  Short Stories
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this issue:
A Day in the Life of an Anthology Editor
A brief look inside what actually happens to that story you've submitted to an anthology! |
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Having had the opportunity to read slush for a lot of years now, I've begun to develop my curatorial skills as an editor to a point where I've been invited to participate in a few different anthology projects.
I can't talk about all of them in detail, as some of them are not my own publications, but I thought it would be interesting to share the process that we've gone through in organizing one of the projects I'm currently working on.
Please note! This process expressly applies to anthologies that are paying opportunities for writers. Unpaid anthologies for charity or similar are outside of my wheelhouse, I only deal with professional publications (by SFWA standards, to constitute professional publication, all contributors receive a payment of $.06/wd or higher for their work as of the current date).
Here are the different steps I've been through--though the last is still "forthcoming" for my most recent project!
Call For Submissions
Designing the Call for Submissions (CFS) for an anthology project can be simple or complex, depending on the specific aims of the anthology. The ones I have been involved in typically go through several passes for clarity and intent before releasing the information to the public. It's wise to put the word out as soon as the details are totally solidified. At a minimum, the information needed would be:
dates of submissions period;
payment details;
subject or topic;
length and type of work under consideration;
a brief explanation or addition of detail to expand upon the subject in the voice of the editors to help prospective writers understand what is requested of them.
The Submissions Period
During the submissions period for a publication, assuming that it doesn't have "rolling" (ongoing) submissions, usually there are a few phases. At the very beginning of the project, everyone who feels like they already have a story that applies to the prompt or topic and doesn't want to forget will send in whatever they have. After that, things typically slow down a bit as people begin crafting fresh stories for the anthology subject at hand. The very end of the submissions period will also see a bubble--usually the last day of submissions will constitute a significant portion of the total. (As in the rest of the arts, we writers are masterful procrastinators  )
Solicitations
In general, an editor wants every person who is interested in writing for them to send in their stories for an appropriate anthology call, but in many cases, it's also prudent to expressly reach out to authors you are familiar with whose work you specifically want to see in the work pile. Depending on the editor, solicitations may be kept separate from slush. Solicited stories in most cases are still not guaranteed acceptances, but in many situations are still given higher priority over open slush. It's common to make a lot of solicitations and still receive only a few stories, but this is one way to help design a publication, especially if it is devoted to a topic or theme.
It is wise to extend solicitations to writers from under-represented or marginalized social groups as these groups are often self-rejecting, and encouraging these authors to join the project is a wise way to go about it!
The Reading Period
In my case, I try to do some reading and decision-making as I go, but I prefer to work in large batches as it helps me to get a better lay of the land, as it were. Not only do I need to select great stories, but I need them to be harmonious with the topic or theme of my anthology as well as to work well in concert with one another. I usually sort things by an immediate decision of "pass" (not right for whatever reason) and "hold", where I might still decide not to purchase that story but that I want to give it a second look before making a decision. There are absolutely situations where a story is very very good, but not really exceptional--it's complicated, because stories are such a personal thing!
Once preliminary decisions are made, it takes some winnowing down to find the perfect set of stories that work well together and form a coherent body of work. It's not easy, and it takes practice--and a lot of reading!--but as one's reading taste develops, it gets easier to see the threads between very different stories and how they work together as a whole.
Acceptances and Rejections
The hardest part, as far as I'm concerned! I've sent hundreds and hundreds of rejections at this point and it literally never gets easier. Frankly, it sucks. I try to look at the bright side, because I know the acceptances will make someone's day.
Once a story is accepted, it's still likely to go through light to moderate editing. Most editors will expect you to be on your A-game with basic grammar, spelling, and so on--it makes your work genuinely more enjoyable to read, it's not just editors being big mean bullies about the quality of your work, I promise!--but stories often still need light touches to improve clarity or style or to really nail down the meaning of the ending of the story, for example.
Payment also falls into this category--most publications I work with pay after copyedits are complete for word count accuracy, but that depends on the publication, some will simply round up.
And then it's a mad scramble on the publisher's end to make sure all the rest of the "i"s are dotted and "t"s are crossed, as it were. Easier said than done, but the results are really worth it!
Typesetting, proofreading, cover art selection-- all of that fun stuff falls in here, as well as marketing, preorders--ah, but that stuff is so far from writing about writing, I will spare you this time but I'd be happy to get into it in next month's Q&A if anyone has more questions about that part!
Until next time,
Take care and Write on!
All the best,
Jay |
This Issue's Picks!
| | | Dead Cert [18+] #2153770
When a "character flaw" might get you out of that hole it got you into in the first place.
by deemac  |
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Jay |
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Short Stories: April 25, 2018 Issue [#8870]
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