I'm not on FB anymore. I got rid of it a while ago. However, I was able to chat with somebody earlier, but soon after we began loosing power every few minutes. That played havoc with my computer and I had to step away for a few hours.
You guys have been busy already, I see.
1. I like the idea of print, but offset is rather expensive. Most of the POD's I have picked up have been fine, if a little bit meh - nothing wrong with them, but nothing which gets me really excited. I would say to go with an ebook first, then (if things go well enough) to at least consider a short print run. I want something in my hands more than I need another file clogging up my computer - and I already have upwards of a hundred books in to read which I have downloaded.
The most common worry about print is cost. I'm working on some ideas to get few dollars in the project so we can have some printed books up front. Personally, I figure printed books are good for marketing.
2. If FB is not an option, then everyone can think about chat. Mibbit is my client of choice as it isn't ugly, and is (generally) able to hold a connection when things are going wrong here. My connection is abysmal at the best of times.
AW Chat is perfect. Plus, I can access it through Chatzilla and log the convo so everybody else can read what we're talking about. It saves time.
3. I like themes as much as anyone, but a loose theme is better than a tight one - if people want to diverge off on a tangent, then that should be at least considered. Also, from knowledge of a few of the things I have participated in previously, the way people approach a concept can be quite a bit wider than anyone expects, so a degree of latitude to tone and length should be in place - it may seem strange to include gothic, splatter and mundane in one collection, but readers have had this range in pro titles over the years (check out the Peter Haining collections for an idea of the variety you can get away with).
I would ask that everybody have a look at the guidelines of anthos they like and see how they handle the various aspects of dealing with a theme. That's what I'm doing right now. This will help us decide how we want to handle this. Hopefully, we'll have a guidelines page we can all agree upon.
4. It is a bit early to have this conversation, but can someone give a hint at the complete length of the project so we know how much room we have to fill? It is all very well asking for images, poems, whatever to fill out the antho, but if just a couple of the shorts run long, then we get into problems if we have to put this in paperback. Also, are the contents going to be B&W or color (which will affect cost as well), and what is the feeling about full-bleed? Printing to the edge of the paper is another problem which can add cost and time...
Not sure yet about this.
5. Is tying together a few of the stories with references to other shorts in the antho, and playing with meta concepts, something which is going to annoy people, or are you cool with other writers playing with your toys?
Interesting question. I'm not sure. Let's see what others have to say.
Oh, and while I am thinking about things, because I don't have enough to do from day to day (feel the sarcasm bleeding from my fingertips), are we doing this as a one-off, or are people excited about this enough to make it a yearly outing? If you guys want to make it something more ongoing in nature, it might be a good idea to get in touch (politely) with people on the board who have experience of doing ongoing anthologies.
First, I think an antho is a great idea.
I think we'll have to do this on our own. However, we have an extremely marketable product set to come out at the best time. If the marketing is right, we should be able to overcome a lot of obstacles.
As a reader, I like the flow found in a themed collection - when it's done well. Themed collections I've read that have not been done so well have been borderline redundant in their plots/characters - someting we'll have to find a way to avoid.
Yeah, this was brought up by Soapy as well. We'll have to figure out a way to avoid a dozen subs with the same plot twists, etc. I've got a couple of ideas to sort of help folks gauge what direction others are headed towards.
Fantastic idea! Sketches between the selections or on the title page of each selection would be neat.
We've got some good artists floating around here. I think many of them would do well with a theme in the horror genre.
Eight months - do-able.
Once we get a few of the foundation issues set, like guidelines, size, etc. we'll be able to set a schedule that will allow us to achieve this goal. I'm terrified of a frantic, last-minute dash to the finish.
Questions:
1) How involved do we want to be with each other's work - like editing/critting involved?
Yeah, this is a good one. Beta reading the competition might be a problem for some. But, I'm sure we all could find beta readers not involved with this project.
B) Do we want writers to submit stories to SYW under an antho heading? I plan on asking a mod, once we have the foundations settled a bit, if we could get a sub-forum on SYW were ID's were stripped off and folks could vote. If we go that route. If not, then we could keep that forum only with a small number of people, who are on the committee, password protected. That's another issue we'll have to discuss and come to consensus about. Which way do you feel is best?
C) Do we want writers to independently be responsible for their own editing? I would say Yes, because that's how it is with other publications. If it needs to be cleaned up, we can always ask the writer to do it before the final go-ahead. But the expectation needs to be that we want it polished.
2) Re: avoiding redundency - Pesonally, I'd rather know at the rough draft stage whether or not I've landed on a smilar tract as someone else in the antho but do we really want to look at a slew of roughs? I'd hate to be told/have to tell somebody that all the work they put into making their final copy shine was for naught, that their work and another writer's ring a bell too similar to be in the same compilation.
My idea is to have a poll with all sorts of plot-tupes related to this project. I.E., haunted food, food that really stays, mutated by food, etc. This should take a lot of the guessing out. I hope. Or, you could just say it in a forum someplace. "I'm subbing a short story about _____" and see who pipes up.
Or it could be that the anthos I've read with selections similar enough to make me double check the authors/titles were just bad examples - which could be, the ones I'm thinking of were in small presses, since closed.
Food is a pretty broad theme though, so it's probably nothing to really worry about.
Food is broad AND marketable. Between the growing, making, eating, digesting and wasting, there's a lot that can happen.
3) Story length - flash, short, novella? Any and all of the above?
We've been shooting this around the forum and in chat. Flash and short sounds best. I vote for under 5K words, but some feel under 4K. What do you feel is best? As for novellas....well, we might consider allowing one, depending on space, etc. That would be a tough call, though.
That's all the cobwebs have caught so far. I'll give it some more thought though.
Does that link work for anyone else? Or is it just me that it won't open for?
Most likely I won't be there. But I honestly never know when my schedule will open for stuff.I'll figure this all out eventually. In the mean time, I get off work at 8pm CST and I'm off Sunday. I realize that's a super-busy day for most but if somebody wants to hook up in chat, lemme know and I'll work it into the schedule.
4. It is a bit early to have this conversation, but can someone give a hint at the complete length of the project so we know how much room we have to fill? It is all very well asking for images, poems, whatever to fill out the antho, but if just a couple of the shorts run long, then we get into problems if we have to put this in paperback. Also, are the contents going to be B&W or color (which will affect cost as well), and what is the feeling about full-bleed? Printing to the edge of the paper is another problem which can add cost and time...
Has anyone mentioned going through CreateSpace for print? I put the text for Hatchings through there and it sailed right through (I flubbed the cover by not following directions though and providing sufficient border space). I've formatted for Amazon, Nook, Smashwords and CreateSpace so I can help there.
I'm in, however you need me.
Dot the 'i's cross the 't's.
I've been lurking this thread the past couple days and while I may have no publishing experience a few things popped into my mind.
Are you going to only accept AWer submissions? Is the process going to be selective, or more inclusive? Are you going to select as you go or have all submissions ten a reading period?
As long as you have an active account on AW, like yourself, then you are an AW member.
Someone mentioned they would like to know if there story is on track. Maybe if submissions were rolling you could post exceptions and a one sentence teaser of te story.
We've been talking about various ways to address this. I'm sure we'll figure something out. Perhaps a poll to let folks know the track they are on. People vote and then see how they're doing in relation to others.
I'm not sure that's wise. You might want to talk to both Mac and poetinahat about their experiences. Like sooner rather than later.
Someone mentioned they would like to know if there story is on track. Maybe if submissions were rolling you could post exceptions and a one sentence teaser of te story.