A Book's Journey - The Planning Begins
Late December 2008
It was winter just before New Year's Eve.
But I was already looking ahead to next autumn.
Publishing an anthology, by definition, is never a single-person project. And sometimes you want help not only from the authors who will contribute, or from the printer, or from the distributors, or bookstores...but you want another editor as well.
I have edited anthologies alone and with others. Both are good experiences, both have advantages. But as I look at the projects I already have stacked up, thinking still that I want to do this book this year, I decide I need help.
And then an author I've published before, Gerri Leen gerrileen, emails me in late December 2008 to let me know she read through the Return to Luna anthology (in which she has a story) and she loved it.
Gerri: Oh, and I found a typo.
Eric: Crap!
Gerri: Sorry, I'm anal.
Eric: Yes, you are.
Gerri: I like to be thorough and thought you would like to know.
Eric: Of course I want to know. And I really appreciate it.
(Next day)
Eric: So how about editing an anthology I'm considering publishing if you're so anal?
Gerri: (thinks it over) Yes, I would.
Gerri and I bounce ideas back and forth, everything from where to sell it, to whether to open it up for submissions or do invite-only. After a lot of thought, we decide invite-only, and we choose the authors based on several things, including interest in renfests. We sit on that for a few days before contacting anyone. Meanwhile, we think about marketing the book. If we sell it at the Renfest then price, as always, is important. People generally go to those with money to spend, but there are a lot of things to buy. What would someone pay for a book like this? We decide the book will consist of five novelettes, set in or about renfests, or in some way that would appeal to renfaire goers, the whole book not too short, but not too long, and will sell for less than $10 USD.
This will help it remain competitive, what with all the other shops with which to compete. Small trade paperback size with a cover that invokes the magic and imagination one experiences at a renfest.
By early January 2009, we have the whole thing mapped out. Deadlines for stories, the look and feel of the book, the kind of stories we want, the authors invited, where and how we'll sell the book. We still don't have a final title. We toss around ideas for that and for the cover art. We research renfaires. There are a lot more than I realized. Every state in the US has several, some have many, and they are all over the world from Australia to France to the UK. (Some places call them Medieval Fairs. Medieval and Renaissance are, of course, different periods, but all the faires seem to cover a wide time range.) We find attendance statistics. The Kansas City Renfest is one of the fairly large ones in the US: in their six-weekend season they have 180,000 attendees. (180,000!) But the Maryland and Minnesota renfests have almost double that. And Texas, I'm not surprised to learn, appears to have the largest one.
We have a whole anthology planned. But it only exists in the minds of the authors and the editors. Now we must begin the process of getting those plans toward the final goal of a physical book.
Previous: A Book's Journey - When an Idea Strikes
Hadley Rille Books
It was winter just before New Year's Eve.
But I was already looking ahead to next autumn.
Publishing an anthology, by definition, is never a single-person project. And sometimes you want help not only from the authors who will contribute, or from the printer, or from the distributors, or bookstores...but you want another editor as well.
I have edited anthologies alone and with others. Both are good experiences, both have advantages. But as I look at the projects I already have stacked up, thinking still that I want to do this book this year, I decide I need help.
And then an author I've published before, Gerri Leen gerrileen, emails me in late December 2008 to let me know she read through the Return to Luna anthology (in which she has a story) and she loved it.
Gerri: Oh, and I found a typo.
Eric: Crap!
Gerri: Sorry, I'm anal.
Eric: Yes, you are.
Gerri: I like to be thorough and thought you would like to know.
Eric: Of course I want to know. And I really appreciate it.
(Next day)
Eric: So how about editing an anthology I'm considering publishing if you're so anal?
Gerri: (thinks it over) Yes, I would.
Gerri and I bounce ideas back and forth, everything from where to sell it, to whether to open it up for submissions or do invite-only. After a lot of thought, we decide invite-only, and we choose the authors based on several things, including interest in renfests. We sit on that for a few days before contacting anyone. Meanwhile, we think about marketing the book. If we sell it at the Renfest then price, as always, is important. People generally go to those with money to spend, but there are a lot of things to buy. What would someone pay for a book like this? We decide the book will consist of five novelettes, set in or about renfests, or in some way that would appeal to renfaire goers, the whole book not too short, but not too long, and will sell for less than $10 USD.
This will help it remain competitive, what with all the other shops with which to compete. Small trade paperback size with a cover that invokes the magic and imagination one experiences at a renfest.
By early January 2009, we have the whole thing mapped out. Deadlines for stories, the look and feel of the book, the kind of stories we want, the authors invited, where and how we'll sell the book. We still don't have a final title. We toss around ideas for that and for the cover art. We research renfaires. There are a lot more than I realized. Every state in the US has several, some have many, and they are all over the world from Australia to France to the UK. (Some places call them Medieval Fairs. Medieval and Renaissance are, of course, different periods, but all the faires seem to cover a wide time range.) We find attendance statistics. The Kansas City Renfest is one of the fairly large ones in the US: in their six-weekend season they have 180,000 attendees. (180,000!) But the Maryland and Minnesota renfests have almost double that. And Texas, I'm not surprised to learn, appears to have the largest one.
We have a whole anthology planned. But it only exists in the minds of the authors and the editors. Now we must begin the process of getting those plans toward the final goal of a physical book.
Previous: A Book's Journey - When an Idea Strikes
Hadley Rille Books