The Story Behind Creating The Summer of Suspense Anthology! What It Takes to Put Together A Multi-Author Anthology From Start to Finish

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Mary Alford, Ruth Hartzler, and Samantha Price to Seekerville. These wonderful ladies spearheaded the Summer of Suspense Anthology that features stories from sixteen award-winning and bestselling Christian authors. 
Ruth Logan Herne and I are part of the author lineup, and we're thrilled that you, dear Villagers, will get a behind-the-scenes peak at how an anthology is conceived and brought to publication. Summer of Suspense is available for pre-order NOW and will be released on AUG 6th! 







Please give a warm welcome to Mary Alford...
For myself, Ruth Hartzler, and Samantha Price, I want to say a big thank you to Debby Giusti for inviting us here today. We’re so pleased to have both Debby and Ruth Logan Herne as part of the Summer of Suspense author team!


Everything starts with an idea!
Like most things, creating a multi-author anthology begins with an idea. In this case, three separate ideas.
Little did I know, when I first started mulling over the notion of this anthology, I wasn’t alone in my thinking.
When I reached out to Samantha Price, I learned that both she and Ruth Hartzler had the same idea in mind. We put our heads together and Summer of Suspense was born. 
First, a little about us. Ruth Hartzler and Samantha Price both write Amish mystery and suspense stories. I write for Love Inspired Suspense and have written several Amish suspense stories as well. So, when we first begin tossing suggestions around among ourselves, we originally thought of making the collection an Amish mystery and suspense anthology. Then, Samantha had a conversation with the wonderful Nancy Mehl, who suggested we make the collection bigger. Open it up to Christian suspense and mystery authors. It was like a light bulb moment for Ruth, Samantha, and myself.   

                                                                                                                              
Taking the Idea to the next level!
Even before we decided on the exact genre for the book, we knew we wanted to take the book wide in the beginning, (wide means making the book available to different retailers), then streamlining it to be sold strictly on Amazon after the first week. Each story would all be short—between 10,000-15,000 words. Smaller word count would mean easier summer reading, and it would allow us to add multiple authors to the anthology.


Putting together the perfect team!
With a plan in place, it was time to put together our dream team!
We wanted a nice mixture of Amish/Christian Mystery/and Suspense authors to give our readers the best possible combination. Armed with a list of authors we each wanted for the team, we reached out to them. And that’s the amazing thing about authors. They are always willing to help out.
For Summer of Suspense, we have an incredible group of 16 of today’s most popular Amish, Christian Mystery and Suspense authors. The lineup includes; Christy Barritt, Patricia Bradley, Vannetta Chapman, Mary Ellis, Debby Giusti, Ruth Hartzler, Shaen Layle, Rachel J Good,  Ruth Logan Herne, Loree Lough, Elizabeth Ludwig, Nancy Mehl, Serena Miller, Samantha Price, Alana Terry, and myself, Mary Alford. I’m honored to be part of this group.


What’s in a title? Everything!
With the team in place, we needed a catchy title that would best reflect all genres to be included in the book. Keep in mind, we really didn’t know at this point what each individual author’s story would be about. Tough challenge, right?
This is what we knew for certain. The stories would take place in summer, and would involve suspense.
We came up with several ideas for the title, polled the group, and Summer of Suspense won! I love the title, don’t you?   


A cover can make or break a book!
Like the title, we had two things to work with in creating the cover. Summer and suspense. We wanted something that would remind the reader of summer and still generate an atmosphere of suspense. Ruth, Samantha, and myself found several photos that depicted what we envisioned the cover to look like and sent them to our talented cover artist, Danny Mehl. Danny produced the cover for Summer of Suspense in 2D and 3D. Danny captured the feel for the book completely.
  

