an anthology like this one:

 

 

 

http://kwmccabe.blogspot.com

 

[Paul D. Dail]

Just out of curiosity, what are the lengths of some of your shorts?  And an interesting concept on testing various covers as well.  I like the cover of your anthology. 

 

And I actually have family by the name of McCabe (in fact, just got back from visiting one of my cousins) who hailed from Wisconsin.  Be funny if you were related.

 

Paul D. Dail

www.pauldail.com- A horror writer's not necessarily horrific blog

[KW McCabe]

Sorry it took me so long to respond!  My shorts vary in length from a couple hundred words to 20pages.  I don't have a set length normally.  The longest short I've written up until this point has been Wraith in Dreams Both Real and Strange.  Thanks- it's a wonder what Paint and Photoshop can do to a cover lol. 

Mccabe is my married name- but my husband hails from the southeastern hemisphere- so most likely no relation there lol

[Bobbie Crawford-McCoy (NURTURE)]

Collection is definitely the way to go, Paul. :-)

[ManOfLaBook.com]

Why not both?

 

Short stories individually and a collection separately.

 

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Bobbie Crawford-McCoy (NURTURE)]

Hi ManOfLaBook,

 

Readers are much more likely to purchase a collection of short stories over the one-at-a-time stories. If the goal is to sell the short stories, it's best to give readers more "bang for their buck", so to speak. :-)

 

If you just want to give away the short stories (for free), you can do so one at a time.

[Paul D. Dail]

Interesting Bobbie (and ManOfLaBook).  I've heard both sides on this one from various authors.  My thoughts are to offer up some individual shorts and then a collection that includes those shorts (and some that aren't offered individually) at a price lower than buying them all individually.  I heard someone who said this really worked well for him (of course to somewhat back up what you have said, he offers them all for free at his blog, the only catch being that you have to read them on a computer.  He doesn't offer the Kindle or Nook format).

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Paul D. Dail

www.pauldail.com- A horror writer's not necessarily horrific blog

[Kelli Wheelwright]

As a reader, to me it depends on whether or not they go together. I prefer them to be seperate unless they are of the same genre and flow well into each other.

 

Kelli

http://www.ekfamilybooks.blogspot.com

 

[Paul D. Dail]

Interesting point, Kelli.  And I don't know if the ones I'm considering putting into a collection would all fall under the same exact genre.  I think I'll be able to pull off the flow, but they'll definitely be different tales.

 

Paul D. Dail

www.pauldail.com- A horror writer's not necessarily horrific blog