Anthology Question!

[Renee Stevens]

Please answer the poll question, we are interested in understanding what prevents authors from participating in the anthology.

[Brayon]

OTHER:

Couple of different reasons, from the one listed, but couldn't select more than one.
1. The themes don't appeal to me.

2. Don't have time.

3. Not sure how the anthologies work.

 

Before I started college course work, it was the themes and not knowing how it works. I originally thought the anthologies were for Promising, Signature, Classic, and Admin only, until I saw it clarified in a different blog posting. Now, it's 1 and 2, the themes don't appeal to me, or I don't have time, or both. If I had to boil it down to one answer only, it would be themes.

How GA is doing the theme selection now, I feel is really good. You're giving us authors a choice on what the final themes will be for the anthologies, which again is great. It's just the final selection is meh.

[Myr]

The poll has been fixed to allow more than one response.

 

 

[Renee Stevens]

4 minutes ago, Brayon said:

OTHER:

Couple of different reasons, from the one listed, but couldn't select more than one.
1. The themes don't appeal to me.

2. Don't have time.

3. Not sure how the anthologies work.

 

Before I started college course work, it was the themes and not knowing how it works. I originally thought the anthologies were for Promising, Signature, Classic, and Admin only, until I saw it clarified in a different blog posting. Now, it's 1 and 2, the themes don't appeal to me, or I don't have time, or both. If I had to boil it down to one answer only, it would be themes.

How GA is doing the theme selection now, I feel is really good. You're giving us authors a choice on what the final themes will be for the anthologies, which again is great. It's just the final selection is meh.

Yeah, it was pointed out I should have allowed multiple choices, it's fixed now, but thanks for letting me know!

Edit to Add: Me and Myr posted at the same time, lol.

[Cynus]

Other: It's not that I don't have the time, it's that I literally forget about them and lose track of time, then run out of said time before I write the story. There is nothing GA could do differently to fix this, because it is entirely my own error. I believe I have only participated in one anthology and it was really fun, and I hope someday I'll get my act together and participate in some more. I think they're great, both as a writing exercise and as a community event.

 

Back to the poll, however, I just want to drive home that it is nothing GA does that would make any difference in my participation. I get all the email reminders and see the anthology events when they're advertised. I make little notes to myself to check them out but then I still forget.

I'm going to make extra effort in the coming months to participate.

Thank you for all that you do!

[Kitt]

I am not an author but I do occasionally write.  My answer was "other".  I write when the little voice will not shut up. If I dont participate it ain't talkin.

[Dodger]

I enjoy participating in the selection process and say to myself every year that I will join in, only to leave it too late or caught up with something else. Maybe this year will be different. Finding the time is always a big problem for me, the themes not so much.

[JamesSavik]

11 hours ago, Renee Stevens said:

Please answer the poll question, we are interested in understanding what prevents authors from participating in the anthology.

 

My answer is OTHER.

Life happens. Like an abscessed tooth. Or an illness in the family. Or... it's just not a topic I can sink my teeth into.

I was rolling pretty good on Hammerhead until my brother passed away and now I just want to do something else.

Weird how the Inspiration fairy acts like one of my eX's. It shows up drunk at 2am and then goes to sleep before anything much can be accomplished.

Edited September 8, 2019 by jamessavik

[Timothy M.]

Mostly the 'lack of time' ties into the problem of being in a writing slump. If I actually feel a rare urge to do some writing, I'd want to spend time on my unfinished stories, rather than taking on Anthologies. I feel bad enough about leaving my readers hanging as it is.   I did participate in recent anthos hoping it would kickstart my muse, but no such luck.

But I love reading the stories, no matter how few or many there are.

[Renee Stevens]

27 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

Mostly the 'lack of time' ties into the problem of being in a writing slump. 

Totally get it! That's most of my problem too, and of course chasing around a 1 year old, lol

[Brayon]

10 hours ago, jamessavik said:

Weird how the Inspiration fairy acts like one of my eX's. It shows up drunk at 2am and then goes to sleep before anything much can be accomplished.

I had to laugh, but yes, this happens a lot.

[Puppilull]

Lack of time, which in turn leads to lack of inspiration (since my inner voice needs a bit of space to be heard) is my biggest obstacle. Since my stories tend to need lots of words, it's difficult to get 2k together. Maybe I should view it as a challenge. Get my competitive side in on it. That could prove effective.

[Renee Stevens]

Just a quick Thank You to everyone who has answered so far! 

[CassieQ]

I'm not sure if this counts, because this is specific to the upcoming anthology, but the word count.  I was going to write for Fall From Grace, and I'm looking at a 20K word story.  I know the upper limit is 25,000 but I also don't think anyone would read an anthology that size.  Therefore, I am not submitting it.

