Worlds Without End Blog

UPDATE: Click here to find the short story nominees, and here for the novelettes. 

2nd UPDATE: Aliette de Bodard’s entry, On a Red Station, Drifting, has now been released as an ebook for a much lower price.  See details updated in the article, below:

Last year, when we posted the 2012 Hugo nominated novellas, most of them were available for free.  One exception was Mira Grant (A.K.A.: Seanan McGuire)’s “Countdown,” which sold for $2.99.  I said, at the time:

This, I think, is the beginning of a trend. Shorter stories are starting to sell on Kindle at less-than-novel prices. Even though the other books on this list are free, I think the trend to charge small amounts for novellas, novelettes, and even short stories means that otherwise inaccessible stories will have a longer shelf life, giving us more to read.

Well, it seems Ms. McGuire’s experiment has spurred more of them.  No nominee is available for free.  Sanderson’s “The Emperor’s Soul” is the second cheapest, selling for $4.99 on Amazon.  The rest cost even more, with only a portion of Jay Lake’s story being made available for free.  The result of these experiments is relative chaos: prices ranging from $2.99 (and instantly available) to $14.85 (and available via snail-mail only).

Considering Hugo defines a novella as being up to 40,000 words, I don’t mind paying a Mira Grant (or even a Brandon Sanderson) price to read one.  Considering we’re used to reading nominated stories for free, transitioning to a much higher price than $5 seems to stretch reason.  For that reason, I’m still betting on Seanan McGuire’s strategy being the most sensible.  Only time will tell.

Of course,  LoneStarCon 3 (Worldcon 71) members get digital copies of all novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories for FREE. Even if you don’t plan on attending Worldcon this year, you can get a supporting membership for only $60, and you’ll be able to vote.

If membership isn’t in the cards this year, here are this year’s novella links:

• “After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall” by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications) is available on Kindle for $7.69 or in paperback for $11.09.
• “The Emperor’s Soul” by Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications) is available on Kindle for $4.99, and paperback for $8.59.
• “On a Red Station, Drifting” by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press) appears to be the only nominated novella not to be available electronically (so you’ll have to cough up $14.85 for the hardback),  is now available on Kindle for $2.99, by popular demand!  Also, an excerpt may be found for free here.
• “San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats” by Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) (Orbit) is just $2.99 on Kindle, as well as Nook and Google Books.
• “The Stars Do Not Lie” by Jay Lake (Asimov’s, Oct-Nov 2012) can be partially read for free, but you must purchase a copy of Asimov’s to read the conclusion.  I know of no way to get an electronic copy of this back issue (only current issues can be purchased digitally).

As always, we rely on you, our readers, to let us know if you find a cheaper way to read any of the above novellas.  If that changes, we will update this article and let you know by tweet (@WWEnd).  Links to all of the award winning books are, as always, available through BookTrackr.

Now you have no excuse when someone asks you who you think should win. Get to reading!

Posted in Awards, Hugo Award | Tags: Novellas