querying for a short story collection

flowerburgers

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Hi guys,

I'm compiling a short story collection for my M.A. thesis, and I'm wondering if I have any hopes of selling this? I'm not interested in self-publishing. Five of the stories have been published or are slated for publication, two in national magazines, and I'm sending out others...but I don't know how much that will even help. I've heard that short story collections are difficult to sell, but a number of my favorite authors--Junot Diaz and Lorrie Moore most notably--started their careers with short story collections, so I know it's not impossible. I write literary fiction. Many of the stories feature the same cast of characters, and the others are thematically and tonally similar. So far, I have about 130 pages that I feel good about, and I'm aiming to get the collection to around 220 pages, since that seems standard for length.

Thanks for reading! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this.
 

Old Hack

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If you have a strong publication history, and a few good prizes under your belt, you might find an agent willing to represent you. But it's unlikely, as short story collections are so hard to sell.

It's not impossible, but it is difficult.
 

WeaselFire

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Didn't Diaz actually start with short stories published in anthologies or as pieces in magazines? Lorrie Moore, who is actually a fun lady but I never liked her writing (good writing, just not what I read...), won a few prestigious awards before she even enrolled in a MFA program. Her thesis stories, at least some of them, were published after her agent, recommended by Lorrie's professor, pushed pretty hard to get them sold.

If you have a similar background, and can find an agent, go for it. Though anthologies are really hard for agents to sell, there's no real market for them without a name author included.

Jeff
 

AcaciaNeem

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You have two things going for you--you've got good publication credits (and are on your way to getting more), and have a collection where "Many of the stories feature the same cast of characters, and the others are thematically and tonally similar."

Here are some agents who do accept short story collections.
 

WriterBN

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I've heard that short story collections are difficult to sell, but a number of my favorite authors--Junot Diaz and Lorrie Moore most notably--started their careers with short story collections, so I know it's not impossible.

If you can snag the agent who represented Jhumpa Lahiri's first collection (Interpreter of Maladies), you could be on your way to a Pulitzer :)

The market has changed a lot since then, however. I considered finding an agent for my first collection but decided to self-publish instead, and I'm very glad I did.
 

redrobin62

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I probably should also query for my horror story collection, but I suffer from PTSD? The problem? I have no patience with the exorbitant wait times one gets from publishers, agents, etc. I wish i could just easily sit back and say, "Okay, six months or a year from now, I'll get a response." Suffering with PTSD you always feel like today will be your last day so, yeah, time is very much of the essence.