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Anthology Changes Are Coming


Anthology Question  

24 members have voted

  1. 1. What prevented you from participating in the anthologies? (Choose all that apply)

    • Uninspired by the theme
      12
    • Ran out of time
      12
    • Wrote for a contest and not an anthology
      3
    • The addition of the Author Proof Team
      2
    • Story got too long for the anthology
      2
    • Was focused on current stories
      12
    • Technical Issues
      2
    • Forgot about the anthology
      8
    • Other *please comment and specify*
      6


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Over the last couple of years, I've noticed that the participation in the GA Anthologies have continuously dropped. In the past, we had much higher story counts than in recent years. Occasionally, one theme will have a lot of participation, but that's not usually the case. We have gone from having numbers in the mid/high teens and low twenties to generally single digits and low double digits. To put this into actual numbers for you:

 

2014

Spring - 14

Summer - 9

Fall - 18

Winter - 13

 

2015

Spring - 11

Summer - 8

Fall - 16

WInter - 11

 

2016

Spring - 9

Summer - 8

 

As you can see, especially last year, and this year, high participation is not the norm. And in the one anthology of 2015 that had higher numbers, three authors submitted multiple entries, but there were only 9 authors who participated. We're already making some changes to upcoming anthologies, but to finalize those and hopefully ensure more participation, I'd like your input on what may have prevented you from writing an anthology. Please take the poll and let me know.

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I have thought about taking part in the anthologies, but I've been busy with my other ongoing story. I did participate in the Christmas special and the Valentine's day one, so I think interest is there. Just not time.

 

Mostly when I write shorter things, it's after a flash of inspiration. These haven't happened so far, but I'm thinking it's because I knew there was no time. So not the 'fault' of the theme.

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I've been wondering about the lack of participation myself.  I admit to struggling with the theme of the Summer 2016 anthology, but the other themes I haven't had much of a problem with so far.  I really enjoy participating in the anthologies, so I look forward to seeing what changes are going to be implemented.  

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Time + Theme, but more the loss of time and forgetting about the anthologies altogether. Personally my motivation for writing is waning as it is, even with my usual stories, so I'm rarely going to step outside of those for the anthologies. That's my problems though.. :P But lately, the themes haven't been geared towards my type of story writing... 

 

Drama and Romance are the top two themes on site and it just seems that the themes aren't easily geared towards those. Not saying they should be, I know themes are discussed to be open to all genres.

 

Voting by members may be the problem? Especially votes cast by members that honestly don't participate in Anthologies determining what participants may write... (maybe I'm guilty of that as well). 

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I've voted with the answers I would have given if I hadn't participated for the first time in th Summer Anthology. My main problem is that I'm not very good at short stories and I rarely become inspired by a theme. Even in this case it was more that I had a story idea which fit into the theme, so that's why I submitted a story. This is a personal 'failing' and nothing to do with the anthology concept.

 

One possibility is to have one broad theme or two themes for the whole year and let readers submit in mid-spring and fall. And then spinkle in the occassional contest when enough people sign up to participate.

 

PS What was the original idea behind anthologies? And has the purpose changed?

Edited by Timothy M.
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So far I've attended two anthologies and that too this year. And I would have been miss this summer anthology because of my busy life schedule. But I thought, 'what the heck' and started to write about last moments. And my team helped a lot to.

 

I liked the journey until now, so may be I don't have any answer for this question. So I'll wait and see what the members from past will say... :)

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This time it was truly time for me. I've been busy (and sick a couple times) so when I did have time to write I focused on Falling Apart--and I'm behind on that. I had planned on trying to write one, but simply didn't have time.

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For me it's a time problem too. I mean I did participate since I started to write for GA, if I remember correctly my first story was for the Pandora's Box Anthology, but it's always close, especially when I have an ongoing story. 

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I'm with most people. Time is the biggest problem.

 

Maybe if there was only two a year?

 

Also I must admit to starting a story for one once and it went over the word limit very quickly.

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It's been partially time for me (I've been obviously absent for a while) but also the themes.  I just haven't found many that sound interesting or like something I would like to write about recently.  Thinking back on the themes this year, they seem very narrow, themes that have a wider interpretation may attract more attention.  

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 Time is the big issue for me as well.  Between writing my current GA story, writing for the publishing house I work with, and my day job, there is precious little time left :(  I do want to participate in more anthologies, though. They are incredibly fun!

