Reading Substack short stories

Announcing a new project + asking for your help

Welcome back to Novel Curations and my new project of reading Substack short stories.

I have the impression that there are many, many people publishing short stories on Substack. And I’ve also attempted to read some, with varying levels of success.

I’ll put it out there now: I’m not much of a short story reader. Novels are my favorite artform (hence the name Novel Curations), and in general, I prefer long-form content. However, my main barrier when it comes to Substack short stories is Substack, not the short story format.

The mode that my brain is in when I’m reading Substack posts is simply not the mode it’s in when it’s reading a book. I have the overwhelming impulse to read very fast when I’m scrolling. In practice, this means that I find reviews or essays much more appealing because it’s easier for my brain to predict and anticipate the flow.

(I once read a note from someone who said that short story writers on Substack would benefit from writing a short blurb at the beginning of their stories to help readers get a better of idea of what they’re about to read. I think I agree that this would help.)

Anyway, I’m curious to know what is out there in the Substack short story world, and I’ve come up with a plan…

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Here’s the plan

I’ll select five short stories published on Substack at the beginning of each month. These will be printed out and read carefully, just as I might read something for a university seminar. At the end of the month, I’ll write a recap of the stories I read.

Recap posts will focus on what makes each story interesting and largely avoid commenting on quality. This is not to say that I’ll never be critical. It only means that criticizing or providing feedback will not be the primary focus. Of course, all commentary I provide on a story will remain at my sole discretion, and I will not be consulting the writer (or related parties) for advice or approval.

Whenever possible, I’ll mention my favorite story at the end of each post.

I do reserve the right to simply not write about stories that I find unforgivingly, irredeemably bad. This is partly because I believe that the worst publicity is no publicity, but mostly because I don’t want the emotional exhaustion of being mean.

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What qualifies as a short story?

Short answer: Fiction that takes me 20 minutes or less to read.

I don’t want to put a strict limit on the word count, but I’ll be giving priority to stories that are between 1000 and 6000 words.

Stories under 1000 words are entering flash fiction territory, which I consider to be a whole other thing.

I won’t be putting any limitations on genre: I’m prepared to read everything from psychological horror to the most explicit smut.

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I need your help!

If you write short stories, or know any good short stories published on Substack, please let me know, either by leaving a comment or replying to the email.

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