Story series problem

[Private_Peterson]

So I'm writing a series of stories. Currently the first story is about 30k words. And I heard its like 50k words just to make it into "novel" status. But I also have 2 other stories in the series. They are fine by themselves storyline wise and I believe I have good hooks to them. The problem:

None of them hover above 50k words so they would all be "short story" status. I could combine them all into one story and make the word count a little over 90k words. Plus if i do this for the rest of the future stories in the series it would shorten it from about 15+ stories to only about 7 (As you can see this would be a lot less stories to have to gather if published).

But if I combine the stories I think I will lose the good endings. I found in the harry potter and cirque du freak series, a part of me wanted to read it more because of the endings.

So should I do 7 long stories, with a good ending at the end. Or multiple short stories with a small ending each that makes the reader wanna go out and find the next one?

(Sorry if this sounds like a amateur question. Just don't know what to do)

[Cybernaught]

Sounds like these would fit well into a short story-cycle genre. If each story can stand well on their own, but still add significance to the work at large, I see no reason why you have to combine them.

For good examples of short story-cycles that follow a similiar format as yours, try Tim O'Brian's The Things They Carried, James Joyce's Dubliners, Murakami's After the Quake, and Calvino's Invisible Cities.

[Terie]

Sounds like these would fit well into a short story-cycle genre. If each story can stand well on their own, but still add significance to the work at large, I see no reason why you have to combine them.

For good examples of short story-cycles that follow a similiar format as yours, try Tim O'Brian's The Things They Carried, James Joyce's Dubliners, Murakami's After the Quake, and Calvino's Invisible Cities.

The only real problem here is that collections are notoriously hard to sell right now, even for big-name authors. It's even harder for a first-timer to sell one.

There's a market for novella length e-books. You might try submitting to some of the reputable e-book publishers. Check the Bewares and Background Checks forum before you submit to make sure you're subbing to the reputable ones.

Don't just add words to bring a story up to novel length (which, incidentally, is more like 70K, not 50K, for the adult market). If you want to go for novel length, you have to add more story, such as sub-plots. Just adding fluff to up the word count weakens the work and makes it unsaleable.

BTW, if you're writing for the children's or YA markets, under 50K isn't anything to worry about.

[Stijn Hommes]

There are plenty of markets that take works under 50,000 words, but they are definitely not novels. Check Duotrope.com and see what turns up.

If you want to get this to the reader and the this particular route doesn't work out, you have to choose whether you want to sell it to a publisher (which would mean making it into one novel) or sell it yourself, in which case you can go whatever way you please.

The second option is significantly harder and it's harder to separate the real experts from the scammers who run around in those circles. I'd recommend this only if you know what you're doing and only after agent hunting fails.

[Bufty]

Be careful about going overboard with pushing any 'message' element in your stories. Concentrate upon the story aspect. I gather this is the first one, so I wish you luck with it.

[Linda Adams]

Why not consider expanding the stories to the proper length? Which, by the way, is likely to be higher than the number you named. Depending on the genre, it could be 90K-100K. However, there are a few genres--romance is one, I believe--that take 50K. You'll need to do research to confirm it's appropriate for your genre. Don't assume one size fits all.

Expanding can be done with some work. I tend to come in around 50-55K myself and then have to expand the book. I'm finishing one that started out as 55K, expanded to 80K, and I'm going for 95K. Adding more story is one way of expansion. Also examining your subplots and making sure they are properly developed. I also have to check scenes to make sure I developed them properly. If I write a chapter under 10 pages, I'm very likely to have underdeveloped scenes. Writing a very quick outline of the major story goal in the chapter helps me spot problems that, when corrected, lead to expansion. That's how I'm bringing up the 80K to 95K.

If you do expand, though, it will likely be very difficult. It's a structural issue, and those just simply aren't simple to fix.

[Jamesaritchie]

Anything over 30K in most genres, and anything over 40K in SF, is technically a novel, and depending on genre, some very good and highly successful novels have been published in the 35-45K range. The Bridges of Madison County, and The Notebook, to name two.

What you've written are stories far, far out of the short story zone. You've passed novelettes and novellas, and you're into novels. The problems is that novels of this length simply do not work for most publishers in most genres. They're also too long for collections.

Your best best is to either combine them ionto one or two novels, or lengthen each into a long enough novel to sell.

Length is always a choice. Any story that really is a story, that has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and isn't just told for a gimmick or "surprise" ending, can be told at any length of your choosing. I've told, and sold, the same short story at 3,000, 1,500, 1,200, and 750 words. I've also told, and sold, the same story as a 7,500 short, and as a 62,500 word novel.

As the writer, you decide how many obstacles there are to overcome, you decide how many characters are in a story, how much actual story there is, etc.

The stories you've written are the length they are because you wrote them at that length, not because they have to be that length.

[RJK]

I don't think we can advise you without knowing a little more. What genre are you writing? Is the same character or group of characters involved in every plot? Who are your antagonists?
I could see intertwining two plots in a crime suspense novel, or possibly a mystery (that could get really convoluted), possibly even an adventure, or thriller, but there are other genres where I'd have trouble combining two plots.

[Private_Peterson]

I don't think we can advise you without knowing a little more. What genre are you writing? Is the same character or group of characters involved in every plot? Who are your antagonists?
I could see intertwining two plots in a crime suspense novel, or possibly a mystery (that could get really convoluted), possibly even an adventure, or thriller, but there are other genres where I'd have trouble combining two plots.

Well I have it listed under horror. But its much more of a science fiction/dark fantasy than a horror per say. Basically its the same character in all of them and kind of the reason I think I'm having trouble on the decision to combine them all is each of the three stories is like a different time period in his life. The first one is highschool, second prison, third the world as a whole thats being destroyed and the fourth is after the first "invasion"

So i feel if i combine them it may put the reader through too much at once?

Thanks for the people who already posted. I'm interested in making it novel length. And I know i can expand all of them because i tend to write without much detail in my stories. So if i go back and just add alot of detail that i neglected i might be able to easily double the length of the story.

So I don't know. I might try to combine them all but keep them seperate as origionals and see how it goes. Kind of like trial and error.