[Renee Stevens]

21 minutes ago, CassieQ said:

I'm not sure if this counts, because this is specific to the upcoming anthology, but the word count.  I was going to write for Fall From Grace, and I'm looking at a 20K word story.  I know the upper limit is 25,000 but I also don't think anyone would read an anthology that size.  Therefore, I am not submitting it.

I might have an idea for this... if I could work it out, would you submit it?

[Valkyrie]

22 minutes ago, CassieQ said:

I'm not sure if this counts, because this is specific to the upcoming anthology, but the word count.  I was going to write for Fall From Grace, and I'm looking at a 20K word story.  I know the upper limit is 25,000 but I also don't think anyone would read an anthology that size.  Therefore, I am not submitting it.

I would encourage you to submit it.  There have been several stories throughout the years that are that length and they do get read and commented on.  Your writing is so good, I can't imagine the word count would be a deterrent for readers.  

[Headstall]

Hi, Renee

Because you asked, I answered not enough time, but that being said, I have written eight anthology submissions, and one contest story since I started writing four years ago, so I don't know if my answer actually applies. I don't have a problem with whatever themes get chosen, although some are obviously more appealing than others. Just a suggestion... could there not be three themes chosen per anthology, for those who might need more inspiration? I remember having a field day with the Special Anthology, where all previous themes were available to use. I wrote three entries for that one.

I also think the anthologies are well advertised, and I've had no trouble figuring out how they work. The only thing I don't like, which has nothing to do with the topic, at least on the surface, is that I can't edit any of my submissions on my own. That frustrates me a little when I see something minor I would like to change, but doesn't prevent me from writing for the anthologies.  

[Kitt]

56 minutes ago, CassieQ said:

I'm not sure if this counts, because this is specific to the upcoming anthology, but the word count.  I was going to write for Fall From Grace, and I'm looking at a 20K word story.  I know the upper limit is 25,000 but I also don't think anyone would read an anthology that size.  Therefore, I am not submitting it.

I would!  A story is as long as it needs to be.

[CassieQ]

37 minutes ago, Renee Stevens said:

I might have an idea for this... if I could work it out, would you submit it?

Can you PM me the details?

[Renee Stevens]

1 minute ago, CassieQ said:

Can you PM me the details?

As soon as I get the ok on moving forward with my idea

[CassieQ]

13 minutes ago, Headstall said:

The only thing I don't like, which has nothing to do with the topic, at least on the surface, is that I can't edit any of my submissions on my own. That frustrates me a little when I see something minor I would like to change, but doesn't prevent me from writing for the anthologies.  

OMG, yes.  Often when I see an anthology I wrote after it goes live, I see mistakes, minor mistakes, but they bug me all the same and it's maddening that I can't go in an correct them.  

[Myr]

Unfortunately, we can't allow edits because people don't have permissions to post into the anthology category.  If we allowed edit, as soon as you did, it would move your story out of the anthology, or prevent you from saving.  If we allowed people to post into the anthology category, people would.  Either way, it caused a lot of work on the staff.

I will explore further software options to see if there is an inexpensive solution.

[CarlHoliday]

I used to try to post a story for every Anthology issue. But lately I'm concentrating on writing for the "legit" market, specially in the middle grade/young adult age groups. Plus, there's only so much time to spread between caring for our dogs, running errands, reading, going to doctors, writing my potentially publishable books, and dealing with the fact that I'm on the downslope of my life. And, yet, there might be time to write an anthology short story with only a little more effort at squeezing in a few extra hours.

[northie]

4 hours ago, CassieQ said:

OMG, yes.  Often when I see an anthology I wrote after it goes live, I see mistakes, minor mistakes, but they bug me all the same and it's maddening that I can't go in an correct them.  

Same here. The worst one was an inconsistency with a minor character's name which passed me, betas, and editors. 

The only problems I've encountered with anthos so far are self-inflicted: the length of what I write (five figures is my rule up 'til now), and if writing an entry collides with what else I have on. I'm certainly glad they're twice a year now - not every quarter. 

If one aim is to widen the range of authors who write for an antho, that's good. However, there's an awful lot of authors here who post their stories and show little or no inclination to join further with the community's activities. Which is a pity.

[lilansui]

I've always wanted to write for the anthologies, and I have finished some stories that would have gone into them. My personal challenge is that I forget the deadlines, and when I'm finished writing, I find that I completely missed them.  This might sound like whining, but I wish I had an anthology buddy to sort of send a message or keep me on my toes to get it done on time. This is my challenge, still... Fall from Grace is so enticing.  I've created a story line, I hope I make it on time this year.