Recently one of my publishers
changed their submission requirements.
They eliminated the short story category.
Although I had 40 plus stories published in this length,
I received the same announcement
every other writer did.
When I let the publisher know
I would no longer be submitting monthly to them,
they were surprised.
They assumed I’d switch to writing novellas.
We might scoff
but isn’t this what many companies do?
We eliminate a product
and we assume the customer will choose
another product from our offering.
Many times, the customer simply leaves,
never to return.
The first step to reduce these losses
is to acknowledge,
if we can,
the customers who are using the eliminated product.
This publisher has less than one hundred writers.
It would have been easy to send customized emails
to the dozen or so writers
writing in this length.
When eliminating products,
don’t assume customers will choose another product
offered by your company.