Could e-reading revitalize the short story as a literary form?
By Ficbot
Are e-books really “killing literature”? E might be just the thing to revitalize a beloved, but neglected genre—the short story, with such masters as Guy de Maupassant and O. Henry. Consider all the positives:
Price, in the cases of more modern works: Fewer words, less money needed to read them. I had a friend who lived on an extreme budget, and her big shopping indulgence was the iTunes music store because she could go there, spend a dollar on a new song, and feel as if she had satisfied the shopping urge, but without spending big bucks. Might the short story benefit from this same effect?
Time: People love to read, but they find that ten-inch-high stack of neglected impulse buys to be overwhelming. Might the short story be a way to bring people back to reading great literature? It’s the same principle as the iTunes-as-frugal-splurge example above. Just spend a buck on a new story, and feel as if you’ve satisfied the reading urge, but without spending big time.
Variety: It is simply not economical for publishers to print short stories except as anthologies or collections. But in the e-world, anything is “printable” and salable. You can buy just one short story if you want to. And more importantly, publishers can sell just one, something they never could do before.
Form Factor: Many people complain that it is not comfortable to read an entire novel on a laptop screen, or worse, on a tiny cell phone. With a shorter format, though, the form factor is less of a bother. This might inspire people who may not otherwise read on a laptop (or a cell phone or a PDA) to get into e-reading.
As e-babel and DRM concerns turn many people away from the more “mainstream” genres that publishers are especially stingy with protecting, could we see a revival in some of the lesser-pushed genres—poetry, articles, short stories? Share your thoughts.
Moderator: Amazon Shorts, of course, is one place to for short story readers to start. Also consider the free fiction in E, available directly from publishers such as Small Beer Press (Creative Commons-licensed files promoting for-sale P editions) or through sites such as Feedbooks and Manybooks.net (both Creative Commons and public domain). Online-literature.com might be one possibility for those who want to read short stories directly online rather than as files. What are your own suggestions? - D.R.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Being a great fan of audio books (gulp, am I allowed to say that on this site?)I have noticed that I am downloading more short stories from Librivox. Perhaps it is also using reading time that modern life imposes on us - the Long Commute. I have the luxury of only living a few kilometres from the centre of a city, but traffic being the way it is that can still mean a half hour trip. A short story, no matter whether it is read or listened to, can just fill that gap. Of course, there are some books that should be short stories!
Leaving aside the technical reasons, it is also a great exercise for the author. No meandering to hide a flimsy plot; every word has to be there for a reason, not to pad out pages. It would be great to have a site devoted to reader submitted short stories (or is one already out there?) And how nice if it could be funded by a big publishing house or newspaper.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:22 am
I think it is possible.
Of course, this is depending on if ebooks gain popularity, and if people can get past their high school souring on the art form (someone really needs to boot the person selecting shorts for English Lit textbooks….!)
That said, I think it’s all a matter of time. One of these days, ebooks will start taking off. We’re growing more digital by the day, no, by the hour. Eventually, ebooks will be the way to go. We’ll just have to be patient a little while longer.
All the best,
H.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
See also Save the Short Story blog. Short stories can work within longer forms (see Decameron, Arabian Nights, etc). It’s hard creating a distinctive brand or type of story to provide some unifying motif.
I love Chekhov, but the characters are less memorable than those in a mediocre novel.