Short Fiction Follow Up

This is a follow-up to my post from the other. To reference the discussion on the Night Shade Board, Richard Morgan rightly pokes holes in my argument by pointing out:

1. you'd have to sell 12 - 15 stories a year
2. coming up with 12 - 15 great ideas to sell is tougher than 1 great idea (i.e., a novel)
3. it's not really feasible to work at that level
4. with the limit on the number of markets, you'd oversaturate things (first annoying everyone that 'you were in every issue' and then secondly reducing the number of spaces for new writers)
5. 90,000 words is actually a fairly short book, so you'd likely have to write even more than 12 - 15 stories

These ideas are seconded in my comments on that post by people like Jeff VanderMeer, who also points out that a novel sale often leads to foreign rights sales, which is something that almost never happens with a short story.

In fact, other than reprinting in year's best anthologies (which pays pennies) the transformative thing that happens most often to short fiction is that the concept is written into a novel-length story.

Scott William Carter correctly pointed out in my comments that $5K is actually a pretty small advance, and that if you happen to write outside the genre (even moving your concept to YA which is a hot market right now) it's likely that you could triple your money or better (that's me talking for Scott there, he wasn't that specific). And then where does my math go? It goes right out the window, that's where it goes.

So why write short fiction? Why write novels? Why write at all? Most of you writing out there won't sell your story or your novel to anyone.* And for those of you who have sold your novel/story, most people won't see it.**

So you write for some other purpose. I don't believe you for a second if you claim that you write only to make money. I don't keep publishing stuff because I think it will make me famous and wealthy some day. I publish stuff because I love it. I love the process of publishing. I think about it all the time. I feel compelled to do it. If I could stay awake 24 hours a day, I'd always find something more to work on.

I think writing is like that for people. They don't write because it will lead to fame and wealth,**** they write because they can't not write. And as long as people are compelled to write, I--and many other people--will be there to publish them.
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*Of course, that doesn't apply to the 50 or so people who read this blog. You're all mostly published authors and a handful of editors. You've all sold stories and novels, but you know what I mean.

**I'm being extremely literal here. I'm not saying you won't be successful, just be aware of the fact that selling millions of copies of book just doesn't happen anymore (or not very often) and even having six figure sales is unlikely these days. If you're reading this, I'll assume you work in genre fiction, and that means cracking the six figure mark is out of reach. Heck, for lots of people earning out your advance isn't even a possibility.***

***I speak from personal experience; your results may vary.

****They may continue to write because they've achieved some level of fame/wealth, i.e., it has become their main source of income, but that's rare. And I think even for people who earn a living writing, the main reason they keep doing it is because they LOVE it.