Questions about publishing short fiction online
A few months ago, I was at a retirement party for a newspaper editor and the subject of publishing material online for free came up. “Who ever thought it was a good idea to give away your main product for free?” asked one veteran journalist. “I remember when I was at Time and we looked at it. One of the smartest people I know said, ‘If you start giving it away, no one’s going to pay for it.’”
That comment has been echoing in my head a lot lately. At Readercon, a veteran editor told me, “Even with PayPal, I think it’s going to get harder and harder to get anyone to pay for anything online. There’s just too much out there for free.”
On August 3, John Scalzi posted in his blog (http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=1231) that his story “After the Coup” published at www.tor.com has already gotten 49,566 hits, which is close to the combined circulations for Asimov’s, Analog, and F&SF. When I pointed out that he was comparing the number of paying customers with the number of people who took a freebie, he replied, ‘Well, on my end, I’m comparing eyeballs to eyeballs.’”
Here at F&SF, we’re open to experimentation and for the past year or so, we’ve been publishing one reprint a month on our Website. Last month, the free story was “The Political Officer” by Charles Coleman Finlay. A few days ago, someone posted on our message board (http://nightshadebooks.com/discus/messages/378/12233.html?1219150161) that he wanted to read that story. I explained that it was no longer on our Website but he could buy a copy of that back issue from us or from Fictionwise.
As I did so, I realized that I was putting a reader in a position where he had to decide if he would pay for something he could have had for free just a few days earlier . . . which doesn’t strike me as a good position. I know that I don’t like being asked to make such a choice.
So I started to wonder: has short fiction been devalued by the fact that so many places offer it for free online nowadays?
I was thinking of this question in terms of contrast with trilogies. The format of a trilogy has been around for a long time, but I think it’s accurate to say that in the 1970s and ‘80s, book publishers (especially the team of Lester and Judy-Lynn del Rey) trained readers to expect fantasy fiction to come in series formats, particularly in sets of three. For instance, Stephen Donaldson’s original Chronicles of Thomas Covenant were one book—the del Reys split it into three volumes and published the trilogy to great success. Nowadays, it’s noteworthy when someone published a fantasy novel and nothing indicates that the book is the start of a series.
I look at trilogies and the form appears to me to be thriving. But I don’t see many publishers giving away the books for free. By contrast, I see publishers posting short fiction for free in many places, but I don’t see many of those publishers reaping rewards for their efforts. I think short fiction giveaways have been good for individual authors, but are they working for publishers?
Also, I realized that I’ve done something extremely stupid. I’ve run an experiment without trying to measure the results. Sure, we’ve looked at the number of hits our online stories and columns get, and we’ve done one or two other things to measure the effects of our online publications, but we’ve never done a survey.
So I’m posting now to ask for feedback on a few things:
- When you read a story online that you like, do you feel inclined to support the publisher of the piece?
- Have you ever subscribed to a print magazine on account of a story you read on their site?
- Most magazine publishers post their Hugo- and Nebula-nominated stories online for free. If F&SF started charging the cost of an issue to read these stories, would you do so?
- Do you think the prevalence of free short fiction online has made you less inclined to pay for short fiction?
Please note that I’m trying to keep the discussion just to fiction (not articles).
If you would care to do so, I’d be grateful if you’d include your age with your post. No need to get specific—I just want to know if you’re in your teens or if you’re in your eighties.
And finally, please be aware that I plan to convert this post into an editorial for the print magazine, so don’t post anything here that you wouldn’t want me to reprint. If you’d like to comment but don’t want to do so in public, you can use the Contact Us form on our Website (here: http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/contact.htm). Write “DNQ” on your email if you don’t want to be quoted.
Thanks for your feedback.
—GVG
Free Fiction: Footnotes by Charles Coleman Finlay
"Footnotes" by Charles Coleman Finlay originally appeared in our August 2001 issue. It’s currently available on Finlay’s website.
Free Fiction: Dale Bailey (x3)
The following stories by Dale Baliey originally appeared in the pages of F&SF. Now they’re all available online:
"Heat," Sep. 2000 [link]
"The Rain at the End of the World," Jul. 1999 [link]
"Night of the Fireflies," Jan. 1998 [link]
Free Fiction: James Patrick Kelly (x2)
"Serpent" by James Patrick Kelly originally appeared in our May 2004 issue. Kelly has since adapted it to audio as part of his "Free Reads" podcast. [link]
Another story of Kelly’s, "The Pyramid of Amirah," appeared in our March 2002 issue. That one is also now available via Free Reads. [link]
Free Fiction: Eating Hearts by Yoon Ha Lee
“Eating Hearts” by Yoon Ha Lee originally appeared in our June 2005 issue. Podcastle recently adapted it to audio, which you can listen to on their podcast [mp3].
Free Fiction: The Rainmaker by Mary Rosenblum
"The Rainmaker" by Mary Rosenblum originally appeared in our Oct/Nov 1998 issue. StarShipSofa recently adapted it to audio, which you can listen to on their podcast [mp3].
Free Fiction Friday: Gwyneth Jones
Gwyneth Jones, born in Manchester, 14th February 1952, writer. She’s the author of more than twenty novels for teenagers, mostly using the name Ann Halam, and several highly regarded SF novels for adults. She’s won two World Fantasy awards, the Arthur C. Clarke award, the British Science Fiction Association short story award, the Dracula Society’s Children of the Night award, the P.K.Dick award, and shared the first Tiptree award, in 1992, with Eleanor Arnason. She lives in Brighton, UK, with her husband and son; a Tonkinese cat called Ginger and her young friend Milo. She’s done some extreme tourism in her time, still likes traveling but has given up on air transport. Likes going to the movies & playing with her websites. She’s a member of the Soil Association, the Sussex Wildlife Trust; and an Amnesty International volunteer. [via]
Jones has several pieces of free fiction on her website, including "The Tomb Wife," which appeared in our August 2007 issue.
Free Fiction Friday: Lucius Shepard
Lucius Shepard is the award-winning author of innumerable classics, many of which have appeared in the pages of F&SF such as “The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule” and “The Jaguar Hunter” (which you can read online at Infinity Plus). And, of course, he’s currently up for the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and Locus Award for best novella, for his F&SF story, “Stars Seen Through Stone.”
Free Fiction Friday: Peter S. Beagle
Peter S. Beagle is the author of many novels and stories, including the beloved classic The Last Unicorn. In 2005, F&SF published Beagle’s Nebula Award-winning sequel to The Last Unicorn, the novelet "Two Hearts." You can read that story here. But Beagle’s history with F&SF begins way back in 1966 when we published his story "Come Lady Death" (which originally appeared in The Atlantic Monthly). That story was recently adapted into a podcast on the new fantasy-focused Escape Pod spin-off PodCastle. You can listen to the whole story here.
Free Fiction Friday: Daryl Gregory
Yes, I know it’s Sunday, but I forgot to post this on Friday, and Free Fiction Sunday ruins the alliteration.
Daryl Gregory is the author of about a dozen stories, which have appeared in F&SF, Asimov’s, and elsewhere. His first novel, Pandemonium, will be published by Del Rey Books this Fall.
Daryl’s website, darylgregory.com, features a number of pieces of free fiction, including several F&SF stories, such as his first pro sale, "In the Wheels," "The Continuing Adventures of Rocket Boy," and "Free, and Clear."
