One of the most frustrating aspects of English-language publishing is the antipathy directed at short stories and novellas. Publishers won’t take on these forms because they don’t sell as well. Writers of shorter forms are advised to turn them into novels. As a result, bookstores are full of novels, pushing short stories and novellas into ever-shrinking corners.
Three Streets, by Yoko Tawada,Translated by Margaret Mitsutani.64 pagesNEW DIRECTIONS PUBLISHING, Fiction.
The traditional outlet — the literary journal — has effectively been pushed online where people expect content for free, further inflaming an unfair but long-standing sense that there is a hierarchy of prose fiction, in which the novel sits at the top of the ladder. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle that does no one any good.
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