What Does it Actually Mean to "Edit" an Anthology?

8/8/2016

Today is release day for my anthology Speculative Story Bites, and I'm fully aware that most of the people in my life have no idea what I actually do as an editor and publisher. My colleague and friend Rhonda Parrish also wrote a great blog on this topic, answering the question, “So like, you just fix all the typos and then you get to have your name on the cover?”

The short answer: no, that's not what an anthology editor does at all.

First of all, this particular anthology is a bit of an oddball. Before I took over as editor-in-chief of World Weaver Press, I was reading submissions for another anthology we were supposed to publish. It was, however, to be the third in a series of anthologies, and when the plug got pulled on the second in that series, I couldn't exactly go ahead with publishing the third. Speculative Story Bites contains several stories I salvaged from that submissions period, several I salvaged from the other cancelled project, and several that I solicited directly from World Weaver Press authors. It's a bit of a mish-mash of stories, but I adore each and every one of them, and I hope readers will find at least a few they love. Most anthologies don't have that kind of complicated background, but this one is pretty special to me because it does.

So what does an anthology editor do? Without going into too much technical detail, here are the basic steps that an editor and/or publisher has to go through to bring an anthology to your bookshelf or Kindle.

Conceive a Theme or Angle
Since an anthology is a collection of short stories by various authors, it is usually centered around a theme. That theme may be broad—the theme of Speculative Story Bites is "speculative fiction under 4000 words"—or it may be narrow-- for example, Rhonda Parrish's anthology Corvidae is focused on fantasy stories about crows, magpies, and other "corvid" birds, and Kate Wolford's anthology Frozen Fairy Tales is all about fairy tale retellings set in winter. At this point, the editor and publisher must also decide on guidelines for writers, including how long or short a story can be, what genres are acceptable, and how much writers will be paid.

Solicit Stories or Open for Submissions
Soliciting means approaching authors individually to ask if they are willing to contribute a story. Opening to public submissions requires posting the guidelines to market websites such as Duotrope and Submission Grinder, sharing the call for submissions on social media, passing around handbills at conventions, hanging flyers in hipster coffee shops, or however else you plan to reach writers.

Read Slush and Send Rejections or Acceptances
"Slush" refers to the stories from a public open submission period. For the anthology that Speculative Story Bites was originally supposed to be, we received nearly 350 submissions. Some, I only read the first few paragraphs and could tell they were either not well-crafted, or not right for my vision. Others, I had to read multiple times to decide. Most stories received a copy-and-pasted form rejection, but some received personalized feedback about why they were not accepted.

Narrow Down the Shortlist
Once I picked the stories that were well-crafted and fit my vision, then came the gut-wrenching decisions about which ones to actually include. Maybe some are too similar to each other, maybe one just didn't fit as well as I thought, maybe another wasn't as memorable. These are the rejections I really hate to send. Usually at World Weaver Press, we seek a second opinion from another editor to help with this stage. For Speculative Story Bites, I had help from assistant editor Laura Harvey, as well as then-intern Rae Oestreich.

Issue Contracts and Payments
Payment terms should already be included in the submission guidelines, so writers know what to expect, but there are important details that need to be agreed upon about when payment will be issued, as well as what rights the publisher has to the story and for how long.

Edit the Stories
There are three stage of editing:
1) Developmental Editing: "This plot point doesn't make sense."
2) Line Editing: "This sentence doesn't make sense."
3) Copy Editing: "This comma shouldn't be here."
The way I prefer to do it, the primary editor for a book does the first two, and someone else (another editor or an intern) does the third. That means the very thing that most people associate with "editing" is not even the responsibility of the editor whose name is on the cover of an anthology.

Arrange the Stories
There's an art to deciding which story goes first or last in an anthology, and how to order them throughout for balance and emotional impact.