 Setting the stage for release!With the authors in place, an intriguing title, and a cover that established the tone for the book, it was time to get news of the anthology out to the readers.
Getting Summer of Suspense up for preorder was key for us. We put the anthology up early on at Barnes and Noble and Apple.
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130641407?ean=2940161418833 
Apple link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1453509240?fbclid=IwAR0xrukEt5NYXD6VDQX_g-f2CkwTrMfuTeaxsQvSD60Mdb9kwhuz0p4ceO8
But with Amazon, you cannot put a book up for preorder before 90 days prior to release. 
Summer of Suspense went live on Amazon, May 10th.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RP1KP12?fbclid=IwAR2JwWAtasj8yIL5aFSQsvbbwdimA0cXWxIVYBomkcagVqQav5XYk4PHFpA


There are lessons in every step of the way!
When the idea of creating an anthology first came about, I had no idea what an amazingly challenging experience this would be. Even though the book doesn’t release until August 6th, as I look back on each of these steps, I can say it has been a learning experience for me and my co-creators. And it has been a privilege to work with these talented authors.     
Thank you each for joining us today. We are so grateful for each of you and we want to give away copies of the preorder of Summer of Suspense to three lucky folks who leave a comment.
Here’s a little about the book:
Long Days. Hot Nights. Deadly Secrets.
Grab this red hot Christian Suspense Anthology bargain for just 99 cents for a short time only before the price increases to 9.99.
Start your summer off right with 16 gripping and never-before published tales of Christian suspense from today's most popular mystery and suspense authors.
Join Mary Alford, Christy Barritt, Patricia Bradley, Vannetta Chapman, Mary Ellis, Debby Giusti, Rachel J. Good, Ruth Hartzler, Shaen Layle, Ruth Logan Herne, Loree Lough, Elizabeth Ludwig, Nancy Mehl, Serena B. Miller, Samantha Price, Alana Terry on a dangerous journey filled with mystery, suspense, and faith that that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Debby here! Thanks, Mary, Ruth and Samantha, for being with us today and for sharing so much about the anthology! We're all eager to read the stories that are sure to please!
Happy reading to all! Be sure to pre-order your copy of Summer of Suspense! 

Ruthy here, too! I've loved doing mysteries with Guideposts and the opportunity to work with these lovely gals was too good to miss. And youse know I love a great sale! :) Getting our work into readers' hands is always the goal... and a .99 SALE helps us reach that goal! Thanks to Mary for inviting me onboard, and welcome to Seekerville, ladies!
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About Ruth Hartzler: https://www.ruthhartzler.comRuth Hartzler spends her days writing, gardening, walking her dog, and thinking of ways to murder someone. That's because Ruth is a best-selling author of cozy mysteries. She is best known for her 2015 series, Safe House, featuring a WITSEC agent hiding in the Amish community, and for apologizing to strangers when her dog slobbers all over them at the park.
The recipient of several All-Star Awards (author and book) and an Amazon Top 50 Author, Ruth is thrilled to connect with her readers, all of whom love the same clean and wholesome stories as she does. 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RuthHartzlerCozyMysteryAuthor/Twitter: https://twitter.com/RuthHartzlerPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/RuthHartzlerCozyMysteryAuthor/
About Samantha Price:  https://samanthapriceauthor.comSamantha Price enjoys getting lost in the world of her characters and being surprised by what they do. Over the past years she’s written several Amish romance and mystery series totaling over one hundred and fifty books. Since she writes every day it doesn't leave much time, but she manages to squeeze in fun with her six grandchildren, her cat who thinks he's a dog, and her demanding Staffy who has a severe tennis ball addiction.She is an Amazon Bestselling & Amazon TOP 50 author, and a 9 times Kindle All Star recipient.
She loves to hear from readers. Connect with her at:
www.facebook.com/SamanthaPriceAuthor
https://twitter.com/AmishRomance
https://www.pinterest.com.au/AmishRomance/
About Mary Alford: https://maryalford.netMary Alford is a bestselling author who loves giving her readers the unexpected. Combining unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots that result in novels the reader doesn’t want to put down. Her titles have appeared on the Publisher’s Weekly bestselling list, and have finaled in the Daphne Du Maurier award of excellence in mystery, The Beverly, The Maggie, and The Selah Awards.  Mary is a member of the American Christian Fiction
As a writer, Mary is an avid reader. She loves to cook, can’t face the day without coffee, and her three granddaughters are the apple of her eye. She and her husband live in the heart of Texas in the middle of 70 acres with two cats and one dog.  
Mary is very active online and would love to connect with readers on Facebook: www.facebook.com/maryalfordauthor. Twitter: https://twitter.com/maryalford13  or any of the social media platforms listed at www.maryalford.net.