HOW TO PUBLISH A COLLECTION OF YOUR SHORT STORIES

 

 By Rayne Hall

Do you want to showcase your short stories by publishing them in a collection? In this post, I’ll show you the professional techniques to make your project a winner.

 From the start, think about your book’s content through a marketing lens.  The formula is simple: Singe Genre + Single Theme = Potential Success.

 

STICK TO ONE GENRE

 Short story collections sell best if they focus on one genre (category), for example, Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Science Fiction or Horror. Collections within a sub-genre have even greater marketing potential, e.g. Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Mediaeval Historical, Dystopian Science Fiction or Psychological Horror. This is because most readers look for their next read in their favourite genre. Rather than browse  thousands of published short story collections, they go straight to the 'Romance' category, or type 'Paranormal Romance stories' in the search box.

Professional Tip: collections within sub-genres – or even sub-sub-genres – have the best chance of getting discovered by readers. The more specialised, the better. A collection of mixed-genre stories is unlikely to get any attention at all. A book of Romance stories will also get lot in the sea of new publications. But  a collection of Paranormal Werewolf Romance tales will whet the appetite of fans of that category. 

So if you write both Romance and Horror stories, or both Middle Grade Children’s Stories and Adult Erotica, don't put them in the same book. You may yearn to publish a book showcasing the broad spectrum of your writing, but unless you're famous, strangers won't be interested enough to spend their money or time on this. Be professional and assess rationally which part of your writing will work best. 

 

CHOOSE A THEME

 Story collections with a theme sell much better than those without one. A theme could be, for example: Seaside, Mother's Day, Italy or Animal Rescue.

 Readers love stories about their favourite subjects. People who are passionate about pets will be drawn to a book with stories of animal rescues, while readers with fond memories of Italy will reach for the collection of stories set in that country. Themed story collections are also popular as gift books: "What can we give Suzie for her birthday? She's a bookworm and loves the seaside. Let's get her a book with seaside stories!"

 Seasonal themes can work well. You could create a collection of stories about Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, Beltane or Halloween.

 Professional Tip: check the competition. Every year, so many new books with Christmas stories get published that it can be difficult for yours to stand out, whereas Beltane or Easter are relatively rare.

 
HOW MANY STORIES DO YOU NEED?

 You can collect as many or as few stories as you like. There are no rules. However, you must not disappoint your readers.

 The trend is for bigger books. In the early years of ebooks, publishers brought out collections of just three or four stories, and readers purchased them. Nowadays, readers expect to get more stories for their money, and books with under eight scarcely stand a chance. Ten to twenty is better. Some anthologies, especially in the ebook format, contain fifty or more stories.

 However, there are other considerations. If your stories are long – say, over 10,000 words each – then four or five can fill a book. On the other hand, if you’re gathering flash fiction pieces shorter than 1,000 words, you’ll need to offer twenty-five as a minimum.

 If you don’t have enough stories matching the theme, write more.  You could also share the project with one or more other writers to produce an anthology, i.e. a multi-author collection.

 

CHOOSING THE TITLE AND SUBTITLE

The title is the biggest sales tool. Don’t wrack your  brain for fancy wordplays or phrases of deep significance. Instead, focus on telling readers what’s inside: the genre, the theme, and perhaps even the style and the number of stories.  This is what lures readers.

 Here are some examples I’ve made up:

Love Under the Mistletoe: The Mammoth Book of Christmas Romance Stories

Sweet Sixteen: 16 Romance Tales for that Special Birthday

The Cursed Abbey: 13 Gothic Tales of Ghostly Ruins

Footprints in the Sand: Seaside Romance Stories

Lust with Fangs: Sizzling Werewolf Romance Stories

 

Here are the titles of some of my real books:

The Bride’s Curse: Bulgarian Gothic Ghost and Horror Stories  (a single-author collection)

Among the Headstones: Creepy Tales from the Graveyard  (a multi-author anthology I published)

The Haunted Train: Creepy Tales from the Railways (a multi-author anthology I published)

  

ANTHOLOGY OR COLLECTION?

 In this article, I’ve mentioned the word ‘anthology’ several times. Is a collection the same as an anthology?

  ‘Collection’ is a broad category which includes ‘anthology’. If you gather several stories in a book, it’s a collection, regardless of the number of authors involved. Only if the stories are by multiple authors is it an anthology. So, an anthology is a collection, but not every collection is an anthology.  (The definitions have blurred somewhat in recent years.)

