Number of Anthologies for 2023

[Valkyrie]

In the past, GA has offered as many as four anthologies per year.  Since participation dropped off, we went down to two per year, and then this year offered one.  I'd like to get an idea of what authors would like to see offered.  Should we offer two per year or stick to one?  How many anthologies do you see yourself realistically writing for?  Please vote in the poll and leave any comments below.  

[CassieQ]

I think 2--3 is perfect.  My personal preference is 3, that way if I'm too busy to commit to all, I still had two, and I could usually swing that.  If 3 is really too many, two is good as well.  I feel it gives enough time for authors to write an anthology without having to completely stop other projects (depending on other time factors of course).

[Aditus]

I won't be able to do more than one, if there'd be more, I would  probably throw a coin or er.. a die.

Edited October 20, 2022 by Aditus

[Mancunian]

My personal preference would be for two anthologies per year, with each anthology having one theme having a broad interpretation, similar to the last anthology. With good notice authors should have sufficient time to outline and produce some good stories as was showcased recently. Maybe an incentive such as a period of premium membership could be offered for the most popular story, I'm sure this would attract a lot of interest. 

[AC Benus]

This seems tricky. If we stick to one "grand theme" a year for a major anthology release it gives people plenty of time to come up with a concept and work up a story. But it's a long time to wait and puts the onus on the GA anthology team to beat the drum loud and long that the deadline is coming. 

Some of the best turnout for GA story collections came about a few years ago with the "Secret XXX" contents. There was a Secret Santa, a Secret Cupid and a few others. I personally love the anonymity of these collections, because the author of each piece is not revealed until after the voting's complete. This gave my work, which many people will avoid because it has my name attached to it, a chance to find a new audience. For me, this was the main advantage of the "Secret XXX" collections. But the popularity fell off of these contests, and the final one -- based on a summer-themed novella -- produced only one entry: Mine! (Which I later posted as Campfires and Starlight on my own).

Soooo, what if for 2023 we try for one mid-year anthology and one holiday-inspired secret author contest? Perhaps it's best to revisit the Secret Santa theme since there are several popular authors on GA now who did not have a chance to participate when the first one was held.

What, dear people, do you think? 

[CassieQ]

1 hour ago, AC Benus said:

Some of the best turnout for GA story collections came about a few years ago with the "Secret XXX" contents. There was a Secret Santa, a Secret Cupid and a few others. I personally love the anonymity of these collections, because the author of each piece is not revealed until after the voting's complete. This gave my work, which many people will avoid because it has my name attached to it, a chance to find a new audience. For me, this was the main advantage of the "Secret XXX" collections. But the popularity fell off of these contests, and the final one -- based on a summer-themed novella -- produced only one entry: Mine! (Which I later posted as Campfires and Starlight on my own).

Soooo, what if for 2023 we try for one mid-year anthology and one holiday-inspired secret author contest? Perhaps it's best to revisit the Secret Santa theme since there are several popular authors on GA now who did not have a chance to participate when the first one was held.

What, dear people, do you think? 

I actually wrote for the summer themed novella, but I wasn't able to pull it off in time.  I, too, posted it on my own.  But I have written for one of the Secret Halloween challenges, and it was a lot of fun, so I wouldn't mind seeing something like that again.  

[Ron]

2 hours ago, AC Benus said:

If we stick to one "grand theme" a year for a major anthology release it gives people plenty of time to come up with a concept and work up a story. But it's a long time to wait and puts the onus on the GA anthology team to beat the drum loud and long that the deadline is coming. 

