Tips for Short Story Collections from Florida Writers
- Sarasota Fiction Writers
- May 1
- 2 min read
Tips for Story Collections from 2 Published Authors
By Mark Mathes
Speakers Tara Lynn Masih and Kim Bradley at Florida Writers Association, Orlando. Oct. 20-22, 2023
Tara Lynn Masih’s collections show different voices, rather than a single voice throughout the collection. She has 9+ stories with links of characters tied to Florida or LA.
Developing voice is critical for your collection.
Academic and university presses don’t want to see your entire story collection. Collections that are free online: there is no incentive for buyers.
Chap books are growing. These can be a short book, ranging from stapled to a perfect binding.
Tara’s book is 142 pages with nine stories about a disappearance. How much do you want to tell your readers about your character? So she writes a short bio.
Question: will a longer story be out of place in a collection where the reader expects short stories?
When you’re editing, you are revising the individual story and also how the collection fits and works.
Openings are always important.
End your story well. And with hope. Maybe not a happy e4nding, but a satisfactory ending.
Your number two story in a collection should be strong enough to pull along the reader.
When revising, read out loud in your own voice.
Tara Lynn: marketing a short story collection is one of the hardest genres to sell.
Small presses can sell from 100 to 1500 copies. You have to work really hard to sell 1500.Â
She is active on Goodreads. Reviews are the only way to get attention for short story collections. Reviews are drying up.
Have a launch party at an independent bookstore. Barnes & Noble does signings but not readings.
Kim uses Instagram and book clubs.
**
A couple FYI tips I’ve gathered:
Short-story master Claire Keegan's new book So Late in the Day changes the way we read and publish short story fiction. LA Times.
7 science fiction or fantasy short stories featuring lyrical writing and stunning imagery. Tor Publishing.
An excerpt of Stephen King’s Cujo sequel in You Like It Darker, his new short story collection. The author's new collection of short stories, You Like It Darker, was published by Scribner on May 21, 2024. The book features 12 tales from the Carrie author, many never-before-published. Included in the new stories is Rattlesnakes, a sequel to King's 1981 novel Cujo, in which a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance — with major strings attached. EW.

mark mathes
985-415-6367
PO Box 1053
Sarasota, FL 34230
My publishing career of 5 decades. LinkedIn. Connect there?
Over 80 published books since 2015. Many as editor at regional independent Pelican Publishing in my hometown New Orleans.Â
My website:Â writing, editing, publishing website with tips, trends, Florida author news
Interview I did about publishing trends with author/podcaster Richard Bonte, one of my clients.
President of Sarasota Fiction Writers. I'll send you my most recent newsletter.
