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Anthology

National Poetry Month - Anthology

April first is an important date for a couple of reasons - and it's no April Fool's joke!  April 1st is the deadline to submit poetry to the 2023 Poetry Anthology - Exploration.   It is also the start of National Poetry Month.  I chose April to feature the poetry anthology for this specific reason.  What better way to celebrate this writing form?  There is an annual challenge as part of National Poetry Month, and that is National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).  The challenge is to write one p
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One More Week!

Well, a week and a half   It looks like we have a great turnout so far for the poetry anthology! Let's keep those submissions coming in!  There's still time to get some poetry written and submitted for anyone who wants to participate.  If anyone needs some inspiration, be sure to check out the Poetry Writers Club.  Feel free to PM me with any questions.     
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There's Still Time!

The deadline to submit entries for the poetry anthology is approaching fast, but there's still plenty of time to either start writing or put the finishing touches on your poetry submissions.  Keep in mind that the link to the theme can be tangential - simply exploring poetry itself or its various forms meets the criteria!  Links must be posted in the Writer's Club thread by midnight EST on April 1st.  Please PM me with any questions.    
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National Poetry Month Feature

I chose April to feature the Poetry Anthology – Exploration, because April is National Poetry Writing Month.  The idea behind NaPoWriMo is simply to encourage people to write poetry.  It coincides with National Poetry Month, which celebrates poetry in all its forms. NaPoWriMo is also a poetry writing challenge, where poets are asked to write thirty poems – or one per day – during the month of April. Quite a few GA members have taken up this challenge over the years and completed it successf
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Anthology Poetry

This week I thought I'd feature the poetry submissions from the last two anthologies.  Hopefully these will provide inspiration to work on your own poetry for this year's Exploration anthology.   Just a reminder that submissions are due April 1st, which leaves about a month and a half, so get writing!       
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Poetry Prompts

No, I didn't mix up the days and post the wrong blog  Even though Friday is Prompt Day, I thought it would be a good idea to feature a series of prompts created by GA poet @AC Benus several years ago.  These prompts are a perfect stepping stone for anyone thinking of giving poetry a try, and are also useful exercises for more experienced poets.  Start at the beginning, for each prompt builds upon the rest.  Post your results here, or else in the Poetry Writers Club.  There are a lot of great res
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2023 Poetry Anthology - Announcement

Due to feedback I've received about the poetry anthology, the guidelines have been revised to eliminate the limitation on number of poems submitted.  There is now a maximum word count instead.  The one poem per chapter rule has also been abolished, so multiple poems may be posted in one "chapter", with a maximum of five chapters.  Please review the revised guidelines and let me know if there are any questions.  I have also created threads in the anthology section of the Writer's Club for discuss
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2023 Poetry Anthology - Exploration - Guidelines

It's been eight years since GA has featured a poetry anthology, so if you'd like to see them continue, please consider participating and supporting this one. April is National Poetry Writing Month, so this is a perfect way to celebrate!  The guidelines for participation are featured below and will also be posted in the Anthology portion of the Writer's Circle.    2023 Poetry Anthology - Due: April 1, 2023 The 2023 Theme is “Exploration” Feel free to interpret the theme in any
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Poetry Revisited

I'm still working on fine-tuning the details for this year's poetry anthology - Exploration, so stay tuned to next week's blog for further information.  In the meantime, I thought I would feature our last poetry anthology, which was eight years ago!  Hopefully this will inspire some of you to explore the realm of poetry and participate in this year's anthology.     
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2023 Anthology Theme - And the Winner Is....

I'd like to extend a huge thank you to all who voted in the anthology theme selection survey. I'm pretty blown away by the turnout we received! It was quite a nail-biting race, especially in the beginning, but eventually a winner leapt ahead.  So without further ado, here's the announcement we've all been waiting for...    Leap of Faith  Please remember that the link to the theme can be tangential - it doesn't have to smack you in the face, as long as it's in there somewhere
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There's Still Time to Vote!

Happy Holidays!  Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, Festivus, or something else, I wish you the best the holiday season has to offer!  A large part of the US will be facing a pretty nasty winter storm this weekend, my area included, so fingers crossed everyone can still celebrate as planned.    Thank you to all who have voted in the anthology theme selection poll so far.  The poll will remain open until midnight EST on 12/27/22, so there's still time to vote if yo
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We Need Your Vote!

The anthology selection committee did a great job with suggesting themes and then narrowing them down to a top five for the GA membership to vote on.  It was difficult selecting our favorites, but we have five great themes to choose from.  One of these will be our theme for the 2023 anthology! I'd like to extend a huge thank you to @Aditus@kbois @Mrsgnomie @northie @raven1 and @CassieQ for their input and discussion regarding next year's theme.  You guys are awesome!  Voting will remain ope
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Seize the Day!

