In which the an insufficiency of Negroes publishing short science fiction stories is lamented:
While science fiction can be found across novels, television, and film, the short fiction market is a particularly important marketplace to consider. It publishes a relatively high level of content, and allows newer authors to break into the field with their own fiction.
Eh… Sort of. In reality the short fiction market is a good place to get started because it is easier to finish a 5,000 word piece than a 100,000 word novel. Shorts are good practice but the pay is awful. I’ve known some of the most prolific and successful short fiction authors alive, and they don’t make enough off of it to live on. Also of those 2,000 short stories, probably half of them were written by the same 100 or so, already popular/prolific short fiction writers, which will further skew the stats.
Successful authors such as Ken Liu, N.K. Jemisin, Charlie Jane Anders, and Paolo Bacigalupi each got their start writing shorter stories for a variety of magazines, which helped them as they began writing novels.
Yep. Good for them. Luckily for you there are a hundred ways to get into this business.
Short fiction also allows authors to experiment with form, style, and narratives which can have great impact on the field as a whole.
Uh huh. That sounds great and all, but it’s really kind of bullshit. Not the authors experimenting part. That’s cool. That’s how we learn. The “impact on the field” part, that there is some pretentious literati twaddle. Outside of a tiny circle jerk of critics, nobody cares. Your story probably isn’t got to blow any minds or shake the foundations of the world. Just write your shit, and if it is entertaining and good enough, people will want to give you money for it.
Barriers for specific groups of people hurts the field as a whole by blocking new voices and styles from reaching a wider audience.Funny, when I said that same thing years ago I was the bad guy.
I actually think the most ridiculous thing about the SJW lamentation is the idea that Charlie Jane Anders is a successful author. He’s published one novel. Its Amazon rank is unimpressive and it’s got fewer reviews (163) and a lower rating (3.9) than either A Throne of Bones (180, 4.2) or SJWs Always Lie (453, 4.6).
If Anders is a successful author, then everyone is a successful author. Anyhow, read the whole thing. It’s vintage Larry.
It’s strange, but they never seem to be concerned about the plight of the American Indian in science fiction.