Short stories

Ah, short stories!  Such fun to write, and yet there's so little call for them.  I've read that short stories are good for nothing, that no one (i.e., publishers) will touch them.  "Give them away," says the throng.  "That's all they're good for."

Well, I've written five short stories and I'm not quite ready to toss them into the wind, thank you.  Today, I plan to work on an idea I've come up with, sort of a way to package the stories (for sale?).  I've seen it done before; it's not a novel device.  I plan to include all five in a book, and write a surrounding story in which they all live.  The five stories are hints about the true nature of the overlaid story.  Each story plays a role in the tale.

A week or so back, I wrote the first section of the main story (the one in which the short stories live).  Today I'm going to edit that first section and see if I'm up to writing the second installment.  I've already thought through the plot of the main story, so all I have to do is let loose on the keyboard.  First, however, it's time to edit.

Anyone out there written any short stories?  What did you do with them?  (Note: I print them and give them away to friends when they stop by.  I've gotten great reactions.  People seem more ready to read a short story than a sizable novel.)  I'm not averse to putting the short stories on this blog, should the over-story idea fail for some reason.  But I'm not there yet.  I like my current plan.

What did you do with your short stories?