Would this be silly?

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rekirts

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After reading all this stuff about lulu.com and diggory, I started thinking maybe I could do some revisions and put together some of my homeless short stories in a book. However when I added up the word count, the 4 stories I had in mind came to just over 10,000 words althogether. These stories are all ghost stories. I do have other short stories that aren't ghost stories that I could add if 10,000 words is too short to bother with, but that means there won't really be a theme.

Is a 10,000 word book silly? Should I just pick the stories I particularly like no matter what the theme and have a longer book?
 

Fahim

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If you are considering self-publishing, then I guess the size of the book really should not matter since if it is good, people are bound to buy it anyway. Plus it probably will be much cheaper than a bigger book :) However, I can't remember if it was Lulu or Diggory (or maybe both) had some sort of a limitation about a book being at least 48 pages and if not, it would have enough blank pages put in to make it 48 pages. A 10,000 word book would come to about 40 pages and so you might want to consider the 48 page barrier aspect (if there is one - I might be wrong since I'm going by memory :p) as well ...
 

rekirts

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Thanks for your suggestions.

I like the idea of having a few illustrations, although I think I still need more written material. I've taken some art classes so I might be able to do my own illustrations.

I don't know where I could get a chapbook done without it costing me money, and there would be no distribution except my own efforts. Might be better to just come up with another few stories or expand on the ones I have and go with a short book.
 

veinglory

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I meant something like an actual chapbook publisher and a distributor like projectpulp. Small press pubs can sell reasonably well and the buyer will know what they are getting re: length.

A Lulu customer is likely to assume they are getting at least novella length and so be disppointed by receiving a shorter work.
 

rekirts

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veinglory said:
I meant something like an actual chapbook publisher and a distributor like projectpulp. Small press pubs can sell reasonably well and the buyer will know what they are getting re: length.

Well yes, but first they have to accept your work, which is not a given. I checked out projectpulp and they are not accepting materials for chapbooks or anthologies right now anyway. They want novella and novel length works. They also publish a magazine that looks interesting, but most of my stories are not eligible because they have appeared online before. Something to keep in mind for new works though.
 

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If you did a few more stories and also a bit of artwork then you would probably have enough material for a book. If you want a book then you need to be willing to put in the time to create it. In addition, you'll need to have a marketing plan and know how you're going to execute that plan.

Hope this helps.
 

Lauri B

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rekirts said:
After reading all this stuff about lulu.com and diggory, I started thinking maybe I could do some revisions and put together some of my homeless short stories in a book. However when I added up the word count, the 4 stories I had in mind came to just over 10,000 words althogether. These stories are all ghost stories. I do have other short stories that aren't ghost stories that I could add if 10,000 words is too short to bother with, but that means there won't really be a theme.

Is a 10,000 word book silly? Should I just pick the stories I particularly like no matter what the theme and have a longer book?

Before you go to the effort and expense of paying to publish your stories, have you considered whether or not you have an audience? Are these stories terrific? Have you tried to submit them on an individual basis to publications that review short stories? Don't just jump into a book project before you've gone through the simple steps of seeing who might be interested in buying them. If what you're after is a bound copy of your stories, go to a copy shop and have one or two copies bound. If they are terrific stories, submit them; you'll have publishing credits, get experience and some recognition, and eventually this could lead to a real publishing contract. What you don't want to end up with is a couple of hundred very, very small books sitting in your garage that you paid for.
 

rekirts

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I already have publishing credits. I just haven't found a market for these particular stories. I don't intend to pay anybody anything. That's the beauty of lulu. Nothing to lose. The stories can sit on my hard drive where no one will ever see them or they can sit in a book on lulu.com and amazon.com and maybe one or two people will see them. :)
 

Lauri B

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It sounds like you've already made up your mind, so good luck! Keep us posted on how it goes.
 

rekirts

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Well, yes. I've made up my mind that if I'm going to do it, I need to write a few more stories--which means it's going to take awhile. I'll certainly let everyone know if and when it comes together.
 
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