There's an old saying that figures don't lie, but liars do figure. However, one can also choose those figures from the data which are more favorable to the point one wishes to make. This person is usually called the expert in that field. Therefore, following in the footsteps of some of our fellow SleuthSayers bloggers in their blog articles which contained personal statistics from their writings and/or published works, here are some of my own figures. Make of them what you will.
Note: The following come only from my short stories published and/or accepted by AHMM.
The data starts in 2001 with my first acceptance, "Once, Twice, Dead," at 3,030 words for a payment of $280, and it currently concludes in March 2024 with my 51st acceptance "Murder Alley," at 5,300 words for a payment of $480. All of this makes for a total of 258,330 words for a total payment of $21,376 for all 51 of the stories.
The majority of my short stories range from 3,530 words on the low end to 8,060 words on the high end with a per story average of about 5,065. Of course, when you are writing your own stories, please remember that every story should have just as many words as it needs to tell that story. My word count total for all my short stories sold to AHMM comes to 258,330.
Added to the above figures are monies earned from AHMM reprints:
- Great Jones Street ($500)
- The Big Book of Rogues and Villains ($250)
- Black Cat Mystery Weekly ($50)
- Japanese Mystery Magazine ($200)
51 accepted 28 rejected 64.56 % AHMM acceptance rate
$21,376 Initial Payment earned, plus $1,000 for reprint rights on AHMM stories equals $22,376 total.
My conclusion from the data is that approximately 358K words would make about three novels at about 86K words each. Assuming a $500 advance or less per novel from a small publisher, many of these don't earn out in royalties. The author frequently spends the advance money for advertising in one form or another because small publishers don't have much of a budget for PR or advertising. It's a sad state of affairs for a beginning writer. However, I do think that a novel writer gets more prestige in the writing community for having a published novel under their belt.
Since I am not a prolific writer, it would take me a long time to write those three novels from my short story statistics. Not to mention that an editor/agent/publisher would be expecting a new novel every year for me to succeed in the writing game, therefore I'm better off staying in the short story business. Right now, it's fun. If I had to write 86K publishable words a year, it just might quickly turn into work.
So, there you have my story.
See you in print.
Somewhere.
Great essay. I particularly liked your AHMM story "Whiskey Curb." What is a favorite of your stories that you've written, or two or three? I have a pending story with AHMM that I hope will get accepted. Congratulations on your success!
ReplyDeleteEd, thanks for the comments. "A Matter of Values" (AHMM), "Whiskey Curb"(AHMM), "On the Pad" (Mystery Magazine) and "Murder Alley" (AHMM) are part of my Prohibition Era series. The 2nd and 4th stories are titled after actual sites in Manhattan during Prohibition.
DeleteBest wishes on your AHMM submission.
DeleteYou make a good case, RT! I have certainly been questioning my own career as a novelist as I write book 19. Yes, I've made a living at this, but I'm not rich. It takes me a year to write a novel, and while the end result gives me great satisfaction, I do find writing short stories great fun in a way that novels are not! One of these days, 'fun' will win out, as I get older. I'm sure of it.
ReplyDeleteMel, sometimes we get lucky enough to both enjoy and have a talent for the job we do. Having read your novel involving The Merry Widows, I'd say you have a talent for inventing characters and plots for them to act in, while at the same time having fun. I'll be waiting for their next tale.
DeleteI wrote one novel as a gun for hire by Guideposts' "Murder and the Minister's Wife." It wasn't a bad experience, although I wasn't used to having (shall we say) total plot / character control. Then they asked me to write a second one. And by then they had changed administration / management / writerminders, and they wanted an outline: not just a general outline, with major plot points, but detailed explanation of how I was going to get from each step to the next. I mean, it would have been easier just to write the novel and edit it afterwards. And I said, never again and bowed out. I'll stick to short stories.
ReplyDeleteEve, I'm with you on short stories, and I hope you keep writing them for us to read.
DeleteIntriguing, R. T. And I agree with your final analysis.
ReplyDeleteI concentrated on writing (unsold) novels from about 2003 to 2010, when I sold my first one to a small publisher. I kept working on novels with only the occasional short story for several more years, but eventually figured out what you have: the novels weren't paying for themselves, especially when they took 12-14 months to produce.
I turned more to short stories.
I published my last novel in 2019, and since then I've sold nearly 50 short stories. Some have gone to well-paying markets like AHMM, and some have gone to anthologies that have earned little or nothing, but completing a story and seeing it out there is its own reward. That's fine because I don't think any of us are in this for the money. We may be crazy, but we aren't stupid, right?
You are correct, Steve, there is a certain satisfaction in seeing one of your short stories in print under your own byline. It provides a sense of personal achievement, whether it appears in a $25 anthology or an eight cents a word Alfred. Not to mention those publications that paid only in copies of that magazine issue. Getting a $2,500 payment for a short story probably faded away several years ago with Playboy Magazine, and I didn't make the cut, but I'll join you in crazy anytime.
DeleteR.T., and then there's the priceless stuff, like your Edgar! As we always say, we're not in it for the money. But it's nice to have some for all your hard work. I agree that writing short stories is both fun and less costly both financially and emotionally. We only have to sell a story once (or twice, if you find a reprint market), not over and over and over like novelists in the toils of marketing.
ReplyDeleteLiz, thanks for the comments. I always enjoyed seeing you at some of the DELL Publishing Cocktail Receptions in Manhattan during Edgar Week and discussing the short story trade. Keep on writing.
DeleteR.T., sincere congratulations on that great AHMM track record! You set a high bar for the rest of us!
ReplyDeleteJohn, I am so far behind the great Ed Hoch and his DELL Publishing track record. And, then there is our own Rob Lopresti, who if he keeps his recent pace, will soon pass me up. Plus, every so often, a quiet voice whose story I just enjoyed reading will speak up and mention how many they have had published by AHMM. Getting started seems to be the hardest part, but after that, you do acquire some interesting anecdotes to tell in bars to fellow writers.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you again at another writers conference.
Congratulations, R.T, and I appreciate the analysis and counterintuitive result. Makes sense to me. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteR.T, I echo what the other have said, that it's possible to make a living from short stories... At least if a writer has the talent that you do. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult decision for all of us. I'm 44,000 words into a novel that my closest and more experienced friends in the crime fiction community have encouraged me to write. At this particular point in the process, it absolutely does feel like work, but I hope as I get past the muddle in the middle it might prove as enjoyable as short story writing, perhaps even more so. I hope that as my process evolves, novels may become less of an emotional roller coaster, but perhaps that's not realistic. I love short story writing, but if what tethers me to that pursuit is the quicker and easier path to validation, I should probably at least kick the tires on longer forms. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your thoughts. I makes me feel less alone.
ReplyDeleteR. T., I enjoy your historical series, transporting me to 1600s France, the Eurasian Steppes, and Cambodian jungle. You have fantastic versatility. Thanks for sharing factual information writers rarely disclose. I have made more writing write-for-hire novels (Eve, I write for Annie's, a similar deal to Guideposts), but my own novel-length fiction has generally earned less than a short story sale to Alfred, sad to say.
ReplyDelete