How to Write Short Stories: Self-publishing short stories
I started self-publishing my books after 2007 when the arrival of the Kindle and the iPhone heralded the beginning of the digital publishing era. Readers could just click a button and start reading or listening straight away, and print on demand meant that authors didn’t have to keep boxes of books in their garages, but could sell globally through services where each book was printed to order.
Independent (indie) authors might take this for granted now, but it was revolutionary back then and the possibilities for creative and financial freedom drove my choice to start publishing with my own company from the beginning. While I have licensed some work to traditional publishers along the way, I have mostly chosen to self-publish my books and stories ever since, so this is usually my first choice for publication.
I cover the detailed specifics in Successful Self-Publishing, available as a free ebook and audiobook and also in print, but here’s a quick overview.
What are the options for self-publishing short stories?
If you want your story in print, you will either have to license to an anthology or magazine market that prints copies (although many are digital-only now), or you can self-publish your work in a collection once you have enough stories.
But self-publishing digitally for shorts is much more accessible, since there is no specific length needed for an ebook or an audiobook, and many readers are looking for shorter works.
You still need the basics in order to self-publish: a complete and edited manuscript and an ebook cover. You can find easy-to-use templates on Canva if you don’t want to pay for a professional cover. I discuss more cover options in chapter 4.1, “How to use AI tools to help with your creative and business processes.”
Format the manuscript with the cover into a finished ePub file with easy-to-use software like Vellum or Atticus.
Publish the ebook on Amazon KDP and enter it into the exclusive program KDP Select or publish wide by also publishing on sites like Kobo Writing Life. You can also use a distributor like Draft2Digital to reach multiple ebook stores and library sites. If you have your own store, like my JFPennBooks.com, you can sell individual stories or bundles there.
If you want to sell print copies of your story, then consider self-publishing a collection as I did with The Buried and the Drowned, which has a hardcover foiled edition with a ribbon and includes photos of my research, as well as standard paperback and large-print editions. You might consider a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign or use standard print-on-demand services like Amazon KDP Print, IngramSpark, BookVault, or Lulu, and these last two can integrate with your own store.
Make it clear that this is a short story
One of the issues with publishing short stories in the same way as full-length books is that you need to label your work clearly, otherwise you will get reviews from readers saying that ‘it’s too short.’
This is easy enough to do. Just include a subtitle on the cover and in the sales page, for example, Soldiers of God: An ARKANE Short Story. You can also select the Amazon category for short story as one of the three categories in your metadata, while using the other two for more genre-specific labelling. Look at any of my short stories and it’s clear what you’re getting.
Pricing
Obviously, you cannot price a short story as you would price a full-length book, so most authors will sell them for between US$0.99 and US$2.99 (or the equivalent in other currencies). If you have your own store, you can sell bundle deals, or once you include the stories in a collection, the reader will get more for the price.
You can also offer a free story as a marketing mechanism, either with free days if you publish within Kindle Unlimited, or by offering a free story as a reader magnet on your website or through a discounted section on your own store. I have some free ebooks, but I also have all my short stories on YouTube @jfpennauthor as free audiobooks.
Subscription platforms
If you are a prolific short story writer or have a large backlist that you are now republishing, then it might be worth considering a subscription platform like Patreon or Substack. The reader pays a small recurring amount monthly, and you get a predictable income and a closer relationship with people who love your work.
Short fiction can be a better fit than a full novel for this kind of publishing since subscribers get a finished story every month. However, you need a decent-sized audience to make this work.
A successful example is Seanan McGuire, who makes over US$10,000 per month on Patreon for her short stories, which she then releases in other ways through licensing. However, she is an outlier so don’t expect to start on a subscription platform with no audience and make money straight away. As ever, you need to bring your readers along with you and grow your audience over time.
Questions:
- Is self-publishing the right choice for your story?
- What formats do you want to explore? Ebook, audio, and/or print
- Have you labelled your story clearly as a short, so the reader knows what they are getting?
- How will you price your story, and how could you use bundling or a collection later?
- Which story could you give away free to introduce readers to your work or grow your newsletter mailing list?
- Could a subscription model work well for you if you have a big enough platform or backlist?
Resources:
- Successful Self-Publishing: How to Self-Publish and Market Your Book, Fourth Edition — Joanna Penn
- Taking the Short Tack: Creating Income & Connecting with Readers Using Short Fiction (Second Edition) — Matty Dalrymple with Mark Leslie Lefebvre
- Canva for ebook cover design and upscaling AI images: Canva.com
- Vellum for ebook formatting: www.TheCreativePenn.com/vellum
- Atticus for ebook formatting: www.TheCreativePenn.com/atticus
- Patreon short stories by Seanan McGuire: www.patreon.com/seananmcguire
- Kickstarter The Buried and the Drowned campaign: kickstarter.com/projects/thecreativepenn/the-buried-and-the-drowned
