AboutSamantha Prust Expertise I have a BA in English and an MFA in creative writing. I have worked in various publishing companies and for various literary magazines. I work as an editorial and production assistant for a book publishing company. I also have my own publishing consulting business.
Experience I grew up on the Sisseton/Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Indian Reservation in Sisseton, South Dakota. After high school I attended college at Minnesota State University in Fargo/Moorhead. After receiving my B.A. in English, I stayed in Fargo/Moorhead for two years, working as a proofreader, a librarian assistant, a cocktail waitress, and in customer service. I then moved to Colorado to attend Colorado State University, where I worked as Associate Editor for The Colorado Review while pursuing my Master's degree. After I graduated, I was able to stay in Colorado when I got a job as an editor and writer for Cottonwood Press, a small publisher specializing in supplemental books for teachers of English and language arts.
Question Hi, I'm wondering if there is a mininum length for a new book of collected short stories which agents and publishers would consider?
I have not had any of the stories published separately in magazines.
Answer Hi Sally,
I don't know this for sure in all cases, but my guess is that publishers aren't too concerned with page count; they just want good stories. Of course, they want enough pages to justify printing the book, but I don't know a minimum. All publishers are different. I would say the average short story collection is about 175-200 pages. I was required to write a 100-page publishable short story collection for my masters in creative writing. So, I guess it could be as short as 100 pages. Good luck!
