How to Compile Short Stories for an Anthology

So often I see authors who just really want to publish “something” and they’re good at what they write. They have skills, they have talent, and they’re building a reading audience, so an anthology is one great way to get published, be read, and have some volume…

But who can compile an anthology?

Literally, anyone can compile an anthology.

An anthology is something that can happen in a broad wide open way that builds readership and increases the audience for the authors who participate. An anthology can be a huge benefit for those authors. Success is entirely possible because when you produce and publish such a profoundly delightful book with a variety of content, you open up the world to new authors, new story styles, and a compilation of fun reads.

Let’s go back to the part about WHO can compile an anthology?

Writer groups can come together and compile an anthology of the stories written by their writer group members. These will most likely have some commonalities because writers in a group most often write similar genres, viewpoints, or perspectives. The best part of writers group compilations is the process of pulling these stories into the book. Everybody gets to participate. It’s a foregone conclusion, if you want a story in the book, you send it to the “compiler” in the format requested, and let them put it in the book.

Hopefully, the writers all have some basic knowledge of whatever format the compiler is using and can send their manuscript in a way that makes editing almost automatic. The process can be simple. Or it can be difficult. I’ve run into both while working on compilations.

Again… Anybody can.

Not everybody should.

But here’s a good list of recommended Compilers:

writers groups
publishers
writer coaches
online writer groups
offline writer groups
writer associations
genre publishers
writers
editors
book designers

Any of these folks are great candidates for building a great compilation of short stories!

How do you go about compiling a great group of stories – and authors?

First, you’ll need a good idea about what you’re going to include in the book. Things like genre, writing style, various other components of story and style come to mind here. But don’t narrow the field too much, because you don’t want every story to read like every other story. Invite some contrasting writing styles into your compilation.

Then bring on the stories.

Give everyone a deadline for submissions.

know how many stories you need
get confirmation from all authors
bring in a contract lawyer – because you do need a contract
you need a non-disclosure for ALL staff editors/publishers

Loose lips sink ships!

Be sure your editors and publishers know how important it is to keep details of the publication close to the heart and not disclose them to ANYONE. (That means writers as well! There are things your writers have no need to know until the book is released and all the final decisions have been made. Disclosing those details can cost you money, cost you time, and ultimately end up being a problem for the publisher of the book. Don’t tell everything you know to everyone you want to tell.)

find qualified editors
design a cover
pull together a layout objective
formulate the basis of the book
- FORWARD (who’s going to write it, what will it say)
- Acknowledgments (who’s going to write it, what will it say)
schedule publication date
plan for book release (pre-sales & release parties)
schedule book signings with as many authors as possible

These are all steps you’ll want to follow, some religiously, others tentatively, but all of them should be given consideration as you prepare to release your book.

The most important part of publishing a book of anthologies is planning for the marketing process.

Be sure all your authors list the book on their Amazon Author’s Page! To help them do that, list each of them as authors in the book. Give them credit for their work. Let them see how valuable they are by sharing the duties of marketing the book with each of them.

Set marketing events and let your writers know about them. These can be writer reviews, or book signings, or other events where more than one author can participate. Or events for individual authors. Marketing these events as a group can be beneficial, even if only one author can participate. The more these events are shared, the more likely more books will be sold.