I’ve been working on a set of linked short stories on and off for the last three years and now I’m trying to figure out what to do with them. There are four of them, for a grand total of 10,000 words; it’s hardly a book waiting to be published.
I had to stop looking at these stories for a while but I think I’m ready to get back to them. I read them all from start to finish and I didn’t hate them and I only cringed a few times. A promising new start.
It was time to send them out to my writing group. Have I mentioned I love my writing group? It’s so motivating to have a deadline and people who I know will be nice and kind and hold my hand as I work my way through this process. Sometimes we’re all a bit too nice because it’s easier to nod and smile and say I loved it than to to give something more valuable. It’s also really really hard to come up with honest and constructive criticism, but it’s something I think we’re all getting better at.
One of the most interesting comments that I got back when I shared these stories was to consider changing the order of things. Instead of keeping them as short stories, I could blend them together and turn them into a short novel or novella. I would need to expand and add on a lot, but it might be something I could do. Could I?
Then what?
Publish? Self publish? Let it sit on my computer for eternity?
I’m reading up on self publishing a wee bit, thinking about hiring a professional editor one day, and will keep plugging away with the ongoing support of my writing group.
Happy place
I have been doing a TON of reading on self-publishing lately and also helping a few authors with their self-pub social media promotions. It’s very promising, but work, too. If you do decide to self-pub, I’d love to read more about your decision and your process!
Sharing and commenting can both be really intimidating, I find. Even with a super supportive group :). When commenting I know I always worry whether my ideas are just a question of personal taste. Sharing is just plain scary because even (especially? ) when people are being nice, I wonder what they’re REALLY thinking 🙂
It was only because of an amazing writing group that my stories became a novel. Writing groups are the best, eh 🙂 Short stories can become ebooks, too. . . and then if you ramp that up into novellas or novels, the short story may have been a good introduction to the concept and style for your prospective readers. Or a collection of short stories, maybe? Publishing is such an exciting journey. Good luck!