Hey guys, I was thinking of putting together a collection of short stories and I want it to be the best that it can be. My question is should i make each story not like the last one so that the readers won't notice it and get bored. My theme is inspirational but I dont want all the stories to follow the same plot. If anyone can give me any feedback on this I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
I would definitely make sure the stories vary. That's sort of the point of getting a book that's a collection of short stories.
The settings for each story can be similiar, but the plot has to be different. After all, each of them are stand alone stories.
You can make it a book with stories with the same setting, but different POV. Like having a group of people (eg the employees in a company or the students taking a college course) and every time telling the story of a different person.
Anthologies with stories by different authors often have a theme under the theory that will help attract readers to that genre/niche. Short Story Collections with stories from the same author, usually follow a genre, but not always. Publishers are not as interested in publishing collections and even anthologies because they do not sell as well as novels. I've two novels published and recently a short story collection (13 stories that had previously been published in various magazines, anthologies and ezines) through my publisher. As anticipated, the collection isn't selling as well as the novels, and tracking the sales curve, probably won't. I say this because if you're really into writing short stories, it's cool, but that attracting a publisher and readers (even via self-publishing if that's your goal) will be a harder than it might be with a novel (of comparable length and quality of writing). Even top authors who sell short story collections don't do as well as their novels.
terry's right... as a new and unknown writer, i doubt you'll find a paying publisher willing to take on a collection of unpublished short stories... the only exception might be a small niche 'indie' if the collection is all erotica, or horror, or any of the other niche genres... if yours are 'inspirational' your best bet would be to query publishers of christian/inspirational fiction...
I read fairly recently a collection of short stories disguised as a novel - 'Tokyo Cancelled'. The wrapper story was a group of travellers stuck in an airport when their flight has been cancelled, and they tell each other stories to pass the time. The stories were very different to each other. (Chaucer's Canterbury Tales does something similar). So, to make your short story collection more acceptable to publishers - if that's your aim - you could do something similar.
another question... After reading all this Im wondering if it would be a problem sending query letters to christian publishing companies if they found out I was gay?
Not all Christians are the same. It's a religion that covers a very broad spectrum, and not all the sub-faiths are homophobic.
Is the fact that you are gay an important part of the story? If your work is inspirational perhaps try to hook up with Hay House or Hampton Roads.