Format the Book
Often, this responsibility falls to the publisher rather than the editor, but since I'm both for this anthology, it's all on me. Formatting an ebook uses HTML markup language, and looks something like this inside:

Speculative Story Bites will not be available in paperback, but for anthologies that are, it requires a separate document designed according to the printer's specifications. Here, we get to have tons of fun with headers, section breaks, margins, kerning, leading, gutters, and various other typographical details that most people don't even realize exist.

Create Cover Art
Again, this is not usually the editor's responsibility, but the editor may at least have to contribute ideas or feedback on cover options. I made the silly little cover for Speculative Story Bites myself, and it was much simpler than the covers I made for Campaign 2100, Char, and Murder in the Generative Kitchen, largely because it is ebook only. Creating a full-wrap cover for a paperback is much more complicated. (We don't even mess with hardbacks...)

Upload to Bookselling Venues
Our books are sold at Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, Kobo, and sometimes iTunes and Omnilit. Each one has slightly different requirements and systems. iTunes, for example, won't accept any file that includes Amazon links. Omnilit needs the cover to be a certain number of pixels. Amazon requires a different file format than all the others. Aside from just uploading the file and hitting "publish," this stage also requires selecting appropriate keywords and categories, and making sure the book description and author names all show up correctly.

Market the Book
Once you've created an anthology, you still have to convince people to read it. This involves some combination of sending copies to review outlets, bloggers, and street teams, hosting giveaways, sending out email newsletters, attending conventions, participating in blog tours, social media posting, paid advertising (preferably with effective venues such as Bookbub or EReaderNewsToday), and various other types of voodoo.

I hope this has provided some insight into how an anthology gets put together, and why an editor or anthologist may give you a death glare if you assume it's all about typos, Have questions? Leave a comment!

16 Comments

David Russell link

5/15/2017 05:44:29 am

Hello Sarena,
I am currently producing an anthology, and my astute editor shared this post by you with me to which I am quite thankful! It is my first time into this writing venture. I am curious to know if you have ever had authors decide not to publish their story in an anthology, and make that known in the permission letter?

Also, what is the industry feeling on the appearance or lack thereof of author blurbs and/or after-words proceeding their stories? Is listing their blog or website suitable enough?
I am paying them with a free copy of their eBook, but have been in anthology situations, where if one wants a copy, purchasing your own is the only way you will derive one.
Once again, thank you for this informative post and your time.
David Russell

Sarena Ulibarri link

5/15/2017 06:35:02 am

Hi David,
Thanks for your comment, and I'm glad the article was helpful! Sure, an author can certainly decline once they've been accepted to an anthology, although if the payment terms and rights are presented up front in the call for submissions, they are unlikely to.
The term "author blurb" usually refers to short promotional endorsements from big-name authors, but I think what you mean here is the author's bio. Personally, I don't really like after-words because the reader needs to be able to make up their own mind about the story, and being told about the inspiration or author's intended meaning can disrupt that. But many anthology editors include them, and I've written a couple myself as an author and enjoyed doing it. Some readers may love it. As for the bio, I think it's important to include a brief third-person author bio in addition to a link to their blog or website. Readers may not click on a bare link, but if they see what else the author has published, or something personal about them that's intriguing, they're more likely to seek out that author's other work.
eBooks don't cost the publisher anything, so there's no reason not to give the authors a copy. Publishers should be aiming to get sales from readers, not make their money off of the authors purchasing copies of their own book. If you're not paying authors money for their stories, a contributor copy is absolutely necessary.
~Sarena

Paris AJ link

1/22/2018 10:41:16 am

Thank you. This was very helpful. Did you pay the authors? In your experience, which is better, paying authors up front, paying royalties, or giving a percentage of profits?

1/22/2018 05:14:30 pm

I'm glad this was helpful! Yes, I pay writers for anthology stories. I believe it is important to do so. I prefer paying up front, either a flat rate or a per-word rate. WWP has done some royalty-share anthologies, and I've had to send some of those authors royalty checks that are less than the value of the stamp on the envelope I send it in. With an active, collaborative marketing plan, that could work out very differently.

