If you’re a fan of short stories or enjoy writing them, check out Sniplits. They’re an audio publisher that offers readers both genre and literary short stories. Here I chat with Anne Stuessy who tells us how she came up with the idea and what makes a Sniplit story. www.sniplits.com
Susan Palmquist (SP)-When did Sniplits launch and what gave you the idea?
Anne Stuessy (AS)-I bought my first iPod sometime in 2005, and immediately thought how cool it would be to listen to audio short stories on it. But, probably like most out-of-the-blue ideas, this idea was really just the application of my background to someone else’s (Steve Jobs/Apple’s) idea. I’ve always been a voracious reader, and I’ve loved short stories since I was just a kid and they were published in many of the magazines my parents bought. I have also always loved technology (I believe I bought my first personal computer around 1983 and needed to learn DOS to operate it). I spent a large chunk of my career working for Motorola and by the time I took over communications for Motorola’s technology arm and Motorola Labs, I was seriously hooked on gadgets. So for me to recognize short stories as content for devices was probably inevitable. I didn’t act on the idea for a long time though. It seemed so obvious, that I expected to soon be able to soon download short stories from iTunes, or Amazon, or any of the big publishers. Finally, I decided that if they weren’t going to do it then I would. Sniplits launched for its beta testing period last year.
SP-What’s your background, writer, editor, entrepreneur?
AS-I think I wrote my first poem when I was about eight, and I’ve periodically tinkered with writing short stories all my life though, ironically, I never worked up the courage to submit any. I channeled my love of writing into a corporate communications career where I wrote speeches, magazine and newsletter articles, press releases, marketing stuff, and executive communications. I particularly loved writing speeches, and I think that’s one of the reasons I was drawn to publishing audio stories. When I decided to take a respite from the corporate world, I planned to spend my time working on my own creative writing, and I had a wonderful time at writing workshops. When I picked up a Writer’s Market though, I was really dismayed to realize how few paying markets there were for short stories – and that realization was key to my decision to launch Sniplits.
I was the editor for my staff of public relations writers, though it’s quite a bit different than fiction editing and I’m still learning. I think my speechwriting background has been the most helpful, in that I had to learn to set my own “voice” aside and edit in the voice of the speaker.
As to my entrepreneurial background, I’ve always been drawn to positions that enabled me to create something new. I have created new departments (communication), new functions within departments (such as advertising and sports marketing) and at Motorola I was part of several teams charged with launching new technologies and/or businesses. Sniplits, however, is the first company I’ve created on my own (unless you count my lemonade and popcorn stand when I was about eight, or the little business my sister and I started when I was about 12 – tying and selling fishing flies).
SP-You accept both literary and genre fiction and everything from horror to humor. Any type of story you’d like to see but never seem to find?
AS-We certainly have genres that we need to flesh out, but it’s much too soon to say we can’t find a type of story. We’re actually just beginning to search out particular types of stories and particular authors. (We’ve taken our time while we built out and tested our website.) You can expect to hear a lot of exciting news from Sniplits over the next few months!
SP-What’s your most popular genre?
AS-One of the great things about being a digital short story store is that we don’t have to decide on a single “shelf” for a story. If we have a funny mystery story set in the future, we can list it as a humor story, a speculative story, and as a mystery. I’d have to say though that stories with an element of crime or romance are some of our best sellers.
SP-Writing for an audio audience is different from print. Any tips for writers before they start on their story? If a writer’s submitting a story that was previously published in print, should they rework it before sending it to Sniplits?
AS-Well, there are a lot of little things, like eliminating opening quotes and headings that distract from the audio flow, and cleaning out attributions like “he said” where they pull a character out of voice mid-sentence or where they don’t add some other value. But the single most important thing an author can do is read their story aloud. It’s the best way I know of to identify elements that are unclear, unnecessary, or difficult to read.
SP-What do you look for in a submission?
AS-First and foremost, I want to be told a story. I want to care about the characters and the situation they’re in – which means that the author needs to really understand them. Writers sometimes think they’ll start with short stories because they’re easier than a novel. Writing shorts is a great way for an author to work on their voice and various points of view but the writing, or more to the point, the honing, is not easy. The author needs to edit the story to the marrow of the bone before sending it in. I think I’ve become a better editor this year, but that means I’ve also become more particular. I used to accept stories that I thought could be fine with editing, but that was a mistake.
SP-What gets an instant rejection?
AS-I’ll quickly reject poorly written, cliché-ridden stories, anything with a hateful tone, and stories that hit me over the head with a message. I’ve also had to get more ruthless with my time and so I really do reject submissions when the author doesn’t read and follow the submission guidelines.
SP-Are you the only editor or do others help you select stories too?
AS-I read everything, though I have a few trusted souls I sometimes turn to for an opinion on a piece. I hope to add an editor next year.
SP-Any plans to move into full length novels?
AS-No, I don’t see a compelling market need for another audiobook publisher. I do expect to publish anthologies of short stories though.
SP-Do you think audio stories and books are gaining popularity?
AS-Sniplits is a member of the Audio Publishers Association, which contracts for industry studies. Personally, I do think that MP3 audio stories and books will continue to gain in popularity because they can be listened to on MP3 players like the iPod, smartphones like the BlackBerry, and e-readers which can play audiobooks and stories, including some versions of the Kindle and Sony e-readers. I think that audio short stories are particularly well-suited for busy lives.
SP-For readers, what’s different about a Sniplits story?
AS-There are new websites publishing audio short stories all the time, but I think that what sets a Sniplits story apart from the crowd is that our stories are professionally narrated and produced to the same high quality you’ll find in audiobooks from the big publishers. Also, Sniplits is an audio short story store rather than an e-zine – so we offer listeners a wide variety of stories.
SP-Is there’s anything else you’d like to share with both readers and writers.
AS-In addition to publishing audio short stories, Sniplits also sets up fan club pages for its authors where fans can learn more about authors, ask questions, find where authors will be making appearances and link to their books.
