Ian, It’s actually surprising to me that short stories aren’t experiencing a resurgence precisely because they give a dose of fiction within a small time frame. With an increasingly fast-paced culture, you’d think that short fiction would find a new niche.

As for short story vs novel SF, my wife prefers short stories because it lets her have an hour of fun then get back to work or whatever, whereas a novel takes too long.

I also tend to prefer short fiction for the same reason, though when I have lots of time I do enjoy a good novel.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/2585-The-Escapist-Call-for-Writers-2008

This is the first time they’ve done a fiction issue, and their primary market is gamers. They pay pro rate by mainstream magazine standards — $.25/word.

Honestly, I think getting published there would mean excellent exposure for SF writers, and I am hugely excited that they’re doing a fiction issue. But I think this is how fiction in mixed-magazines is destined to work. It’s what the Atlantic moved to. I am afraid that the readership for short fiction is just not there — and that, more importantly, markets like the Escapist already have the infrastructure to be running a full online community and magazine, so there is much more potential getting a fiction line started with an existing magazine than there is starting a new one from scratch. The proposition of getting good game writers, up-to-date news, industry connections, and all that jazz would be a tremendous challenge for a new magazine. But starting a fiction line in an existing one might not be. These haven’t fared well historically (SciFiction, etc), but that doesn’t mean that they can’t, and when they do happen, they do tremendous work…

I posted a reply to your comments over on Homeless Moon ( http://homelessmoon.com/wordpress/?p=112#comments ) and eagerly await any potential essay response too. :)