Many people view short stories as "practice" and "a good exercise."

But did you know that 75,000 words worth of short stories could net you the same $$$ as a mid-tier advance for a 75,000 novel?

With those numbers we're talking, like, 15-30 short stories all selling to a pro level ($0.08/word) market.

That'd be $6,000, which many sites claim as an average advance. Obviously you could make more. If you sell a novel there's more negotiating power.

But with a novel you have one chance at trad publishing. With 30 short stories you have 30. It's possible to get paid for any number of those, but you can't sell half a novel.

Short story publishers also often give the rights BACK to you a few months after publication. You can sell those stories AGAIN to reprint markets, self publish them, or compile a collection to have traditionally published.

Obviously it's a lot of work to do that, but it's work that's spread out over a handful of pieces. Paydays won't be regular.

Then again, most novels involve months or years of work, then spread the advance out over a year or two.

So... Short stories are valid, too