In general: Why is it wordpress f$#@s up your entire lay-out every time you fix one tiny error?

There was a short story collection a few years ago, all about the belief that when a person’s head is severed from the body, the brain lives for a short length of time (I think it’s 45 seconds) and all the stories used that but I can’t remember who wrote it.

And I am hard pressed to think of who – beyond someone like Stephen D. Rogers – is well known just for their fiction. Stephen’s a great writer but as far as I know he doesn’t have a published collection. I think he’s had something ridiculous, like 500 works published.

I’ve read a number of agent blogs that rep mysteries–and seen several comments that they are not interested in hearing about short story publications so don’t bother to include them in a cover letter. (Some want that sort of thing, others don’t). I always thought it was strange, when they don’t want them listed, especially if it is the only credit, but you are right. I had not noticed that anthologies by mystery authors are in short supply. Agents probably are looking at it more as what they can sell–if they can’t sell shorts, they aren’t as interested in them as a credit/listing on a resume.

@Ms Seamans–I think you are right. There are very few “fun” mysteries or locked box or that type online (which is a major reason I don’t read much online mystery anymore). I can find the occasional such story in the two print magazines (Ellery and Alfred) although the last issue I read (a year ago or so) was so dark that it did not entice me to buy again. Yes, to be published, you have to write what pubs are buying–in my case that meant I switched to writing fantasy where the onlines have a much, much wider breadth. They also tend to pay a bit more. Of course, I have noticed that if you look at the whole picture of fantasy/sci/fi–there are more horror/dark magazines than any other category. This holds true for calls for anthologies–the vast majority have a dark or horror theme.

I don’t have to have cozy all the time, but there is such a thing as over-saturation, certainly for this reader.

@SandraR – I guess I’ve read more crimes of omissions than you! Especially in the last year or so. Revenge crimes seem to be another ongoing theme so for me that one was particularly startling. Don’t make your writing darker. :>)

And again, I agree–I think the picks here are a good reflection of what is online in the mystery world. You guys did an enormous amount of work–and I can safely say that there is no way I would have done it.

Thanks.

It’s almost like the short form is viewed as a stepping stone to something larger (an agent, a book deal, novel publication) rather then somewhere where a home can be built.

A few years ago Val McDermid did a short story collection and she published it under VL McDermid so that the lower sales wouldn’t affect store orderings for her next series novel – and that’s an author who’s a multi-million selling author with a tv series based on her characters.

I think the primary purpose of short crime fiction is for the writer, to flex their muscles, literary cross-training because short fiction forces you to work on different aspects of your writing.

And, if asked to think about someone who’s made an impressive mark that’s come up just in the past ten years, I suppose Allan Guthrie and Duane Swierczynski would be the first that come to mind. We had lunch with Duane a few weeks ago and he’s insanely busy – so busy most people have no idea about half of what he’s working on. His career is exploding, and in a good way, but he’s diversified his output through comics and script writing as well.

Al is one of those annoying people who seems incapable of writing a bad book, just to make the rest of us feel a bit better.

And to everyone else, congratulations. All nominations are much deserved.

And to address Maria’s question. There are so few zines that publish cozies that in order to get published on line you find yourself writing darker and darker stories. I love writing humorous mysteries but there are only two or three online markets for them. It just boils down to one simple thing, providing what the market wants.

One of the questions I’ve been grappling with lately (and more directly in the upcoming series) is the simple question of ‘what is the purpose of short mystery/crime fiction?’

It’s not like in SF/F where the young bucks put out a collection before they even have a novel. Where some of the best fiction is in the short form. It’s been my experience that, for the most part, it’s the big names that only get collections (Lehane, Lippman). Though there are/can be exceptions.

And to be clear I’m not saying that mystery/crime short fiction isn’t good, because it can be, just that, when taken as a whole, it often feels directionless to me.

I’ve been told my books aren’t dark enough. (shrug)

The short story category is a challenging one for us. It’s important, because we do need more filters for quality work published online, so we’ve limited the category to stories originally published online. There was an open invitation to any ezine within the genre to have their editor put forward three stories that they felt should be considered for the awards. That post was made on Crime Zine Report and Short Mystery Fiction Society, and picked up by The Rap Sheet, so we cast as wide a net as was possible. We didn’t stop there with our reading, as some of the publications that did publish a nominee didn’t submit editorial picks for consideration, but only half a dozen editors did submit picks. (And not all of those publications are represented in the nominations.) Beyond that, it was up to us to wade through what we were aware of online, and that means we probably only scratched the surface. Something like 250 stories read just last month.

The transient reality of the ezine publication world is another challenge. All too often ezines spring up and disappear virtually overnight. For that reason, we looked at places still active, or that had a minimum of two issues produced last year… or at least 8 or 9 stories.

Anyway, it’s much like any awards. If your publisher doesn’t send your book in for the Edgar, you won’t get considered. We went way beyond that, but content-wise She Watches Him Swim was probably the least graphic/shocking story I read. That alone wasn’t what made it stand out to me. What made it stand out was that it wasn’t about a crime of action, but lack of action, and that with that decision the woman’s behavior is how she sees the man’s – working without a plan and just coasting with the current opportunity. It’s an interesting twist and it shows – without being graphic or shocking – how you can push the boundaries of the genre.