I Want to Edit an Anthology
There's been a fair amount of talk recently1 about anthologies - calls for submissions, announcements of releases, what all is involved with editing an anthology, why the Mammoth Book of SF's table of contents is full of fail for consisting solely of white males...
There's been a recent spate of posts from me bewailing the lack of non-Western settings for stories. We're all stuck in Europe and America, it seems, and not in a good way.
I tend to enjoy slush-reading, in the grumble-growl-oh the pain! way I have of enjoying things like moderating communities. More, it looks like an interesting challenge to assemble quality stories around a central theme, concept, or idea.
Additionally, I'm a masochist2 and having another project makes my little heart purr.
suzukiblu suggested I take it slow and low-key for my first anthology project. Get an idea of what it will ask of me through trying something online, entirely with volunteers. This seems like a good idea, a way to gauge the work and poke at things, see what there is to see, learn the basics.
I'd like to save the non-Western fantasy theme for a more professional anthology project. Something where I can, you know, pay contributors. Which leaves me with the problem of "what sort of thing can I get people to contribute to pro bono?" Clearly, it's something that should grab writers and really make them interested.
At the moment, I'm teetering between three different themes: exploration, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, and peacocks and phoenixes. Which of those three would you be most interested in writing original fiction for? Which would you be most interested in reading for? Why? Any other thoughts?
ETA: I may just title it "Peacocks and Phoenixes" and go with the non-Western fantasy theme, per suzukiblu's suggestion. After all, it's not like non-Western fantasy isn't full of many and myriad story possibilities.
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1. By which I mean, 'sometime this year or possibly last year but not so long ago that it feels like ancient news'.
2. Probably not literally.
There's been a recent spate of posts from me bewailing the lack of non-Western settings for stories. We're all stuck in Europe and America, it seems, and not in a good way.
I tend to enjoy slush-reading, in the grumble-growl-oh the pain! way I have of enjoying things like moderating communities. More, it looks like an interesting challenge to assemble quality stories around a central theme, concept, or idea.
Additionally, I'm a masochist2 and having another project makes my little heart purr.
suzukiblu suggested I take it slow and low-key for my first anthology project. Get an idea of what it will ask of me through trying something online, entirely with volunteers. This seems like a good idea, a way to gauge the work and poke at things, see what there is to see, learn the basics.
I'd like to save the non-Western fantasy theme for a more professional anthology project. Something where I can, you know, pay contributors. Which leaves me with the problem of "what sort of thing can I get people to contribute to pro bono?" Clearly, it's something that should grab writers and really make them interested.
At the moment, I'm teetering between three different themes: exploration, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, and peacocks and phoenixes. Which of those three would you be most interested in writing original fiction for? Which would you be most interested in reading for? Why? Any other thoughts?
ETA: I may just title it "Peacocks and Phoenixes" and go with the non-Western fantasy theme, per suzukiblu's suggestion. After all, it's not like non-Western fantasy isn't full of many and myriad story possibilities.
---
1. By which I mean, 'sometime this year or possibly last year but not so long ago that it feels like ancient news'.
2. Probably not literally.