Not much news out there at the moment, so here’s an interesting snippet from all you strapped-for-Xmas poets and short story writers. An thoughtful chap by the name of Bruce Holland Rogers (right, with scarf-friend) who resides in Eugene, Orgeon – ‘the tie-dye capital of the world’ apparently – has come up with a workable idea for making a spot of dosh through emailing punters his ‘short-short’ stories on a subscription basis.

It’s a similar concept to the ‘Daughters of Freya’ idea that did a global ripple a few months ago. For a measly $5 per annum Bruce sends his subscribers three short-short stories a month. So far he has about 600 subscribers in 60 countries and his stories are being translated into eight languages. Bruce writes in all sorts of different styles. Sample stories and a description of the service are up at Bruce’s website – I particularly liked Don Ysidro.

You can also check out his long string of awards and the various other literary services he offers. Just one of these is putting himself up for auction to read his stories aloud. He’s also delighted to answer questions about the subscription service – why he started it, where he publishes stories after they've been distributed by e-mail, and the advantages and disadvantages of this new literary enterprise. Food for thought.