Consider The Humble Short Story As A Way To Increase Your Number Of Fans

We are living in a world of entertainment bites. When we are bored on the commute to work, waiting at the doctor’s surgery or stuck in rush hour we want something that passes the time and resolves itself quickly. We are addicted to fast pace storytelling and like a drug, once addicted we keep coming back for more in larger quantities. If you can tap into this addiction and become an entertainment bite ‘pimp’, you can quickly and easily build up a fan club for your work. Readers get a sense of your writing style, your characterisation, or your expertise from these little snippets of entertainment. Put in links to your full length e-book at the end and suddenly you are getting more downloads and readers. When I talk about entertainment bites I am of course talking about short stories.

If you have never thought of short stories as a marketing and connective tool think again. Publishing giant HarperCollins has already jumped in there with both feet, branching out into short stories as a way to tap a large part of the population who does not have the time or the interest to read a full length novel. Several short stories by authors such as Tobsha Learner, are already available through Amazon and Kobo retailing for a cheap but profitable $1.47. Self-published authors need to take part in this emerging trend where current technology such as iPhone’s play a significant part in our readers lives. In this arena we have the advantage; we do not have the overhead costs that HarperCollins has to cover. We can sell our short stories for anywhere from 20 to 50cents or give them away for free, and draw the readers into our world.

Short stories can be anywhere from 500-2500 words in length. They generally leave an unanswered question or a curiosity at the end. Within the piece you must be able to swiftly sketch the situation and come to the point. There are fewer complexities then in a novel and the story focuses on one situation or scene, or for non-fiction it focuses one section of theory or opinion. By having your short stories link to the world of your e-book, exploring extra bits of information that were not included in your novel, you can use these pieces as a promotion of your e-book by creating interest and anticipation around your larger work. It is also a great opportunity to explore characters who only feature in a minor way in your e-book. It gives the reader a little thrill of discovery, another piece of the puzzle.

If you only have one e-book and not a series, free short stories can be just as effective in boosting your sales as giving away the first book in a series for free. If you can entertain, move or engage your reader with a shorter, cheaper work, you will connect with your readership on a level that many writers do no manage. You reach a larger portion of the population and can hopefully convert them to join those of us who reader longer works for pleasure.

TOMORROW: The Media Machine: how participating in online forums and communities can increase the number of readers for your e-book tenfold.

SUCCESS?? Have you started to apply the tips in this blog yet? If you have had success, I would love to hear about it! Please feel free to tell us in the comments section below.