Novelettes and Novellas

I wish I could say I have no idea why novelettes and novellas are not popular, but unfortunately, I think I know why. But I’ll skip over that and return to this point at the end of the post.

Regarding reader experience, I believe that you can offer a full story in a novella, and while more difficult in a novelette, I still think it’s possible. I like to think I’ve written some pretty complete stories in short form, but I’ll list some famous examples first: The Fall of the House of Usher, The Old Man and The Sea, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Animal Farm, and there are many more. I read them all ages ago, but I do remember enough to say that they were complete and compelling.

But it seems to be hard to sell short works, especially short story anthologies. I rarely see them on bookshelves and it’s very rare to see them even from established authors. Even though I really like short stories, I can understand why readers who are looking to be enveloped by a book would shy away from them. Psychologically, a short story probably doesn’t feel like it could be satisfying, even though many are. If you like rooting for a character, there isn’t much time in a short story to get behind the protagonist. I can see novelettes falling to the same fate, but I really can’t understand why novellas aren’t more popular. It is absolutely possible to be engrossed and fully involved in a novella. I believe thirty thousand words is plenty to tell a good story.

I have self-published one novelette (Baroness), three graphic novelettes (Steampunk Blues Volume I, Steampunk Blues Volume II and Planet Forefather) two novellas in an anthology (King Lester the Groovy and The Man Who Said Too Much) and one stand alone novella (The Petulant Robot). I can say with complete honesty that all of these stories are complete with entire story arcs. I don’t pretend to say they are as good as anything else out there, but I would dare to say that they are complete works unto themselves.

So why don’t we see novelette and novellas on shelves? I would say costs and readers’ expectations. Printing costs may be less, but shipping and advertising wouldn’t change so margins would be lower. Readers are used to full length novels, and so that’s what is expected. I think if you put out a 250-page novel most readers wouldn’t bat an eye. But if you slip below 200 pages, I think you’ve breached a psychological threshold. It might give the impression that your story wouldn’t be enough.

Be that as it may, I like novelettes and novellas and I will keep writing them.