Guest Post + Giveaway: Tahlia Newland

Today I'm pleased to welcome author Tahlia Newland to the blog to talk to us a little bit about her books and short stories in general. She writes young adult/adult urban fantasy with a touch or more of romance in it and a focus on challenging readers’ perception of reality. Tahlia is also providing a give away to accompany today's post, so be sure and scroll down for more information!

THE RESURGENCE OF SHORT STORIES

You have probably realised by now that the event of ereaders is revolutionizing the publishing industry, but not only is it giving authors new opportunities, it is doing the same for readers.

A paper book costs as much to print if it is 20,000 words as if its 100,000 words, hence publishers generally don’t want a book over 100,000 words, unless it’s by an author that they can guarantee will sell enough books to cover the extra cost. Also they won’t publish novellas because people don’t want to pay the same amount of money for a little book as they do for a larger book.

But ebooks can be small and charge less – enter the 99c ebook and the common price for novellas of $2.99. I’m talking about independently published works here, not the higher priced books from traditional publishers who are still only publishing longer words and who have yet to work out a competitive price for their ebooks (they’d have to give their authors a lot more and take less themselves to compete with the indie authors.) You’ll also find serialized novels coming out in larger numbers as time goes by.

What’s so special about short stories?

Short stories are a genre of their own. They were popular in the past when many great writers like Edgar Allen Po and George Bernard Shaw wrote them for publication in magazines. The beauty of them is that because of their length, the story is straight to the point, snappy and without frills. A good short story is highly engaging and has a powerful ending, often with a twist or a moral point. Creative authors play with ideas in the short story form, so they can be unusual and imaginative.

They are perfect for today’s world, especially for young people with little money and many demands on their time, because they are low price and time commitment. No one is asking you to get caught up in someone else’s world for days. You can read a short story in the half hour while you wait for your date to pick you up and you can read a novella in the time it takes to watch a movie and for a fraction of the cost.

A good anthology of short stories has a linking theme that provides a sense of continuity and unity for the reader. Each story, though unique and in some ways vastly different to the others should add to an overall flavour that makes the book a satisfying whole.

One reader said of my short story collection, A Matter of Perception, “These kept me engaged from start to finish. A very pleasurable read, and what makes it such an interesting collection is that it provides such a variety in tone and supernatural elements yet is held together, yes, by that common supernatural denominator but also such thought-provoking philosophies of life.”

I didn’t use to read short stories, but I’ve been enjoying reading the short works that a lot of indie authors are offering these days. Apart from the pleasures of a short snappy read, it gives you a chance to sample a new author without a big financial commitment. Have you read any short stories recently? Are you planning to?

Thanks so much for stopping by Tahlia! If you'd like more information on Tahlia and her books, you can find it here:

Website
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Goodreads
A Matter of Perception
The Drorgon Slayer's Choice

GIVEAWAY

Tahlia is generously offering up 3 e-copies of A Matter of Perception to blog readers today! To enter, please just leave a comment on this post answering Tahlia's questions regarding short stories and include a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. Since these are e-copies, this giveaway is international and will run through Friday, December 30th after which time winners will be chosen and announced on the blog. Good luck everyone!

A MATTER OF PERCEPTION

Do you see what I see? Take a bunch of supernatural beings, a battle of magical light, a mysterious hole in the pavement, a dream of a future past and a pair of rose-coloured glasses, mix them with a little romance and a smidgen of philosophy and you might be left wondering if it isn’t all just a matter of perception.

This entertaining, heart-warming and thought-provoking collection includes the humorous, ‘A Hole in the Pavement’; the poignant, ‘Not Me, It can’t Be’; the intriguing, ‘Drorgon Slayer’s Choice’, and the eerie semi finalist in the Aussiecon 4 Make Ready fantasy/scfi competition of 2010, ‘The Boneyard.’