But I realize short stories aren’t, well, popular. Conventional wisdom says that short stories don’t sell. Actually, conventional wisdom says it, and the people at publishing houses who are responsible for making money say it too. Of course, we’re hoping that this short story anthology will sell well, especially if it gets picked up for college courses, but it’s very rare that a short fiction anthology or collection breaks out and sells in the same way a well-received novel might.

As a short story lover, I look forward to every October when I can buy the latest installment of Best American Short Stories, and I thoroughly enjoy judging Irreantum’s annual short fiction contest, even when it means wading through 75 entries to come up with the three or four stories that really wow me, like our 2007 winner by Jack Harrell. And even though I’ve tried writing a traditional novel (and I haven’t given up on that goal yet), my book Bound on Earth is a novel-in-stories, and most of the chapters were written as stand alone short stories before they came together in a novel-like form. I get the short story. It speaks to me, delights me, occupies this sweet spot between the novel and the poem where (I believe) story and language are equally valued.

My question to you then: Do you love short stories? And if so, why? And which stories are some of your favorites? (Stories that have stayed with me since high school: Conrad Aiken’s “Silent Snow, Secret Snow”; Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”; Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”; Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People.” Contemporary stories I love: Michael Cunningham’s “White Angel”; Raymond Carver’s “A Small, Good Thing”; Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem,” among many others.)

And if you don’t particularly care for short stories (and don’t worry, I know there are a many of you and will love you just the same), why? Especially if you’re a novel reader. What is it about the genre of the story that doesn’t engage you?

Finally, my list of short stories I’d like to include in the anthology is just about set, but if you have any suggestions for short fiction with a Mormon element written since 2000, let me know. I feel like I’ve been pretty thorough, but I’d hate to let any truly excellent stories fall through the cracks.

p.s. Check out A Motley Vision’s plan to further the cause of the Mormon short story.