Salt backs short story boom with relaunch of Best British Short Stories and expansion of Salt Modern Stories
Salt Publishing is seizing on renewed interest in the short story with a major push for the format, relaunching its flagship Best British Short Stories series with a new cover livery and a wider publicity campaign.
The move comes as industry voices highlight a “real excitement around stories again” and a shift in reader appetite towards shorter works. For Salt, short fiction has been central to its publishing identity for more than two decades.
Nicholas Royle, series editor of the UK’s bestselling short story anthology and publisher of Nightjar said: “The increase in reader and trade enthusiasm for short stories is hugely welcome. The redesign and relaunch of Best British Short Stories after fifteen years celebrates that. The short story has always been my favourite form, not just in literature, but in all the arts. Hence why I founded Nightjar Press in 2009 and continue to edit Best British Short Stories.” Nick’s own new collection of short stories, Paris Fantastique, is due to be published by Confingo Publishing on 6 November.
Best British Short Stories has been a consistent bestseller since its launch in 2011, bringing together the finest new work from across the UK and Ireland. The latest paperback edition (Vol. 15) publishes on 13th October.
Alongside the relaunch, Salt is continuing to build its Salt Modern Stories series – compact, A-format single-author collections designed to reach new readers in bookshops and online. The strategy is already paying off: three of Salt’s top five titles this year are short story collections – Paul McVeigh’s I Hear You (No. 1), Will Wiles’s The Anechoic Chamber and Other Weird Tales (No. 3), and D. J. Taylor’s Poppyland (No. 5). Michael Arditti’s new collection of short stories, The Mellow Madam and Other Stories has just been released.
Hamilton-Emery added: “Slim fiction is certainly having a moment – and it’s one we’re ready to lead. From fresh, pocket-sized collections to the prestige of Best British Short Stories, we want to put short fiction into more readers’ hands than ever.”