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I remember when I joined GA, and not knowing anyone or anything really, I thought the Anthologies were by invite (I don't know why).  And I defo didn't think I was good enough to write for one. Possibly others feel that also-that they aren't talented enough to join in. 

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For those who wrote for a contest instead of an anthology. Could you give me some insight as to why you chose the contest over the anthology? Was it because of the contest that you did not write for an anthology? Had there NOT been a contest, would you have written a story for the anthology?

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I voted two reasons in the poll. I wrote in my first anthology as a way to branch out, and loved it. When the next one came along I was excited to participate once again. The theme was 'crossing the line' and I had my idea ready to go. Unfortunately, or fortunately, which ever way you look at it, that intended anthology turned into "Treading Water," which ended up being almost 50,000 words. Ooops. I was inspired lol. I did participate in the 'Secret Santa' contest, and loved it immensely, but couldn't find the time for the Valentine one. The same was true of 'wicked games.' I had a great idea, but with two stories, poetry, and life in general, I couldn't stretch myself anymore. If it means anything, this anthology inspired me too, and I intend to eventually use my idea for a story. I think the anthologies are terrific opportunities to try new directions, and I feel bad I've missed this one as well. This is my long-winded way of saying I couldn't find the time, mostly because I was wrapped up in my current new story.

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For those who wrote for a contest instead of an anthology. Could you give me some insight as to why you chose the contest over the anthology? Was it because of the contest that you did not write for an anthology? Had there NOT been a contest, would you have written a story for the anthology?

 

I entered the contest because it was anonymous.

 

The reviews and likes I got were because no one knew I had written that story. they were reviewing the story from a completely fresh point of view and not by comparing it to anything else I may have written. Although any like or review I get is special of course and I love to get them.

 

There was also the competitive element. Who doesn't want to try and win a prize, or see how their work measures up to other peoples?

 

I can't say whether I would have submitted the story as an anthology one instead, it would have depended on the themes I suppose.

 

I would be more likely to write for a contest than an anthology if that helps at all.

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For those who wrote for a contest instead of an anthology. Could you give me some insight as to why you chose the contest over the anthology? Was it because of the contest that you did not write for an anthology? Had there NOT been a contest, would you have written a story for the anthology?

I picked the Christmas contest because of time. If there wasnt a contest, yes i may have written for the anthology, depending on the theme. 

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I chose 'other.' Partly, because the anthologies aren't fleshed out enough. We have a title but no direction, no general theme to work with that ties into the title, and it's sort of like a fish flapping outside of water mindlessly trying to jump in. Which way do I go? Other than that... I believe there are too many anthologies for them to be taken seriously. Too many opportunities and the quality of the writing suffers, in my opinion.

 

I've written one anthology story for each year that I've been a member. I have been happy to do it, but it's hard work and takes a good amount of determination each time. So a writer really needs to be inspired to make the effort or they're just cranking out less than their best. And shouldn't the anthologies be considered a showcase venue for GA?

 

My other 'other' reason: I've been stuck on the 'Blackout' theme from last year. Yeah, I know, move on old man. The thing is, I have three ideas competing with each other in my head based on that particular theme—all in incomplete form. So, yeah, sometimes a person can become too inspired. Still, this is a one-off situation (rare), and I don't believe that this in any way negates anything I stated above.

Edited by Ron
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The last Anthology I completed was, "Road Trip," I was extremely happy with how the story developed, etc. I received only 6 reviews for it. So I was actually left thinking that maybe it wasn't as good as I thought... so maybe reader participation is also down? 

 

I just looked over that story again:

 

Reviews: 6

Likes: 10

General Views: 988

People who went on to view the actual document: less than 500. 

 

One chapter of my non-anthology gets double those numbers.. thankfully. :D But yes, those are not good numbers. 

Edited by Krista
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I have to address this differently, I don't think the themes are bad. I have been part of the anthology for the past three years.  I love it. However, this past year, we added two contests. This is taxing. It means we had five last year and then five this year. That makes it pretty hard to do. 

 

That being said, I'm a huge supporter of the anthologies. It lets us stretch our wings and try something different. We can also reach out to other audiences as Cazpedroso mentioned. We should consider keeping it limited to three or four.

 

Krista also makes a good point. We need to push these short stories to the group as an idea factory. There are some fantastic concepts and emotions expressed. We should work together to make the anthology an event.  I first started reading Pandoras Box anthology because Cassie mentioned it. I became hooked.

