 Drama: February 05, 2020 Issue [#9986] |
This week: Setting up an Anthology Edited by: Joy  
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“The best anthology is the one each reader compiles, personally, according to his or her judgment, pleasure and awe." ~ Robert Pinsky, Singing School, 2013”
Robert Pinsky, Singing School: Learning to Write (and Read) Poetry by Studying with the Masters
“She holstered her weapon, raising the hem of her skirts and stepping lightly around the dead bodies.”
A.F. Stewart, Mechanized Masterpieces: a Steampunk Anthology
“One warm morning in July, a ghost came to our breakfast table.”
Holly Thompson, Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories
"I felt the need to get a few things said to one of our visitors, and I leaned down to get myself real close to her face. Her eyes was closed ‘cause Pa had already sewed her lids shut.”
Ken Goldman, The Morgue: An Anthology
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about the hard work of putting together an anthology.
Please, note that there are no rules in writing, but there are methods that work for most of us most of the time.
The ideas and suggestions in my articles and editorials have to do with those methods. You are always free to find your own way and alter the methods to your liking. |
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Some of us are sending our work to anthologies or we may think about doing that in the future. It is a good idea, therefore, to understand what goes into putting together an anthology, so we can appreciate the process and our friend Fyn  for the immense effort she put into publishing the WdC anthologies.
An anthology, in the classic sense, is usually a published collection of poems, stories, or other pieces of writing. Sometimes, though, anthologies are put together by choosing the published or unpublished pieces or a blend of them. A successful anthology is never a collection of haphazard pieces thrown together.
For writers, publishers, and organizations, anthologies present great opportunities by letting them gain funds, awareness, exposure, and experience. Yet, it is an immense amount of work for those people who put them together. Why?
The hardest part is in the marketing that begins with finding a publisher, and then, its work involves much planning, handling the cover design, contracts with the authors, formatting the book and sending out review copies to beta readers, then more marketing and deciding on a release day and still more marketing as to the announcements and advertising, getting the authors play a part in the release announcements, and still more marketing for several months even after the book is published.
At this point, I am going to leave the marketing part to the professionals and concentrate on the earlier basic part of putting an anthology together. The strength of the group of writers has much to do with the acceptance and sales of an anthology. If we are putting together an anthology of short works by Pulitzer winners, surely that book will be a sellout. Chances are, though, most of the time, that won’t be in the works. So, what are the criteria for a successful anthology? A few ideas may be:
 A Common Theme or Topic among the pieces: This adds symmetry and cohesion to the book.
How big is the topic or theme? The biggest themes can be more difficult to sort or organize after the pieces are selected.
Knowing or finding out what already exists in the market on the chosen topic or theme. Does the topic or theme fill a hole in what’s out in the market? Will this topic or theme still be relevant in two years’ time since it may take a while for the book to find its niche on the market?
Word Count: This can be important for consistency. Not an exact word-count maybe, but a specific high and low would even out the length of the pieces and add to the unity of the anthology.
Basic rules for submissions: Who can submit and what type of content would be acceptable? Will there be a fee offered to the writers and how much will it be? How should the authors format and send their entries? What is the full contact information of the authors submitting entries? What is the time frame for submissions? Who are the judges?
Who will write the foreword, the authors list, and the contents?
Now that the submissions have been coming in, you and/or the initial judges might read the entries as they arrive, which will avoid a pile-up or you may wait until the submissions are closed. If you choose the latter, make sure you have a good deal of time before making an announcement of the winners.
As you and the judges read the entries, each entry should be checked for the required genre, topic, and word count. Taking notes on each entry will help in the final judging. After the final judging, you’ll need to rank the best entries and decide which ones will go into the book. Usually, the highest ranking entries go in the beginning and at the end of the volume.
Then, after all that and before the actual marketing, you'll need to send the contracts to the authors.
Putting together an anthology is challenging work, but it is also an honor and a pleasure, and with good planning, it may end up becoming a great opportunity for everyone involved.
Until next time! 
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 Enjoy!
A Few WdC works published in Anthologies
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 This Issue's Tip: An anthology may mean different things to different cultures. For example:
“In East Asian tradition, an anthology was a recognized form of compilation of a given poetic form. It was assumed that there was a cyclic development: any particular form, say the tanka in Japan…”
The quote is from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthology
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