“Horizon” by Damien G. Walter is a standout of the issue, a dark science fiction tale of space travel and settling new lands. The worst of human nature can’t be escaped in the far future, like a planet can be. Though whether the worst humanity has to offer is the rebel streak of a man who wakes from his regeneration and defies the procedure, or is in the method of civilizing an alien planet, is a decision left up to individual readers.

I’m more optimistic than Van Pelt however. There have been bestselling single author short fiction collections. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman leaps to mind. I’m sure Burning Chrome and The State of the Art have both sold well for William Gibson and Iain M Banks over the years. And then there are ‘fix-up’ novels like David Mitchell’s Ghostwritten that pass off short stories as a novel. And new authors do also get in on the act with Joe Hill and Margo Lanagan both reaching wide audiences with collections.

But I’m not going to disagree with the obvious fact that the vast, vast majority of collections are lucky to sell a few hundred copies. Thats not to say that sales are the only measure of success, some of those collections contain great stories that deserve to be rpeserved, but in commercial terms short story collections are pretty much guranteed to fall flat.

So if fame and fortune are not the reason to publish a collection, what is? Truth be told, I’m happy to see authors publish a collection whenever they like if they find it rewarding, but in terms of building a career as a writer, the best reasons to publish a collection is because you have a collection of stories that is truly great.

A great short story collection is a rarity. It takes at least some inate talent and years of dedication to learn the craft of short story writing, and most writers with both talent and dedication move into novel writing at the first opportunity. And great short stories take a great deal of time to create, so that a great collection can easily represent many more years of work than the wordcount would suggest. But when they do appear, great collections can truly galvanise the writing community. In recet years Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link and City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer have made their authors central figures in the speculative fiction community, despite managing only limited sales. Most casual readers will be largely unaware of them, but for for aspiring and established writers, editors and agents, critics and publishers in the field they are almost compulsory reading, representing the best that genre fiction has to offer.

Short stories are where writers talk to each other. Before publishing a short story collection its worth considering whilst only a few people may see it, those people will be other writers and they will look at it with both great sympathy and a razor sharp critical awareness. They will see every flaw and every shortcut, and every missed opportunity. But they will also grasp the nuances that the casual reader will never appreciate. If you are going to have any impact on them, you’re going to need to be not just competent or even good, but great. That might sound like a terribly high hurdle to cross, but think of it the other way. ALL you need to do is write great stories. You don’t need to fight for a publisher, or scramble after an agent. If you make great writing, those things will happen in their own time. And if you write great stories, then thats the best reason to collect them all together and let people see them.

Luckily for fans of the short form, a new site, The Fix, has arrived on the scene. Andy Cox, of TTA Press, publisher of Interzone and Black Static, and Eugie Foster have created a site that is visually pleasing and intellectually stimulating. The size of their staff of columnists and reviewers is impressive. I counted over fifty; most are themselves working or aspiring writers. Of course, the skill and style of the reviewers vary; for the most part they give plot summaries and in some cases offer a critical, or at least a personal, reaction to the story. The intent would seem not so much to pass judgment as to describe stories that a reader might want to look for. The columns are quite astute—I can particularly recommend James Van Pelt’s The Day Job and Scott Danielson’s Audiobook Fix. The Fix is one of the most promising new sites of 2007.

Read the whole article

…well done Eugie and Andy. I read The Fix daily and really enjoy writing my own reviews for it, so its great to see it getting more of the attention it deserves.

Read more on The Fix

I wrote my first professional blog post last week for Guardian Unlimited. Following the tremendous response to Sam Jordison’s look at the Hugo Award’s, I pitched a few ideas for science fiction and fantasy blog posts to the Guardian eds and they said yes. It was very exciting to go ‘above the line’ on a blog I’ve read for some time, not least because it actually pays! I’m looking forward to pitching a few more ideas over the next couple of months but have to be careful not to let the cheap thrill of reaching hundreds if not thousands of readers distract me from my career as an unknown fiction writer. You can see the problem.

Also in the world of non-fiction I’m continuing my reviewing for The Fix. I’ve recently posted a review of Farrago’s Wainscot and will be reviewing one of the ‘Big 3′ genre magainzines for the next few months – Fantasy  & Science Fiction. F&SF is my favourite of the big three (the other two being Asimov’s and Analogue) but its been interesting comparing it to the small press and online publications that I have reveiwed or read recently,  I think this might be an interesting angle to take in the review.

I have been a little undisciplined with the writing in the last two months. Foreign and domestic holidays followed by  a slew of freelance work meant I’ve had to put the novel on hold until February, although I start back in earnest in February once the Writing Industries Conference is out of the way. I have been working on a number of short stories instead so the time hasn’t been wasted. The first to be finished will be ‘The Great Western Pile’ which is a steam-punk, hard SF spy story. i’ve had great fun writing it and with luck will finish it over the weekend.

Following my ‘Week of Rejection’ between X-Mas and New Year I got right back in the saddle and got everything back out on the market. ‘Rings’ AKA ‘My Zombie Lovesick Boy Band’ is at Weird Tales, ‘Meat’ is with Strange Horizons, ‘Circes’ and ‘Momentum’ are both with audio podcasts (The Drabblecast and Escape Pod respectively) and ‘Horizon’ came back from Ideomancer with another rejection. ‘Horizon’ is my problem child at the moment, but I have faith it will find a good home eventually.

Back to ‘Great Western Pile’ anyway. If I get the first draft done over the weekend I’ll post an extract to the blog.

The Fix is nominated for the Critters.org awards in the category of best review site. It certainly gets my vote, although I did almost succumb to the last minute temptation to throw my support behind Erotic Escapdes. Voting is open to all at the address below.

http://www.critters.org/predpoll/reviewsite.shtml

Everyone’s favorite home for off the beaten track speculative fiction Electric Velocipede has two qualifying issues for both this year’s Hugo and Nebula awards, the highest honours of the speculative fiction field. These include the obviously amazing Issue #13 featuring my short story ‘Momentum’. Nominations for the Nebula awards are open to all members of the Science Fiction Writer’s of America, whilst the Hugo’s are open to any registered attendee of the ’07 or ’08 World Science Fiction conventions. If you qualify for either be sure to cast your vote before the relevant deadlines!

I will come back to ‘Spook Country’ when time allows. I am so busy with work, new freelance projects and my own writing at the moment that my reading has fallen behind, at least of books.

I have however found a new taste for short fiction in recent months. This began with a spate of excellent stories read in online magazines including Serendipity, Strange Horizons and Clarkesworld among others. I really believe e-publishing has come into its own in the last few years. E-books may still be emerging but for short fiction online outlets are now as strong if not stronger than their cousins in print. I’ve also been thrown into new realms of reading through The Fix. Their reviews are so good they have lead me to take out subscriptions for at least one more publication in addition to the four I already get.

Another revelation in the last few weeks have been audiobook’s. Realising I had less and less ‘quality time’ for full novels I decided to try out audiobooks as a way of squeezing reading into times and places it might not otherwise fit. I’ve become instantly converted, and currently have stories by Garth Nix, George R R Martin and Ursula K LeGuin loaded on to my Ipod. I think audio will become an increasingly vibrant area iver the next few years as its so well adapted for the internet and peoples bust, commuting lifestyles.

I am determined to get bakc to reading entire books though. I have a wonderful holiday to Egypt booked December, so between excursions to The Valley of the Kings I intend to get in some good quality reading time. The only problem is what to take with me. How about you well read lot help me out with some suggestions?