Moderated by: Arielle Haughee
Anthologies have become more popular in recent years. Readers love the quick fix of a short story and the variety these collections have to offer. It’s also an excellent way for new authors to get exposure and experience in the publishing industry.
We go behind the scenes with Laura Perez of Palmas Publishing, Valerie Willis of Battle Goddess Productions, and Arielle Haughee of Orange Blossom Publishing, who all feature an anthology series with their respective presses.
Q: Why did you decide to publish an anthology?
Laura: I wanted to do something to help other authors. An anthology gives a writer the opportunity to share their work exponentially through other writers. I love thrillers and wanted to see how others wrote in the same genre.
Valerie: I wrote this great story that I loved, but it was such an oddball dark humor piece I couldn’t find an existing anthology that would take it. So, I decided to invite some authors to take a stab at a dark humor short story and pulled together an anthology, thus giving it a home.
Arielle: In 2017, I was lucky enough to be included in five different anthologies. Each one was so much fun—from the variety of stories I got to write, to meeting the other authors, to the group excitement on pub day. I loved the community feel that came with doing an anthology. I had an idea for several months that wouldn’t pipe down so now I am doing it.
Q: What is your particular anthology series about?
Laura:Thrill of the Hunt is a collection of stories that vary in genre but are all related to a hunt of some kind. The theme is interpreted differently by each author leading to a wonderful mix of stories. TOTH 1 and TOTH 2 were individual short stories that ranged from outright creepy to urban fantasy to horror and psychological suspense. The third Thrill of the Hunt, titled The Hunted: Welcome to Whitebridge is a bit different—we had a bit of fun with this one. It takes place in a town called Whitebridge where mysterious disappearances abound. For that one, I gave folks a general outline of the setting and some characters and let them write from there. The uniqueness in all of them is the authors themselves. The next book, coming out summer 2018, also has a central theme: urban legends. It will be fun to see how this one comes together.
Valerie: The Demonic Anthologies aims to always be dark and humorous on many levels. I wanted something that resonated with the feel of Halloween: dark and fun. Our first book, Demonic Wildlife, has stories featuring animals who’ve gone dark from cats to bunnies to koalas. In 2018, we’ll be publishing Demonic Household. Think Alexa, K-cups, and Roombas, except possessed. I am thinking 2019 will be Demonic Classics—there are so many different ideas for dark themes!
Arielle: How I Met My Other is a collection of unique, funny, amazing, and unforgettable true stories of how people met their significant other. For the first volume, I am focusing on romantic relationships about all kinds of couples. We are accepting submissions now. Future volumes will have different themes that may not necessarily be romantic in nature but about finding a different kind of important “other” in people’s lives.
Q: Where did you get the idea for your series?
Laura: There is a wonderful event for indie authors and publishers I attend—Indie Bookfest. In 2015, I was a featured author and met so many great folks I wanted to write with them. Many of the authors in the first two books are people I met there.
Valerie: It all started with a meme about a manatee. It inspired this funny story about a little girl and a manatee asking her to “burn it all down.” I read it at an open mic and it became a huge favorite. I thought people would like more stories like that one.
Arielle: My husband does a lot of networking with his job and I would accompany him for some of the events. My go-to question when talking to a new couple was always to ask how they got together. People light up when they tell their stories and they were always so funny and interesting to me. I would retell them to my friends and realized other people love how-we-got-together stories, too.
Q: What gets you excited about a submission?
Laura: The submission itself—someone took the time to create and submit something for my anthology.
Valerie: Since I am asking for some really weird stipulations, the variety I still get stuns me. I never know if they lean more on the comedy or the horror aspects until I read them. Some are great fun until the climax of the story takes you down a left turn and you’re not laughing anymore.
Arielle: Emotion. These stories are all about emotion and when I have some serious feelings while reading, I love it. I can also tell when someone has really taken the time to give me something quality. There is one I just read where the author told his grandparents’ story. The historical detail was incredible—I know he did a significant amount of research to get everything right. I am so flattered when an author gives that much of their time and hands off their hours and hours of hard work to me. It’s quite a gift.
Q: Is there anything that makes you instantly say “no thanks?”
Laura: If they do not get the premise at all. Better to say no than to be sorry later. It just may not fit in with what I am asking for.
Valerie: I ask for as clean a manuscript as possible. If there is a ton of editing and polishing needed on a story, I won’t accept it. I am a one-person show for pulling this together, so I need the authors to do their very best. They get to claim their item/subject and I give them a good six months to write and edit. As a fellow author, I know they can submit a clean and polished piece.
Arielle: I have a 3,000 word minimum for a reason. People often get caught up in telling what happened instead of showing the reader. I want to be there with the couple, see what they are seeing, feel what they are feeling. I want to be dropped smack dab in the middle of it, not told about what happened like it’s a sports replay. So my instant “no thanks” isn’t necessarily the exact word count, it’s if the writer is telling me what happened instead of showing. But I have noticed a pattern of under-the-minimum submissions that do just that.
Q: What hang ups have you had during the publication process?
Laura: Completed and edited submissions. Having specific timelines in place is very important. There is always one person who pushes the boundaries and delays publication.
Valerie: Finding the time needed closer to launch day to proof and review the piece. It’s a slow process until you have to pull everything together and start promoting like crazy!
Arielle: Balancing what I know authors want from my own experience and what I want or need as the publisher. I also tend to stress myself out: “How am I ever going to get (step 2) done?” Does step two. “How am I ever going to get (step 3) done?” Does step three. I need to learn to relax more.
Q: Where can we learn more about your anthology series?
Laura: www.facebook.com/TOTHanthology and www.leperez.com.
Valerie: Demonic Wildlife can be found on Amazon exclusively in paperback and for Kindle. Look out for the second installment this August for Demonic Household. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074WNVZCD.
Arielle: www.orangeblossombooks.com/how-i-met-my-other.html and https://www.facebook.com/metmyother/. We also have an Instagram account for the series with the name how_i_met_my_other.
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