The thing of beauty you see to the left is called a beer flight. Think of it as the alcohol equivalent of an appetizer sampler. This hails from The Wedge Brewing Company located in Asheville, NC and has seven of some of the finest brews I’ve tasted. What does this have to do with Flying Island? Well, think of us as a fancy flight.

For a mere pittance you get five to eight fine short stories crafted by some excellent authors. They are, in and of themselves, complete products, just as the beers I got from the Wedge are fully fledged potent potables. They stand alone, but (and here’s the magical thing) if you love one of them, you can buy a full pint. Oh wait, stories Roche, this is about the stories.

If you like the short stories that we present in each issue, then I would highly recommend that you check out the longer works available from the authors we publish. Just a few right off of the top of my head would include Brand Gamblin, Karina L. Fabian, and Blake M. Petit.

Of course this isn’t just about Flying Island Press (though it mostly is). There are a metric buttload of authors putting out short fiction in the Kindle Singles store, on Smashwords, or any number of other venues. You can find great authors on Podiobooks or the Kindle Boards The internet is a vast buffet of tapas and three ounce glasses of beer. Is it lunch time yet?

Most of these places won’t ask for your money, or if they do they won’t ask much. I would, however, encourage you to give at places like Podiobooks to support your authors. The first hit may be free or cheap, but it did cost the author epic amounts of time and energy to create.

So now comes the question. What authors have you found out about through samples, short stories, and other low/no cost options? Sound off on our forums!