Once a year is my opinion. And once a theme has been decided upon the anthology team might well seek out commitments from authors ahead of time, say within a month of the theme announcement. Then the anthology team can periodically check in with those committed authors for progress reports and offer encouragement. This may have the added benefit of stories arriving earlier than the set deadline for story submissions, which would be a plus for team proofreading and discovering general relevance to the theme, and even offer suggestions with the emphasis on improving readability -- suggestions could take many forms -- if the author is willing. This last part could be especially effective with early submissions and certainly if an author is unable to form a team for beta-reading and editing ahead of time. I know we ask and often someone here does jump in and help, which is a testament to the membership, but it's not always possible to find someone. So, an early submission allows the anthology team an opportunity to read a story in need of help and match it to the right person -- an editor whose skill compliments the subject matter of the story -- who the author may never have thought to ask help from. Of course, an early commitment shouldn't be a requirement to enter an anthology, nor should a last-minute submission remove a story for consideration. But submitting earlier could have benefits if the anthology team is up to the effort, it is extra work.

[Dodger]

2 hours ago, AC Benus said:

This seems tricky. If we stick to one "grand theme" a year for a major anthology release it gives people plenty of time to come up with a concept and work up a story. But it's a long time to wait and puts the onus on the GA anthology team to beat the drum loud and long that the deadline is coming. 

Some of the best turnout for GA story collections came about a few years ago with the "Secret XXX" contents. There was a Secret Santa, a Secret Cupid and a few others. I personally love the anonymity of these collections, because the author of each piece is not revealed until after the voting's complete. This gave my work, which many people will avoid because it has my name attached to it, a chance to find a new audience. For me, this was the main advantage of the "Secret XXX" collections. But the popularity fell off of these contests, and the final one -- based on a summer-themed novella -- produced only one entry: Mine! (Which I later posted as Campfires and Starlight on my own).

Soooo, what if for 2023 we try for one mid-year anthology and one holiday-inspired secret author contest? Perhaps it's best to revisit the Secret Santa theme since there are several popular authors on GA now who did not have a chance to participate when the first one was held.

What, dear people, do you think? 

I think this is a good idea. I had never written a story for the anthology until this year, and I only just squeezed in before the deadline. It was fun and I'll definitely be participating again, but probably only once a year.

I enjoyed the contests, particularly the "Secret XX" collections for the same reasons you give, and I also wrote a story for the summer-themed novella. A Soldier's Guide was originally intended for this contest, but I ran out of time. 

Why would anyone avoid a story because it has your name attached to it?  

[Myr]

There is a handy Event system that is active with a pending software update that we'll be able to use for the anthologies going forward that will allow us an RSVP.  "Yes, Maybe, No" sort of thing.  We can track the yes's and maybes as @Ron proposes.

I'm supporting 2 to help give me targets to aim at.  Between work, keeping the site going and RL... I need visible targets to even hope to get near them.

[Valkyrie]

22 minutes ago, Ron said:

 So, an early submission allows the anthology team an opportunity to read a story in need of help and match it to the right person -- an editor whose skill compliments the subject matter of the story -- who the author may never have thought to ask help from. 

This is outside the purview of the proof team.  We are the last step in the process, once the story has gone through an author's team.  We do proofreads only, not full edits, in order to catch anything that might have been missed.  

I do have some ideas to assist authors with finding editors/beta readers for future anthologies, but I'm not ready to open up discussion about it yet.  

[Valkyrie]

4 hours ago, AC Benus said:

This seems tricky. If we stick to one "grand theme" a year for a major anthology release it gives people plenty of time to come up with a concept and work up a story. But it's a long time to wait and puts the onus on the GA anthology team to beat the drum loud and long that the deadline is coming. 

Some of the best turnout for GA story collections came about a few years ago with the "Secret XXX" contents. There was a Secret Santa, a Secret Cupid and a few others. I personally love the anonymity of these collections, because the author of each piece is not revealed until after the voting's complete. This gave my work, which many people will avoid because it has my name attached to it, a chance to find a new audience. For me, this was the main advantage of the "Secret XXX" collections. But the popularity fell off of these contests, and the final one -- based on a summer-themed novella -- produced only one entry: Mine! (Which I later posted as Campfires and Starlight on my own).

