Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Nick Earls on the unlikely rise of the novella, star of the ebook revolution

Traditionally publishers considered novellas a costly affair, but the Australian author says that’s changed with the book industry’s move to digital 


Australian author Nick Earls has released a collection of five novellas called Wisdom Tree.
Australian author Nick Earls has released a collection of five novellas called Wisdom Tree. Photograph: Candid Lane Photography/One Green Bean
After releasing his 2014 novel Analogue Men, Australian novelist Nick Earls began kicking around a few new story ideas. He assembled the best five and instinctively felt they would each hit the 20,000 word mark – the “novella” grey zone between a short story and a novel.
“My first thought was no publisher is going to welcome me knocking on the door with that,” Earls explains.

Earls is releasing these novellas on the first of every month under the umbrella title Wisdom Tree, starting with Gotham released on Monday. Audiobook versions are being simultaneously released on Audible, narrated by Australian actors Rhys Muldoon, Flynn Curry, Gyton Grantley, Michael Dorman and William McInnes.
The publishing industry has never been a fan of the novella, and the reason is purely economical: with fixed-price overheads like printing, binding, warehousing, distribution and marketing, it costs almost as much to make a small book as it does a medium-sized one. But readers expect a slimmer copy to be cheaper in price.   MORE

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