Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Getting picked for an anthology

We very frequently have calls for a themed anthology, be it the current call for a space opera story or the recent call for the bondage-themed anthology (Binding Ties! Coming this September! grin) or any of our many other anthologies.

Personally, I love anthologies. My reader self loves them for the theme, and the variety of voices, and the bite-sized reads are perfect for a quick fix. My editor self loves the chance to work with Samhain authors I don’t usually get to work with and the opportunity to discover brand-spanking new authors – each of the anthologies I’ve done have included at least one previously unpublished author.

So, I’d like to offer a few tips to help you find yourself included in an upcoming anthology.

It's a very pretty vignette

It took me a while to decide what to write about in the first of the new Editors Mondays series. I went through a couple of ideas, and then, I was watching Top Design and Jonathan Adler, one of the judges, said something that really rang true for me. The designers were given $1500 to spend in a gardening centre and told to create a corner. No more instructions than that.

A few created a full-on setting, complete with seating area and a function. A few just worked on their floral arrangements, hoping that pretty would sell with the judges. And when the judges stopped at one of the pretty, I heard. “It’s a very lovely vignette, but so what? I’m bored.”

Strangers in the Night Valentine's Anthology

I’m pleased to announce that the following stories have been selected for the Strangers in the Night Valentine’s Day Anthology.

Torn Hearts, Bonnie Dee
Like a Thief in the Night, Bettie Sharpe
Erotics Anonymous, Veronica Wilde

The competition was incredibly tough and there were some awesome entries, so this was a very difficult decision. Thank you to everyone who entered. :D

Trust in me

By now, I’m pretty sure you’ve all seen the kerfuffle happening on many of the romance review blogs. I’m not going to spread the linky love, because if you haven’t heard about it, my advice is to just stay out of it.

Breaking all the Rules

I had an interesting conversation at my day job the other day that became a great launching point for this post. In that job, we edit to four style guides, and they don’t always agree with each other. (and that isn’t at all confusing. grin)

In this specific instance, I suggested changes that were completely the opposite to another editor’s markups, and when the writer came back, confused, I had to tread a very fine line in saying one or the other of us was wrong. In fact, the reality was, we were both right. In the original edit, the editor cited one of our guides as her reasoning for the change. The thing is, while her change followed the rule, the change made the sentence clunky and awkward and hard to read. And when what’s being read is a how-to manual about installing a very sensitive piece of electronic equipment, the last thing you want to be is clunky and awkward.