I’m not talking about the tiny things people will be wearing on their legs this summer.
I’m talking about the incredible short fiction that is actually selling well on the Kindle and Smashwords.
Don’t believe me? Check this out:
- When Amazon in 2011 launched its Kindle Singles program—which publishes works of fiction or creative nonfiction of 5,000–30,000 words—it sold more than 2 million short titles in 14 months. Today, it’s further promoting short fiction with a Short Reads section—where customers can choose stories from the Singles library.[ http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/9-ways-writing-short-stories-can-pay-off-for-writers]
- The hottest short read categories are romance, thriller and suspense, and scifi-fantasy (no surprise, those are the hottest book categories on all of Amazon). If you get into the top 100 of short reads, that’s about 40 sales a day (if you get into the top 20 it’s 116 sales a day).[ http://www.creativindie.com/how-to-make-money-by-publishing-and-selling-short-stories-and-short-books-on-amazon/]
“I know of one writer who sells collections of short pieces of erotica. She tells me she makes $15,000 a month, and expects to make more, as she releases more collections… So short stories are goldmines, these days.”[ http://www.fabfreelancewriting.com/blog/2013/06/25/writing-kindle-ficion-make-money-with-short-stories/]
Let’s Talk Short Pieces and Long Money
Just from those pieces of information, I know two things: One, short fiction is back.
Two: Writing in the popular categories(a.k.a. romance) will earn you more money as a writer.
Do I know this from personal experience?
Yes and…no.
I’ve written a story less than 150 pages for Smashwords and Barnes and Noble and it amassed about $23.00 at 0.99 per book.
Why the low sales?
Actually I received thousands of downloads when it was free. When I experimented and set it to 0.99 for a short while, it earned $23 buckaroos. Not much.
But I did not lose hope.
I began sifting through articles to find real writers who are earning an income and they are totally making a living out of this short fiction thing.
But, I don’t think it is as easy as it may seem.
Picking the Piece That Fits You
What if you don’t like writing romance? What if you are into mystery and thrillers or nonfiction?
Well, the stats are in the favor of these top four categories:
- Romance
- Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Teen and YA
- Religion and Spirituality(reportings found on https://aksomitis.com/2016/01/warning-ignoring-these-book-sales-statistics-could-seriously-impact-your-writing-income/)
Lucky for me, I enjoy all four of these categories and regularly read the books within them. But I’ll be honest. Romance is my #1 fav hands down.
Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of reading D.K. Cassidy’s Room #42 and last year enjoyed Trish Marie Dawson’s The Station Series.
These books are fantastic and are not chunky page-wise.
In fact, Trish Marie Dawson’s The Station Series’ books, are less than 200 pages each and still I craved them enough to spend 3.99 on each book. Her first book is free.
Hopefully, knowing this is making it easier to consider writing short fiction. If not, here is more to persuade you…
I just bought D.K. Cassidy’s Sleepless book because her short read, Room 42 had me hooked to her writing.
The Key to Serving Up Your Stories
I notice a trend in pricing models too. For example, series seem to do extremely well online- especially if the first book is free.
If you want people to gobble down your books, serve them up a free appetizer and you will see your audience grow(of course this all depends on factors such as cover design, selecting the right categories for your book and great writing skills).
As a bookworm and writer I see the benefits from both ends. For one, as a reader I need to know where your stories are going and your tone in the books before I make any kind of extra purchase within the series.
C’mon even movies have trailers.
Secondly, as a writer, posting up free reads is a genius plan to get people hyped about the following books.
I heard of Kindle Singles and Kindle Worlds as well for writers to place their short stories. I am unfamiliar with these tools so please help me out if you know anything, comment below!
Want to strengthen you short story skills? Try out these powerful resources below:
The Art and Craft of the Short Story by Rick D.eMarinis
The Seven Key Elements of Fiction
How to Write Short Stories That Sell
How to Make Real Money Selling Short Fiction