Anna Jailene Aguilar link

4/20/2018 06:31:01 am

Hello Sarena,

Thank you for this article. It is helpful and informative.

A co-curator and fellow author and I published an anthology on Amazon. We did all that you listed above except that we didn't really have the manuscript edited professionally. We paid an artist to paint/draw the cover image and hubby worked on Photoshop to design the cover. We contributed to the anthology as well. We named all the authors on the back cover. In front, my co-curator's and my name appeared on the front cover as "Contributing Editors". I was told by a bookstore owner and "professional editor" that we couldn't use the words "Contributing Editors" because we do not have an academic qualification in editing. The bookstore owner went as far as to say that it was fraud. The editor alluded to saying it was illegal. How accurate is that?

Now, I decided to release the anthology in South Africa, where I live. For this edition, my co-curator left me to take care of it on my own. I decided to add another story that a Jamaican author in the USA wrote when I challenged (invited?) her to write her retelling. She was late for the original deadline but she published on her blog and I re-blogged the five parts. A friend of mine found a mistake on my story and I found a mistake on my co-curator's story. I then decided to pay an editor to edit and because I'm a little lazy to do the formatting myself, and I thought I could help the editor by giving her additional income, and I can afford it, I contracted her to do the formatting. I did say I am changing the book cover. What do I write then on the front cover since my co-curator and I did not attend to the three stages of editing and the formatting? Can we keep the names of the authors/contributors on the back cover? Whose name/s appear in front? Surely, not the editor who did the three stages of edit? I plan to credit the editor on the copyright page. Can we then use our "Reimaginings Books" (like an imprint) in front?

I do hope you can help clarify this.

Thank you so much.

4/20/2018 12:55:12 pm

Hi Anna,

The term "contributing editor" is usually used in journalism rather than fiction publishing, so that might have been a bit confusing, but what the bookseller told you is way off base. You do not need any kind of academic credential to call yourself the editor of an anthology, and it is certainly not fraud. So, to answer your first question: not accurate at all, and I'm not sure why someone would try to claim that.

For the second part of your question, I will say that you do not necessarily have to credit everyone who had a part in the book on the front cover. If the editor you hired primarily did proofreading and formatting, then crediting them on the copyright page or the acknowledgements is fine—and you don't even really have to do that. (It's nice to, though.) The editor whose name appears on the front should be the one(s) primarily responsible for conceptualizing and curating the stories within. Author names can stay on the back, as you had them before. Be aware that you might need a new ISBN for this edition, if it has new material and other differences.

I hope that's helpful, and best of luck with your anthology!

If you're on Facebook, check out the group Books and Everything: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BooksandEverything/ The organizer is also in South Africa, and you might make some good connections in the group.

~Sarena

4/22/2018 07:32:20 am

Hello Sarena,

Thank you so much for the clarification. Your response is a tremendous help in going forward with the project. I am very grateful.

I have applied for the new ISBN here in South Africa as the ISBN supplied by CreateSpace when we published last year was for the Amazon paperback that didn't have the additional story. Thank you.

Best regards,
Anne

P.S. I did check the group and the two people who gave me the inaccurate information are members so that's a little off-putting. I realize I shouldn't let a few individuals discourage me from a possible good thing so I'll check back on the group sporadically to see if it will be beneficial. Thank you again.

4/22/2018 04:56:51 pm

Ah, that's unfortunate. (And I suspect I know who, now.)

Glad my clarifications were helpful for you!

4/23/2018 01:27:01 am

As I plunge into the writing and publishing world more and more, I realize that I need to distinguish between the well-meaning and otherwise. There are politics, just like the corporate world. Advice are everywhere and the amount of information on its own is enough to overwhelm me. I still have to figure out the truly helpful from those with hidden motives. I am happy that a fellow author I trust referred me to this post of yours.

kateshowalter

7/16/2018 12:14:50 pm

Hi Sarena,
Sorry for the belated post. I've a question that's bothered me for a while: Is it ethical to contribute one of your own stories to a fiction anthology if you're the editor?