Anyone who's watched Dead Poets Society is familiar with the phrase carpe diem.  Even if you haven't watched this iconic Robin Williams movie, Myr featured this phrase as one of his Words of the Day last week.  Carpe diem was also the theme for the Summer 2009 Anthology.  So seize the day and reacquaint yourself with the stories from this past anthology.    https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/category/22-2009-summer-carpe-diem/  
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2023 Anthology Theme Selection

Thank you to all who volunteered to serve on the anthology theme selection committee!  I had six people volunteer, so all six will be included on the committee.  I have contacted these individuals, and we will begin the process of selecting and narrowing down themes for the GA membership at large to vote on.   This process will take place over the next two weeks, December 1-14, and on December 15th I will open up voting to the GA membership to ultimately decide the theme for the 2023 anthology. 
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More Anthology Voting

Based on the results of the polls I created a couple of weeks ago, I have created two new polls to further narrow down our choices for next year as far as number and type of anthologies/contests, and what you would like to see as far as themes go.  The polls will be open for two weeks, then will be closed.    
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Writing for a Theme

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the polls I posted last week about the number of themes and anthologies for next year.  There was some interesting discussion, and I will be taking a close look at all the comments and the poll results this weekend and will open up further discussion in next week's anthology blog.  This week, we have a guest blog post written by @CassieQ about her take on writing for themes.  She's given us some great food for thought when it comes to writing for an
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The Final Countdown

Today is the last day to submit stories to the proof team for inclusion in the anthology. I feel like we need a New Year’s Eve type countdown as we approach midnight, EST, complete with champagne and confetti.  Of course, there’s still work for the proof team to do, but we’ll be able to take a break soon.  Maybe.    So the big question with this year’s anthology is “did we reach the goal of twenty stories?”.  Well, I’m going to let the question go unanswered until the antho goes
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We Need Your Support!

The anthologies are an important part of GA, and have always been eagerly anticipated by both authors and readers.  We’re in the final stretch for this year’s anthology, with the deadline for submission to the proof team a week away.  That’s still plenty of time to complete the final edits and get stories to me by or on September first. I’m going to let the final number of stories be a surprise, so you’ll have to wait until it goes live to find out if we met our goal of at least twenty stories.
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Does Size Really Matter?

A couple of questions that come up for discussion frequently here are “How long should I make my chapters?” and “How long should my story be?”.  The truth is, there is no right answer.  My response would be, “Long enough to tell what you want to tell.”  It’s a bit of a glib response, but I’m going to go more in-depth in this blog post.  In terms of the anthology, there is a right answer.  It needs to be between 1,000 and 25,000 words. So how do you decide if your story is going to be a 1k
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Proofreading vs Editing

Proofreading vs Editing No, it’s not a writing smackdown, but two different parts of the writing process that go hand-in-hand.  Since the proof team is working in overdrive at the moment, I thought it would be a good time to rehash the role we play and the difference between a proofread and an edit.  Editing is an in-depth process that looks at all aspects of the story.  So in addition to punctuation, spelling, grammar, language-usage, and the technical aspects of writing, a good edit
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Marketing Anthology Stories

Last week, I gave my perspective on the anthology and why I write so many stories for them.  This week, we get a different perspective from @Carlos Hazday. Carlos shares his beginning as a writer and also gives some great advice about marketing.      Carlos Hazday After joining Gay Authors in July 2013, my membership lagged unused until I became active a year later. A newbie with zero writing experience, I gained confidence slaving over weekly prompts for a bit. Maybe not actually
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Writing for Anthologies

I wrote my first anthology story for GA for the summer 2014 anthology, The Backup Plan.  It was the start of my Max and Elliot series and hooked me on writing short stories.  I’ve participated in every anthology since then, sometimes with multiple submissions, for a total of 27 stories.  I’m planning on keeping the streak going with the upcoming Anniversary anthology with at least one story.  I thought I’d give some insight as to why I continue writing for all the anthologies and the proce
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Poetry Anthologies

While the anthology is now a combination of poetry and stories, in the past, site poets participated in poetry-exclusive anthologies.  I thought I'd feature a couple of those and hopefully get some of our poets inspired to contribute to the anthology.  I know of at least a couple of poetry submissions for this year, so let's have a solid showing to honor GA's anniversary!    https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/category/37-2011-poetry-anthology-into-the-unknown/ https://gayauthor
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Anthology Favorites

There are currently 781 anthology stories in the GA story archive, so there’s sure to be something in there for everyone.  It’s hard to pick a favorite out of that many stories, but in the nine years I’ve been on the site, there are a few that stand out to me.  The Bachelor Farmer by Cole Matthews is the first story that comes to mind when I think about favorite anthology stories.  It’s a unique blend of history and characterization and has stuck with me since I read it back in 2014. 
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Anthology Challenge

I’d like to issue a challenge to site authors/poets.  Since the anthology this year is celebrating GA’s 20th Anniversary, let’s see if we can get twenty stories/poems submitted.  This will also put us over the 800 mark for anthology stories on the site.  Let’s thank Myr for creating such an amazing place by making this an anthology to remember. Who’s with me?       
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