Guest article by Jennifer Conner from e-publishing company Books to Go Now

People aren’t reading less, in fact I feel people are reading more than ever. Readers want to escape if even for a short time for romance, adventure, and thrills. What is changing is the way we are reading. The paper book will never go away, it is a part of us, but with busy lives, cumbersome books to tote around are being replaced with on the go, easy read devices such as Kindles, Nooks, IPads, and even our phones.

We are all busier than ever, and we need to fit in those precious moments to read when and where we can. With my e-pub company, Books to Go Now, we took this one step farther. We feel there is a sparked resurgence in a need for short stories. If you have fifteen minutes, then we have a story.

Such prominent authors as Leo Tolstoy, James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway have composed short-short fiction pieces. A need for short stories was pushed aside when television came on the entertainment scene. But now, with so many ways to read, it's back and the new ‘big’ thing.  

The Chinese call these stories "Smoke-Long" as they can be read from start to finish while the reader smokes a cigarette. Well, that won’t work anymore so we need to come up with a new term. It has been called micro-fiction, one-minute fiction, mini-fiction, flash fiction, and sudden fiction, among others. Whatever the accepted designation, the short-short story continues to gain popularity and recognition as a category of short fiction. People need stories they can read waiting to pick up the kids, on the commute to work, or while cooking dinner.

Books to Go Now carries all lengths of stories from novellas to full length novels, anthologies and of course, shorts. We even have a serial, Bad Spirits. Each installment is its own little mini novel, ending with a cliffhanger. In the minutes it takes to Google and download a short story, it’s in your hands and ready to read. Convenience is one of the things that is guiding this direction in publishing.

Visit our website at www.bookstogonow.com or on the Android Marketplace to download some high quality and fun stories. My own short romances are available. Sweet, All I Want for Christmas is You and Cupcakes and Cupids, or sexy Do You Hear What I Hear? (based on my true life experiences working as a wedding caterer). On the Android Marketplace you will find a free sample download of my story Wedding’s First Chance and others, free or for only .99. 

Comments

  1. Alison Jean AshApril 14, 2011 at 3:09 PM

    Books to Go Now is providing a great service, to writers as well as readers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. shanaApril 14, 2011 at 5:54 PM

    How cool is this? Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

    Shana Hammaker
    METAMORPHOSIS, Twelve Terrifying Tales for 2011

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alain GomezApril 14, 2011 at 6:05 PM

    It's definitely worth looking into. Especially considering their willingness to work with short story authors.

    Just to be clear though: Book Brouhaha is in no way affiliated with Books to Go Now. Jenni was interested in a guest post and I thought it would be good to let people see it as a potential resource.

    ReplyDelete
  4. shanaApril 14, 2011 at 7:00 PM

    Alain, I hope you don't mind: I've been promoting your blog on Twitter and mentioning it to any and all short story writers I come across. :)
    I LOVE the community you're building here!

    Shana Hammaker
    METAMORPHOSIS, Twelve Terrifying Tales for 2011

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alain GomezApril 14, 2011 at 7:56 PM

    I don't mind at all =)

    ReplyDelete

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