Soooo, what if for 2023 we try for one mid-year anthology and one holiday-inspired secret author contest? Perhaps it's best to revisit the Secret Santa theme since there are several popular authors on GA now who did not have a chance to participate when the first one was held.

What, dear people, do you think? 

I really enjoyed the secret author contests too.  It was a lot of fun trying to guess who wrote which story.  The summer novella contest actually had two entries - yours and mine.  My story A Leg to Stand On ended up being published in Premium.  

I like the idea of having one anthology and one secret author contest.  

[Ron]

54 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

This is outside the purview of the proof team.  We are the last step in the process, once the story has gone through an author's team.  We do proofreads only, not full edits, in order to catch anything that might have been missed.

Yes, of course, I know how the current system works. I acknowledged that beyond the basic system it would require efforts beyond what the anthology team provides. My suggestions toward further opportunities from the team are food for thought but not beyond what is possible. What is available would need to be expanded and not without effort and the desire to make it happen. This is not me saying that current efforts are not appreciated, after all the anthology team is based on voluntary and enthusiast efforts which is no small thing.

[wildone]

On 10/20/2022 at 2:07 PM, AC Benus said:

This seems tricky. If we stick to one "grand theme" a year for a major anthology release it gives people plenty of time to come up with a concept and work up a story. But it's a long time to wait and puts the onus on the GA anthology team to beat the drum loud and long that the deadline is coming. 

Some of the best turnout for GA story collections came about a few years ago with the "Secret XXX" contents. There was a Secret Santa, a Secret Cupid and a few others. I personally love the anonymity of these collections, because the author of each piece is not revealed until after the voting's complete. This gave my work, which many people will avoid because it has my name attached to it, a chance to find a new audience. For me, this was the main advantage of the "Secret XXX" collections. But the popularity fell off of these contests, and the final one -- based on a summer-themed novella -- produced only one entry: Mine! (Which I later posted as Campfires and Starlight on my own).

Soooo, what if for 2023 we try for one mid-year anthology and one holiday-inspired secret author contest? Perhaps it's best to revisit the Secret Santa theme since there are several popular authors on GA now who did not have a chance to participate when the first one was held.

What, dear people, do you think? 

I might be interested in another Secret Santa themed, guess who the author is one. But just to come up with an idea would be the trick for me?  

(Or am I banned, Val?)

[Aditus]

1 hour ago, wildone said:

I might be interested in another Secret Santa themed

Me too, but I don't have time, what about a Secret Admirer  themed thing?

I'm not here Val.

[Mrsgnomie]

I think the secret xx is an interesting concept. My vote is two anthologies. I think one regular and one secret gives a nice mix. ✅ 

Opposite @AC Benus, my only chance of winning is if my name IS attached to the story lol. Still sounds like fun though!

[Valkyrie]

6 hours ago, wildone said:

I might be interested in another Secret Santa themed, guess who the author is one. But just to come up with an idea would be the trick for me?  

(Or am I banned, Val?)

Who would you off this time?  Rudolph?  Frosty?  An elf massacre?  A flock of adorable, innocent penguins?     

[Valkyrie]

4 hours ago, Aditus said:

Me too, but I don't have time, what about a Secret Admirer  themed thing?

I'm not here Val.

Who said that?    

We're talking about next year, not this year, so there's plenty of time  

[Aditus]

38 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

We're talking about next year, not this year, so there's plenty of time

I don't have time around Christmas, ever, because a certain someone comes up with should we maybe do something around Christmas?

[Cia]

We can always do a single anthology AND a secret author contest that is outside of the anthologies. They don't have to be one or the other, and we can even mix it up with entry levels. Secret Short Story, Secret Pick the Poet, Secret Not-telling Novelist... would let us do a single "Secret Author" contest but let different lengths/styles categorize content to make it more fair and give people something "lesser" to shoot for if they aren't up to writing that much outside of their normal content but want to do something longer and shorter for the different events. I used to do all sorts of newsletter writing games before I had my work school job, union volunteering, and college classes consuming all my time. I miss them a lot!!