Book Brouhaha

My name is Alan Shelton, and I am a newly minted publisher of online short stories. I hang my hat at a website called Fiction Arcade ( www.fictionarcade.com ), and - thanks to the kind indulgence of Alain - I'd like to make a shameless-but-brief plug for it. Fiction Arcade is YouTube crossed with iTunes, but for the short story. We provide a convenient platform where anyone can upload their work for free (a la YouTube), and we allow them to sell it for less than a dollar (a la iTunes). These two elements didn't mesh well in the days before omnipresent social media and online micropayments, but now they work like gangbusters for video and music sites. So why not short fiction? Fiction Arcade is based on two premises: 1) that traditional publishers don't price short stories correctly and 2) that great stories get recognized and rewarded through a positive word-of-mouth feedback cycle. Regarding the first premise, even other online publishers typically won't go below 99 ce...

PRESS RELEASE The Other Publishing Company rebrand short story imprint from Lit Bits to Cracked Eye, after further angel investment funding.  After securing further investment from angel investors, and as part of their mission to bring the best short stories from new and established authors to keen readers around the world, The Other Publishing Company are rebranding their short story imprint from Lits Bits to Cracked Eye, focusing on new ways their content can be accessed. London, 3rd March, 2014 : 2013 was a great year for Lit Bits. They launched the imprint and have quickly established themselves as a force within the wonderful world of short stories. They’ve been featured widely online, run the hugely successful Lit Bits Weekend Challenge and continue to commission stories from bestselling established authors and exciting emerging talent. Their stories are read by keen readers around the world but in 2014 they’re setting the bar higher. This year they’re on a mission...

Long before man first grasped a quill, he would gather his tribe around the campfire and tell tales. Fiction has always been about storytelling. It began as oral tradition, tales passed through the generations by word of mouth, and later etched on papyrus, paper, and now digital screens. Stories vary in length: there is the brief joke; flash fiction; the short story; the novelette; the novella; the novel; and the epic or saga.  The short story sits on the literary landscape somewhere between the joke and the epic. It is, arguably, the most difficult format to write. It demands brevity and conciseness of the writer. Diction and vocabulary become paramount. Seeking an economy of words, the short story author must chose le mot juste. Many authors, used to writing without constraint, find it challenging not to write; it is far easier to ramble aimlessly than to choose one’s words with precision and ration them accordingly.  The short story usually eschews subplots in favor ...

When Alain suggested I blog about having multiple publishers, I hung my head. I felt as if I’d been caught cheating. Where is my loyalty—what kind of heathen am I? Then I thought about it, and I decided my side of the story should be told. I imagined myself in front of a support group, “Yes, I’ve been playing the field,” then to gasps, “I don’t intend to stop.”  The extent of my problem? I currently have seven stories out with three different publishers and four more under contract with these same publishers. Do I play one publisher against the other hoping for the best contract? Never. Not my style. Am I a philandering writer with my eye on the next cute guy, er, I mean publisher. No! Then why can’t I be happy with just one? I have a few reasons: 1. The industry is volatile: diversify. That’s my kind way of saying, no publisher is safe. I know every company opens its doors with the intention of staying in business, but the harsh reality is ninety-five percent of businesses f...

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.  ...