At best, it seems icky and not in the best taste. For me, it skews the whole reason for the anthology: Was it just for self-promotion, after all?

Maybe I'm old-fashioned or deluded. Please let me know what you think.

7/16/2018 01:06:12 pm

This is a good question, and I have mixed feelings about it. Generally, when I see that an editor has included their own story in an anthology, it puts me off. I know that story didn't go through the same slush pile competition and editing that the others did. It's sort of the ultimate form of nepotism. I don't think it's unethical, but I tend to get that same sort of icky feeling you describe when I come across it.

However, I've actually read several anthologies that have almost changed my mind about this. For example, Elly Blue's story "Portlandtown" in her BIKETOPIA anthology was actually one of my favorites. The same goes for the stories by Claudie Arseneault and Brenda J. Pierson in the WINGS OF RENEWAL anthology they co-edited. And I've always loved the work by Samuel Peralta that he sometimes includes in his popular Future Chronicles anthologies.

So I think it can work, under the right circumstances. 1) The story has to be well-written, and well-edited. It's often easier to see flaws in other people's work than our own, which can be a downfall for those of us who are both editors and writers. 2) The story has to be in line with the anthology's overall theme—I read an antho recently where the editor had included their own story, and while it was a great story, it had almost nothing to do with the supposed theme! 3) It has to balance well with the other selected stories. 4) If an editor is including their own story, it should be somewhere in the middle, or last, in the anthology. The first story in an anthology is generally the strongest, so it would be bad form for an editor to make that statement about their story by placing it in that position.

That's my opinion. I've chosen not to include my own work in the anthologies I've edited, though it has been tempting. They would, in some ways, be easier to promote if I had.

7/17/2018 04:51:31 am

Thank you so much for your reply. Very helpful.

Bob

10/14/2019 11:52:02 pm

Hi Sarena!
I am editing/publishing my first anthology at the end of the year and this blog was super helpful. All the contributors were paid and signed contracts. I have a couple of questions that I'd love your opinion on.

The first one is about the editing. In an anthology, do you edit each story as needed and publish, or do you send revisions to the authors for their approval? It's in the contract that they give me permission to edit as needed. I feel like the process could become very complicated if I keep sending each story back and forth for approval and corrections.

The second question is about the order of the stories. This anthology has ten stories in it. Can you tell me the science behind how you sequence the stories? My thought is that it needs to start and end with the best stories, with the others interwoven in between. I'd love to hear your process!

Thanks so much!
Bob

10/15/2019 06:28:35 am

Thanks, Bob! I'm glad this was helpful to you.
Regarding edits: if it's anything to do with the content (i.e. adding, deleting, or changing actual words), always run it by the author, and be mindful about maintaining the author's voice. If it's something like a typo or punctuation (i.e. things that aren't really negotiable, and don't change the meaning of the words), then you don't necessarily have to run it by the author. (Some authors disagree with this, just so you know, and want to see every change.)

Regarding sequencing, I'm going to refer you to a podcast I did recently, where I talk about this very issue! https://storypunks.world/2019/06/14/47-part-1-ecopunk-with-world-weaver-press-editor-sarena-ulibarri/

Regina Medina Alvarado

9/6/2020 10:16:43 am

I had a few of my poems published in various Anthologies by the now defunct Poetry.com. Do I even need to mention those past publications in a book of my own making, even though I hold the copyright to my poems?

9/6/2020 01:07:15 pm

Generally, it's customary to credit the original publisher when it is a reprint, just something on the copyright page or acknowledgements page that says "originally published in x". However, since Poetry.com is a known vanity press, I don't think that's necessary in this situation.

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