Selecting Stories For An Anthology
Abandoned Places has been out now for two months now, and I find myself looking at my selection process versus other anthologies.
Currently, I am reading: Sword & Mythos and Flesh and Bone: Rise of the Necromancers.
One states: Fifteen writers, drawing inspiration from the pulp sub-genres of sword and sorcery and the Cthulhu Mythos, seed stories of adventure, of darkness, of magic and monstrosities. While the other: Twenty-one dark short stories about the undead, and the persons who raise them...
Being pages away from finishing one, and half way through the other, I find myself continually asking 'How did this story make it in?'
Don't get me wrong, the stories are amazingly written, and I can see from a technical viewpoint why they were included. But in regards to the theme of the anthology? I'm sorry, but no.
In Flesh and Bone: Rise of the Necromancers, we find stories about zombies and other undead with no necromancers or necromancy. (in one, the only hint is something telling the protagonist to 'Rise, rise') In Sword & Mythos we have a lot of historical fiction stories, which while interesting, don't really fit with the whole swords and sorcery theme.
Now, as with any anthology, there's bound to be one or two stories that don't exactly fit the theme, and I find that to be excusable. However, as soon as you start getting three, four, five stories, it makes me question not only why they were included, but also why I purchased the anthology. If I get an anthology about necromancers, there better be stories about necromancers.
I think this is one reason most editors and publishers choose 'safe' themes for their anthologies, such as genres. However, if done right, a select theme, such as zombie animals (Zombie Zoology) can create something wonderful and highly interesting.
So if you are an editor (be you new to the craft or old hat) and putting together an anthology, consider your theme carefully. Make sure it's something you are confident on getting a large number of submissions for, but also make sure you have enough stories that you're not trying to cram ones that don't fit your theme in.
Because your reader will know.
And they may come to resent your anthology for it.
Currently, I am reading: Sword & Mythos and Flesh and Bone: Rise of the Necromancers.
One states: Fifteen writers, drawing inspiration from the pulp sub-genres of sword and sorcery and the Cthulhu Mythos, seed stories of adventure, of darkness, of magic and monstrosities. While the other: Twenty-one dark short stories about the undead, and the persons who raise them...
Being pages away from finishing one, and half way through the other, I find myself continually asking 'How did this story make it in?'
Don't get me wrong, the stories are amazingly written, and I can see from a technical viewpoint why they were included. But in regards to the theme of the anthology? I'm sorry, but no.
In Flesh and Bone: Rise of the Necromancers, we find stories about zombies and other undead with no necromancers or necromancy. (in one, the only hint is something telling the protagonist to 'Rise, rise') In Sword & Mythos we have a lot of historical fiction stories, which while interesting, don't really fit with the whole swords and sorcery theme.
Now, as with any anthology, there's bound to be one or two stories that don't exactly fit the theme, and I find that to be excusable. However, as soon as you start getting three, four, five stories, it makes me question not only why they were included, but also why I purchased the anthology. If I get an anthology about necromancers, there better be stories about necromancers.
I think this is one reason most editors and publishers choose 'safe' themes for their anthologies, such as genres. However, if done right, a select theme, such as zombie animals (Zombie Zoology) can create something wonderful and highly interesting.
So if you are an editor (be you new to the craft or old hat) and putting together an anthology, consider your theme carefully. Make sure it's something you are confident on getting a large number of submissions for, but also make sure you have enough stories that you're not trying to cram ones that don't fit your theme in.
Because your reader will know.
And they may come to resent your anthology for it.
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