Georgia Writers Association

Ask the Book Doctor: About short story collections, nonfiction books, speculative fiction, and editor’s ink 

A: While collections of short stories may not be the hottest seller today, they are selling moderately, as I understand it, and you have the best chance of selling yours if your collection includes stories that have been previously published in prestigious periodicals and literary magazines. With that information in mind, while you’re pulling together your collection, also be submitting individual stories to competitions and periodicals that publish short stories. The more credits you add to your publishing credentials, the more likely a publisher will be interested in the collection.

Q: I have a nonfiction book idea, but do I have to be an expert in the subject to sell the book? Can I just do the research on the Internet and the library?

Learning to Breathe
Karen White
NAL Accent, 2007

This novel, set in the fictional small town of Indianola, Louisiana, goes down like a New Orleans praline: smooth and sweet, chock full of nuts. Well—not nuts—lovable eccentrics would be a better word. Brenna O’ Brien, the youngest of five sisters, has survived a troubled childhood under the thumb of her controlling, autocratic father, who blamed her for her mother’s death.