Viva La Novella!

Blog, blog, blog, blog. It's time to abandon the LJ blog, methinks. RIP. And Facebook? Sorry, I actually *like* compartmentalizing my life. Give me Google+. The purpose of this blog is primarily for my ruminations on writing, reading, editing, and publishing. I claim no expert knowledge outside of having a few short stories published, having edited a few anthologies, and being recognized here and there with an award or an honorable mention.

I'll start with this: What to do with that bastard child of the fiction form, the novella? Now, I've written my share of short stories and found some success publishing them. I have a couple of novels that my agent is shopping around and I'm confident that, in time, they'll find homes.

But these pesky novellas, caught between the ADHD-enhanced web format (so amenable to short, short stories) and the "must earn return on investment" print format (killing trees costs money, so you'd better kill enough to make it worth it in the eyes of the consumer), just can't seem to find a home.

So I made one. I'll be publishing my novellas at smashwords until some lucky production company buys the movie rights to any or all of them. For example, I've already posted my novella Archangel Morpheus. I love the ability to give readers a significant percentage of the novella as a sample (in this case 30%) and the option to offer the book as a free gift (reviewers, contact me if you're interested).

I've found a bit of a stride with the novella form, lately, as well as some related longer short stories, some of which I may offer for free at smashwords. Expect to see more in the not-too-distant future. And, Viva La Novella!
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Addendum:

This morning I heard this interview with author Richard Russo in which he unveils that he copied my idea is also one who publishes his novellas (well, at least a novella) in e-book format because not many publishers out there are publishing hard-copy novellas. He also bows to my superior arguments reflects my views that the novella is an under-rated form that could have much greater market appeal. My e-novellas can be found here, here, here, and here. Enjoy!

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