The Advantage of Being Neil Gaiman

I just finished M is for Magic and realized that this was the second time I had skipped over, "The Witch's Headstone." I had read it before elsewhere and I had skipped over it before else-elsewhere. Then I got curious. How many times has this short story been published?

The first was in Wizards: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy published in 2007. The second was in Gaiman's own collection, M is for Magic also published in 2007. And as best I can tell, the third time was in The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Two published in 2008. Anyone know of any other releases of this story?

All of this led up to publication of The Graveyard Book September 30, 2008 where the above short story now masquerades appears as chapter four. That's at least three times more exposure than the average short story receives.

I wonder if the constant release of the same story did anything to boost sales of The Graveyard Book. Perhaps keeping the work in the front of the minds of voters and panelist for the multitude of awards The Graveyard Book has won didn't hurt anything...

There are so many writers who struggle to sell a story once, let alone indulge the thought of three successive reprints.

I guess that's the power of a well-known, accomplished writer's name. It's good to be him.