Working on an anthology is an entirely different beast. Think Beauty and
the Beast. You start out with a quarrelsome, growly, domineering chunk of words
that need to be tamed into one cohesive book.
Picture this: Beauty dreaming of finding her hero. Every August the Maine
Romance Writers partake in a brainstorming retreat. Okay, so it’s like a huge
slumber party. We arrive with sleeping bags and pillows and laptops and snacks
(salty and savory) and wine. Did I mention laptops? Yes, we do work. We spend
all day either brainstorming our next story in small groups, or sitting on the
deck or down by the lake writing on our current work. We break every few hours
to exchange writing tips, eat, or take a boat ride around the lake.
Two years ago, we sat on the deck, sated with food and talk and wine (just
a little), with the sound of loons on the lake and the full moon arrowing a
golden path across the lake and right up on the shoreline in front of us. Our
host suggested we might like to try writing an anthology. Within minutes we’d
created a town, brainstormed names of the town, set a few guidelines, and we
were off and running
Or so we thought.
The reality is the work we did that night was Beauty’s fantasy.
Then the
Beast appeared. All the details of actually putting together an anthology. The
writing was the easy part—Beauty’s fantasy. Managing a project, was the roaring
and untamable Beast. I am happy to say we did finally tame the beast, and named
it Welcome to Serenity Harbor.
Beauty and the Beast are now living happily ever after. But as with all good
marriages or committed relationships, one must open their eyes, negotiate,
persevere over the hurdles, and make a strong commitment to reach that Happily Ever After.
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| Why am I here? |
As one of two project managers, working with a group of six committee
members and all the authors who were excited about the project, here are the
things I learned: (caveat, not all anthologies revolve around a town, like ours
did. Some have a theme. Some are made up of a group of authors and there are no
rules around story content.)
♥ Map out the project and plot exactly what the
project will look like.
♣ Set rules, such as
genre of anthology (ours was contemporary), length (we chose short novellas, 15
– 25K words).
♣ Write a contract.
Include costs, such as professional editor for each work, (authors absorbed
that cost), due date of manuscript, anticipated release date, budget (cost of
formatter, cover artist, and promotion, for which we shared cost), and
production timeline.
♣ Determine as a group, parameters
around the theme, such as name and details of town that all authors will set
their story in, name of overall anthology, type of promotion, voting on book
cover design, etc.
♥ Research
♣ What anthologies are
being sold now, how are they set up, etc.
♣ Talk to other authors
in anthologies to understand their process.
♣ Find professionals,
editors, formatters, cover artists, etc.
♥ Communicate
♣ As a committee, agree
on the process.
♣ Communicate with all
authors each step of the way.
♣ Vote on any spending.
♥ Evaluate at the end. Our learnings included:
♣ Making sure you factor
in realistic expenses, such as copy editing and project manager costs up front.
♣ Set deadlines and stick
to them.
♣ Hire a copy editor, and
have one person, not an author related to the anthology, determine if the book
fits the criteria and is edited properly
♥ Make it your own
♣ One fun thing we did,
was to insert the mention of a sheep into each story. Look at the back cover
and you will see a rendering of a sheep that says “find me”, crafted by one of
our authors.
Although, as a group we bumbled our way through the
process, for me it was an incredible experience of teamwork and learning about
self-publishing. And although the Beast still growls once in a while, the Beast
is also loving and tamed. And he and Beauty are living happily ever after.
Welcome
to Serenity Harbor, Maine, where waves slap against the rocky shore and love is
always in the air.
Two
centuries after a ship, The Serenity, brought the first families to
this part of the secluded Maine coast, the town is home to their descendants
and a destination for tourists and travelers seeking their own slice of
heaven—and blueberry pie.
Join
nine Maine authors and their friends in their walk around Serenity Harbor, and
maybe you’ll find the sheep that sometimes get loose on Main Street!
Authors contributing to Welcome to Serenity Harbor:
Terri Brisbin, Teagan Oliver,
Kat Henry Doran, Luanna
Stewart,
Michelle Libby, Maggie Robinson,
Delsora Lowe, April Canavan and
Rose
Morris, Meg Kassel
Welcome to Serenity Harbor is available now. Check your favorite e-retailer to purchase.
About
Delsora Lowe
From
Cabins to Cottages…Keep the Home Fires Burning
A transplanted big city girl, world-wide traveler,
and foreign-service brat, who now lives in a coastal Maine town, Delsora Lowe
loves to write about small town heroes from the cowboys and ranchers of
Colorado to the game wardens and lobstermen of Maine. Her work in the
hospitality industry, rape crisis, admissions, alumni relations, and women’s
advocacy has allowed her to interact on a daily basis with real life heroines
and heroes. Lowe’s family visits to Colorado are the inspiration for an upcoming
contemporary western series.
The
Legacy of Parkers Point by Delsora Lowe in the anthology Welcome to Serenity Harbor:
Two
lives, one legacy—the lure of Parkers Point
One
runs from …
Inheriting his grandfather’s property on the rocky
point in Serenity Harbor, Maine is the perfect escape from the biggest
professional disaster of Grayson’s life. Will distance and space help Gray heal
old family and professional wounds enough to open his heart to love?
One
runs toward …
Lauralee struggles to save the family art gallery for
her aunt. Returning to Serenity Harbor is payment for her aunt’s kindness that
saved her life and soul. Now she’s on a quest to find her father. Will this
trip home help her learn to trust and finally convince her she can truly belong
for the first time in her life?
