GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ The Pros and Cons of Being an Anthology Editor By Scott M. Sandridge | I Smell Sheep

Thursday, May 22, 2014

The Pros and Cons of Being an Anthology Editor By Scott M. Sandridge


The Pros and Cons of Being an Anthology Editor
By Scott M. Sandridge

I spent four years being the managing editor of an online periodical zine. Only recently have I started editing anthologies, and I edited three anthologies simultaneously my first time in that arena. What can I say? I’m insane.

I learned a lot while editing those anthos, enough to be able to compare the experience with editing a periodical. And to learn the pros and cons, especially in comparison to periodicals.

Let’s start with the pros:

You can fit more stories in a 300+ page anthology than you can in a 64+ page zine. Even online zines can be severely limited in the number of stories that will be published each week or month.

Most anthologies are “themed” and thus provides a bit of cohesiveness. It also helps to narrow down on what to accept when it comes to submissions. After all, you won’t be putting a story about vampires in a faerie-themed anthology (unless it’s some kind of vampire-faerie…thing…).

Once an anthology is finished; it’s finished. You won’t need to keep worrying about whether or not you’ll have enough ready stories available for the next issue as you’re putting together the current issue. And that allows you much more time to promote the work than you would otherwise have.

And finally, anthologies are just plain cool.

Now for the cons:

It’s a lot of work to edit an anthology. And I mean a lot of work. It’s the equivalent to editing a novel word count-wise, with the addition of having a slush pile of short stories to go through, and multiple authors to work with. Per book.

“Themed” anthologies limit what types of stories you can pick. Stories that I would’ve accepted for Fear & Trembling Magazine I had to reject for the two A Chimerical World anthos simply because they had no faeries in them. So there’s a chance of having a large slush pile but very few stories that are suitable. Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with such a scarcity problem; although, for a time I feared I would.

And the biggest con is…once it’s finished, it’s finished. There is no accepting stories to put in later issues a month or two down the road. You have to be willing to reject stories that both fit the theme and that you like, but just aren’t as “good” as the others. Not unless you plan to do a thousand page (or more) antho, which would be quite big and quite pricey. Or separate the anthology into two separate volumes….

But despite the cons, especially once you’ve seen the finished product, all the work and worry involved becomes completely worth it.

A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court
edited by Scott M. Sandridge
Kindle-Nook
The Fey have been with us since the beginning, sometimes to our great joy but often to our detriment. Usually divided (at least by us silly humans) into two courts, the first volume of A Chimerical World focuses on the Seelie Court: the court we humans seem to view as the “good” faeries. But “good” and “evil” are human concepts and as alien to the Fey as their mindsets are to us.

Inside you will find 19 stories that delve into the world of the faeries of the Seelie Court, from authors both established and new, including George S. Walker, Eric Garrison, and Alexandra Christian.

But be warned: these faeries are nothing like Tinker Bell.

Here is a list of the authors and stories to be featured in A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court
“Extra-Ordinary” by BC Brown
“Dead Fairy Doormat” by George S. Walker
“Taggers” by Christine Morgan
“Wormwood” by Alexandra Christian
“The Harpist’s Hand” by Steven S. Long
“Sanae’s Garden” by Chantal Boudreau
“Mark of Ruins” by SD Grimm
“Birdie’s Life at the School for Distressed Young Ladies” by JH Fleming
“Cultivated Hope” by Jordan Phelps
“Seelie Goose” by Eric Garrison
“I Knocked Up My Fairy Girlfriend” by Brandon Black
“The Body Electric” by Sarah Madsen
“The Last Mission” by Cindy Koepp
“The Beggar-Knight & the Lady Perilous” by Matthew A. Timmins
“The Filigreed Lamp” by Edward Ahern
“Keys” by Michael M. Jones
“Like a Sister in the Proper Court” by Lisa Hawkridge
“Gnome Games” by Saera Corvin
“The Goat Man’s Garden” by Marten Hoyle
A Chimerical World: Tales of the Unseelie Court
edited by Scott M. Sandridge
Kindle-Nook
The Fey have been with us since the beginning, sometimes to our great joy but often to our detriment. Usually divided (at least by us silly humans) into two courts, the second volume of A Chimerical World focuses on the Unseelie Court: the court we humans seem to view as the “evil” faeries. But “good” and “evil” are human concepts and as alien to the Fey as their mindsets are to us.

Inside you will find 19 stories that delve into the world of the faeries of the Unseelie Court, from authors both established and new, including Michael Shimek, Deedee Davies, and Nick Bryan.

But don’t be surprised if these faeries decide to play with their food.

Here is a list of the authors and stories to be featured in A Chimerical World: Tales of the Unseelie Court:
“In Plain Sight” by Rebecca Leo
“The Wunderhorn” by David Turnbull
“Treehouse” by Kim Smith
“I’ll Watch Over You” by Angeline Trevena
“The Enemy of my Enemy” by Deedee Davies
“Maestro” by Nicholas Paschall
“Prey of the Boggart” by Rony Blechman
“Fear of Little Men” by Mike Pieloor
“Faerie Stories and the Bean Nighe” by Carmen Tudor
“Gifts” by Michael Shimek
“Djinn and Tonic” by S. Clayton Rhodes
“The Bet” by Jodi Ralston
“The Fool and his Money” by Nick Bryan
“The Yielding” by J. A. Ironside
“The Tamer of Beasts” by Doug Blakeslee
“The Last Sword of Barrow Thorns” by Matthew A. Timmins
“The Rose and the Dragon” by Steven S. Long
“The Brothers Doran” by John A. McColley
“Wonderland” by Stephanie Jessop

About the Editor:
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Scott M. Sandridge is a writer, editor, freedom fighter, and all-around trouble-maker. His latest works as an editor include the Seventh Star Press anthologies Hero’s Best Friend: An Anthology of Animal Companions, and the two volumes of A Chimerical World, Tales of the Seelie Court and Tales of the Unseelie Court.

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