Sunday, September 4, 2016

Anthologies

I speak with people at all of the shows I attend as well as anytime I mention I am an author about different aspects of the writing process. There are a range if types that come to me from readers (possibly one of my favorite groups), indie publishers, editors and of course other writers. Just like when I was beginning, though I am still a novice in most respects, I have had several writers ask me about ways to get my work out there for people to read.

There are far more ways to get your work in front of readers than I even know about but I would like to share a few of the ones I have been able to take advantage of; giveaways, sales, social media teasers and ads, writers groups, attending shows and cross-promotions with other authors. I am going to share one or two in each of the next few posts in order to look a little more in depth at what I have learned. This one is all about cross-promoting with a focus on the first way I was shown to join additional writers, anthologies.

Anthologies are a collection of stories contributed by a number of different authors. I am the founder of Rescue Me - Animal Anthology which is a gathering of poems and short stories that follow the theme of animal rescue and adoption. I have already published volume one and am preparing to publish the second book, our feline edition, later this year. All of the contributing authors have the option to receive a free ebook copy or a paperback for a nominal fee while also getting credit as a contributing author. It is not how I began but I have taken part in many and continue to do so in attempts to widen my audience.

You can find out about different anthologies looking for submissions by simply googling them or by using some of the other suggestions like writers groups or social media writing organizations. There are books that will accept anyone that submits as long as the submission fits the theme like Rescue Me or Rock & Roll Saved My Soul as well as ones that you submit to but then you may or may not be accepted into. One of my local writers groups has an anthology that has a group of judges that goes through all of the submissions picking out the ones they feel are best to be published under their name. Then there are anthologies like Chicken Soup for the Soul that only accepts select contributions but pays the authors for the ones they use.

Once your work has been accepted and gets published in an anthology you can help share the book and promoted yourself as a contributing author while also having the other writers push the books as well. By combining the reach of every person that has a piece in the book your work can be seen by a significantly larger group than if you were to just publish a short story yourself. It can be a great deal of work to write, edit and submit to all of the anthologies that interest you but the learning experiences and promotional opportunities can far exceed the efforts to be included. What are some anthologies you have participated in if any?

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