• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Essentials
    • How the Publishing Process Works
    • How to Write a Novel
    • How to Edit a Novel
    • How to write a nonfiction book proposal
    • Writing advice database
    • Book publishing glossary
    • Writing and book publishing FAQs
    • Blog Directory
  • Agents
    • What literary agents do
    • How to Find a Literary Agent
    • Literary agent etiquette
    • How to write a query letter
    • The Basic Query Template
    • How to write a synopsis
  • Self-Publishing
    • How to self-publish a book
    • Should You Self-Publish or Traditionally Publish?
    • How to decide where to self-publish
    • How to choose a cover
    • How to Determine Your Price Point When Self-Publishing
    • How to make the leap from self-publishing to traditional publishing
    • How to market a book

Nathan Bransford

Author

  • Books
  • Editing
  • About

A Word on Short Story Collections

June 15, 2006 by Nathan Bransford 8 Comments

Publishers (and therefore agents) are very leery of short story collections because, typically, they dont sell. Its kind of a mystery because a lot of people like short stories and a lot of people read short stories, but, for whatever reason, they don’t sell. Publishers will generally only publish short story collections if the author has received some national exposure (i.e. published in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, etc.), has graduated a top tier MFA program (generally Iowa) and/or if the author also has a novel that the publisher loves, and they plan to whet the publics appetite with the short story collection.

Yes, I represent short story collections. But. Rather than pitching your short story collection to an agent, who will likely be reluctant to read your work from the get-go, I would focus on trying to get your stories published. Once you have had some success publishing stories it will be much easier for you to find an agent – one of the best ways to find an agent is to be able to say that you have been published in some very reputable magazines or journals.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Genres, Uncategorized Tagged With: writing advice

Subscribe to the blog!

Receive the blog directly in your inbox when there are new posts!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    August 8, 2008 at 7:16 pm

    Thanks Nathan. So the answer is to get the story published in a magazine or journal and then come to you?

    Mary

    Reply
  2. Nathan Bransford says

    August 8, 2008 at 7:17 pm

    Mary-

    More than one story, and it’s best also if there’s a novel as well.

    Reply
  3. hyperbard says

    August 8, 2008 at 8:36 pm

    Huh. This is very interesting and good information! I’ve written short stories for years, and never knew about the no-sell thing regarding collections. Is it the same across genres, or do short-story collections sell better in one vs. another? For instance, I tend to write more fantasy these days but have some older science fiction tales. Does fantasy sell better on this front, or science fiction, or are they equally difficult to get out there? (Just curious).

    Jess

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    August 8, 2008 at 11:00 pm

    As an extension of Jess’ question, should the short stories and novel all be related. Or different topics?

    Thanks this is so helpful. Mary

    Reply
  5. Nathan Bransford says

    August 8, 2008 at 11:44 pm

    The best way to see what is selling is by looking at the shelves. I can’t really answer the last two questions without overgeneralizing. Every project is different.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous says

    August 10, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Sorry to be a pest. So, the short stories and the novel are not a package deal, they are sold individually?

    Mary

    Reply
  7. Paola Opal says

    September 8, 2008 at 4:06 am

    The thing about short stories is that maybe they don’t sell well in print but they are an ideal format for online, since it’s perfect for someone to read while on a coffee break (or pretending to work). If there isn’t a market for them now, then I’d bet there will be one in the near future! That’s my 2 bits.

    Reply
  8. Anonymous says

    June 11, 2009 at 10:43 am

    Hi Nathan,

    What are your thoughts on accepting a novel that has had a piece of it already published? I pulled a scene/section from my novel manuscript and had it published in an online litmag. Now I'm wondering if that was NOT the right thing to do, considering it's part of a larger novel that I want to get published.

    I love your blog! It has been so helpful. Thank you –

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors chase their dreams.

Learn more about me.

Need Editing?

I'm available for consultations, edits, query critiques, brainstorming, and more.
Learn more!

My Books




Forums

Need help with your query? Want to talk books? Check out the Nathan Bransford Forums

Subscribe!

Receive the blog directly in your inbox when there are new posts!

Follow Nathan on the social media

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2019 · Twenty Seven Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in