 

thats my two cents.  

 

Cole. :)

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However, this past year, we added two contests. This is taxing. It means we had five last year and then five this year. That makes it pretty hard to do. 

 

This was something we thought about and might account for one or two anthologies, but the downward trend started before we ever added contests, and there were no contests between the spring and summer anthologies and participation dropped even more. While there are 8 entries, there are actually only 7 participants.

 

Everyone is bringing up some great points, and some of the comments are reassuring me that the plans we have coming should definitely help with the problem.

 

Keep it coming! I really want to do everything I can to ensure that future anthologies are successful.

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I remember when I joined GA, and not knowing anyone or anything really, I thought the Anthologies were by invite (I don't know why).  And I defo didn't think I was good enough to write for one. Possibly others feel that also-that they aren't talented enough to join in. 

I bet this contributes more often than you'd think. In the submission procedures for the anthologies the point is made that the stories must be edited. This point is emphasized a couple of times, and it's one which really stuck out to me. A good portion of the authors here do not have editors, and even those who do don't have their editors available at all times. Our editors tend to work on a volunteer basis, and they have lives as well. Not only is it difficult when we don't have the time, but when we have to ensure our editors have the time as well? Sometimes no one is available to help you.

 

When I submitted to Wicked Games, I used my two beta readers as my editors because my editors were unavailable in the two days between me finishing the story and the deadline for submission. Thankfully our wonderful proofing team graciously accepted the task of correcting some mistakes they missed. (You know who you are, and you're awesome).

 

What I'm trying to say is that the editing point in the anthology submission guidelines may seem daunting to some. Perhaps there's some way we could work with that by adding "if you need an editor, contact so-and-so and we can try to find one for you"? I don't know what's within our scope, this is just my two cents to the growing pile.

 

Oh! One more thing. Have we ever considered doing a different type of themed anthology? For instance a "18th Century" theme or some other historical one, where writers can use any genre, but it must take place in the stated historical period? Or maybe a "insert random word here" theme where each story must directly have a connection with the theme instead of a tangential one? I find that specific themes which force me to include the concept sometimes help inspire me, because I always have something to build around.

 

Anyway, thanks for opening this up for discussion! I hope this will be useful. :D

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What I'm trying to say is that the editing point in the anthology submission guidelines may seem daunting to some. Perhaps there's some way we could work with that by adding "if you need an editor, contact so-and-so and we can try to find one for you"? I don't know what's within our scope, this is just my two cents to the growing pile.

 

There is a reason that the editing requirement is stressed. We used to not have a proof team, but even with the addition of the proof team, they are in charge of proofing all the stories. It would be overwhelming, in my opinion, to expect them to actually edit all of the stories that get sent in. Especially if the number increases like we hope it will. We used to have someone in charge of pairing authors and editors, but that is no longer the case. The best we can do is direct the authors to the Writing Support Requests forum, which I do, and hope someone offers to edit it.

 

Unfortunately, editing is a must. It's not really something that we can feasibly lower the expectation on. It's a quality control requirement. That is not to say that an author cannot self-edit. They don't HAVE to have an actual editor if they, or someone on their team, are capable of doing so. Hopefully some of our changes will allow more time for authors to find an editor.

 

 

Oh! One more thing. Have we ever considered doing a different type of themed anthology? For instance a "18th Century" theme or some other historical one, where writers can use any genre, but it must take place in the stated historical period? Or maybe a "insert random word here" theme where each story must directly have a connection with the theme instead of a tangential one?

 

All of the themes are suggested and decided on by the members/authors. Usually in August/September I put a call out for themes and start a thread for everyone to post their theme suggestions in. Then the list gets narrowed down and the top 20 or 25 get voted on by the members and authors alike.

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What others said: themes, time issues, the stories get little attention. I now and then saw stories got voted down (one or two stars) by an unknown voter. Later someone balanced the vote. No story deserves only one star. I thought of writing a story for the Special Anthology, but the minimum word count is 5,000 words. I just don't have the time and energy to write a long story that I know will not be read. I stopped writing regurlarly for the anthology. When I have a previously witten draft that I can twist a little and make it fit the theme, or when I work on a project that I can adopt easily, I might consider to submit the piece, like the found poems I submitted now. I find a contest even less intriguing. I think I would not take part.

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