anyone interested in a short fiction collection?

I have a question for everyone who reads my blog: if I put some short stories I'd written together into a little collection and sold it at Lulu, would you be interested?

I ask this because I collected a few short stories into a limited edition chapbook for last year's PAX Prime, and it's been sitting here, in my computer, just sort of staring at me accusingly and asking why I didn't release it to anyone in the world who wanted it.

It's just four short stories – well, two short stories and two stories that are slightly-longer than flash – that haven't been collected in any other place.

It will be available worldwide (anywhere Lulu ships). I'll keep the price down, and offer it in print and digital editions (probably around $7 and $5 each, if I've calculated the economics on Lulu correctly) … but here's the catch: it will only be available for one week. (I don't have a good reason for that, I just think it's cool to make something that's a limited edition. Wait, that's a perfectly good reason; a cromulent reason, even.)

Here's the introduction to the PAX edition:

The Day After and Other Stories

Every year, before the summer convention season gets underway, I pull a few excerpts from whatever I plan to release in the fall, take them to my local print shop, and make a deliberately lo-fi, limited edition chapbook to take with me on the obligatory summer convention circuit.

I’ve done previews of Dancing Barefoot, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Memories of the Future, and in 2008, I pulled together a sampler that eventually became Sunken Treasure. 

While Memories of the Future is 2009’s “big” fall release, it didn’t make sense to me to release a Memories-based chapbook this summer, because one already exists. 

It looked like there wasn’t going to be a 2009 entry in the traditional Wil Wheaton Zine-like Chapbook Extravaganza, until I realized that I have several pieces of unpublished fiction sitting in my office, just waiting to be published. 

“Hey,” I said to myself, “people keep asking me to write and release fiction, and I’ve been waiting until I have an actual novel to give them. But these things totally don’t suck, and I bet readers would enjoy them.”

“That is an excellent idea, me,” I said. “And have I mentioned how smart and pretty you are?”

“Oh, stop it. You’re embarrassing me,” I said.

Together, myself and I collected some of my (mostly unpublished) fiction and put it into this chapbook, for safe keeping.

Even though this is limited to just 200 copies, it represents a significant step for me in my life as a writer, because it’s the first time I’ve collected and published stories that I made up. (You know, like a writer does.) I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for your support!

Wil Wheaton

Pasadena 

2009

So, knowing all of this, are you interested?

227 thoughts on “anyone interested in a short fiction collection?”

  2. I bought Sunken Treasure, so I have no qualms purchasing any short fiction you produce.
    After all, it’s all entertaining, and that’s all we are going for with fiction, right?

  10. If the price is right, I could go for a print edition (no e-reader yet, otherwise I’d be all over a DRM-free digital copy).

  12. It's a lot of work and time to make an audiobook, but if enough people thought the stories were worth hearing in that format, I would certainly consider it.

  19. I would — largely because you’re one of the artists I like to support. Short stories alone are a tough sell, but If you bound ’em up in a book, I’d buy it.

  20. Heh. That's the only way I'd do it. (Though I *may* enlist the assistance of one friend for one of the stories…)

  24. I would be interested enough to purchase said short work of fiction. Probably digital, just because, but possibly also the physical edition.

  25. Silly Wil, you know the answer is always “yes” to questions like this! Just let me know when and where, and I’ll buy two so I can share!
    Request: can you pretty please put together a book of your dog tweets as well? With pictures to accompany the tweets, if possible? I’d buy two of those as well! 😉

  26. I’ve been meaning for ages to buy your books and finally enjoy some of your printed writings, but somehow I never got down to it. What a better place to start than from a limited edition? Bring it on! 🙂

  28. Sign me up, I’ll buy a copy in either format for sure!
    As for the audio book idea, what would you think about holding a contest to pick who gets to read the audio book and be published?
    Idea: Have your fans record themselves reading one of the stories out of the book, judge the submissions, and have the winners read the whole thing/(maybe) get a signed copy of the book.

  29. I’d be down for a copy. I’ve been slowly getting the Wheaton published works here and there, and would love the shot at a limited run printing of some exclusive stuff!

  30. I’d buy a copy, probably hardcopy. But July is International Zine Month! Don’t you want to steal copies from Kinkos, then spend a long night folding, stapling, and stuffing the finished product into envelopes? (Hey, some of us still do that… keep the papernet alive.)

  31. I say yes! Even so I purchased a couple at PAX, I think it would be awesome if others had the opportunity to purchase. I wouldn’t get another copy unless something tragic happened to the ones I already own between now and the limited release but I think it is fair to say, may would buy it. I would totally purchase the audio (as suggested) if you decide to do that at a later date.

  35. Well, either way a digital copy or audio book, it would be interesting to read/hear the stories 🙂
    New fancy microphones for podcasting have great quality, so maybe it could be done without using a studio with retakes and lots of editing involved? If the stories are short, I hope you try out one as audio and see how it goes 🙂

  40. As someone who got a copy of the chapbook at PAX last year, other people need to have a looksie at it.
    When they get a taste of your fiction, they will clamour for more. When the critical mass is reached, a longer work of WW fiction will be created.
    This chain reaction is good for the world, and needs to be started.

  42. Of course! I really enjoyed Sunken Treasure.
    So far, Lulu has been a great experience for me as a consumer. Glad they’ve worked out well for you! :o) And thanks for keeping digital things DRM-free.

  47. Does the Pope S*@t in the woods… are Bears catholic… of course i would (probably 2 copies actually) well, as long as i can get it in the UK.

  48. Yes, yes, a hundred times…yes. I’ll definitely buy a print copy. If a digital version came along with that, or was available as a small add-on, I’d pick it up too.

  49. Yes. Limited editions stuff I like to have physical copies. I also have an nook that I do most of my reading on these days. Maybe, I’ll have to get both depending on the format of the digital edition as long as they are reasonable.

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In order to survive, I disassociated for much of my childhood, but I clearly remember the books. That's where I found comfort, companionship, inspiration and validation. It's where the imagination that powers everything I do creatively in my life today was born. And it all started in that library, with that librarian. She was one of the first people I can remember asking me, "What do you like? What's important to you? What do you want to know more about? How can I help you find it?"

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