 NOVICE MISTAKES TO AVOID

·        Don’t attempt to showcase the whole spectrum of your writing skills in a single book.

·        Don’t pad your book with below-standard or thematically irrelevant content just to get the word count up.

·        Don’t use overly clever titles which can be understood only after reading the book.

 

PROFESSIONAL STRATEGIES

 ·        The tighter the focus of genre, form and theme, the greater is the book’s marketing potential.

·        Study published collections in your chosen genre. Model your project on recently published bestselling collections, e.g. for the number of stories,  the quality, the choice of the title and the marketing methods.  

·        Use the title and subtitle to convey what’s inside your book. This is your best marketing tool.

  

ASSIGNMENT

 Choose the genre, form and theme for your book. Discuss your ideas with readers of the genre, and in the case of an anthology, with some of the writers you hope will contribute.

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BLURB:  Do you want to showcase your stories in a book? Do you want to become an anthology editor and select other author's short works? Does your writers' group plan a publication for its members?

 In this book, Rayne Hall shows you the professional way of publishing a collection of short tales, how to choose, organise, edit and present them, how to reach audiences and persuade readers to buy this book.

 You’ll learn

·        How to find fantastic stories

·        Which themes have the greatest potential for success

·        Creating guidelines for contributors

·        How to select the right submissions

·        Phrasing rejections and acceptances

·        How to structure the contents, which tale to place at the start and which at the end

·        Editing techniques

·        How to use teasers to hook readers

·        If, when and how much to pay the contributors

·        What to put into the publishing agreements

·        The best ways to present an book showcasing your writers’ group

·        How to publish an anthology to raise funds for a charity

·        Pitfalls to avoid

·        How to secure book reviews, guest post slots and social media attention

 and much more, taking your project to a professional level.

Rayne Hall has worked in publishing for 40 years, and during this time she edited many anthologies - some in the employ of publishing houses, others for her my own publishing business, Rayne Hall Ltd - and also collections of her own works. ln this guide, she shares her experiences so you can learn from them without needing to make your own mistakes. Ebook and paperback: https://mybook.to/anth 

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How To Create A Vivid Experience With Setting Descriptions

HOW TO CREATE A VIVID EXPERIENCE WITH SETTING DESCRIPTIONS

by Rayne Hall

(British English Spelling)

Are your place descriptions exciting parts of your story, or do they feel like clunky disruptions to the plot? Here's a powerful writing technique for making them flow and pulling the reader in.

Many writers make the mistake of describing places the way they see them, or the way most people do. The trick is to show the location in the way the story's point-of-view character sees it.

First, identify the point-of-view character of the scene. Through whose eyes, ears and thoughts do you want the reader to experience this part of the story? Show the setting from this character's perspective.

If ten people walk down the same road, all ten will notice something different. When you visualise the place, pick not the details you would see, but the ones the character would. This way, setting descriptions become part of the characterisation.

Let's look at some practical examples. Imagine several characters strolling down the same road in a British town.

Consider these factors:

1. The Character's Job

A person who spends day after day, year after year looking at everything in a certain way will automatically assess everything in this manner, even in his leisure time.

Strolling down a road, the architect sees a row of Victorian terraced houses with bay windows, some with modern double glazing, some with rotting window frames. The health and safety inspector walking down the same road notices the overflowing rubbish bins and the dog turds steaming on the pavement. The burglar observes that half the houses have intruder alarms and motion-sensor floodlights.

2. The character's hobbies

Most people immediately notice anything related to their hobbies. Spend a moment contemplating what interest's the PoV character.

If she's an animal lover, she sees people walking their bull terriers, and a grey squirrel sitting on a fence. The hobby gardener sees neglected front gardens, overgrown with borage and brambles, and front steps here potted geraniums have died from neglect. The car enthusiast sees battered Citroens parked on the roadside.

3. The Character's Relationships

A mother sees the unsupervised children playing on the pavement, and broken toys. A young man who's fallen in love with a blonde girl, who drives a red Vauxhall, will see red Vauxhall cars and blondes everywhere.

4. The Character's Obsessions

What does your PoV character obsess about? You can convey his state of mind through setting descriptions.

A local politician desperate to get re-elected observes how many voters probably live in this road, and that potholes and defective street lighting are likely concerns. A recovering drug addict struggling against his cravings notices a smell of marijuana. A woman who is desperate to get pregnant sees mothers pushing prams.

5. The character's Dominant Sense

Is one sense especially acute in this character, either by nature or by training?

Walking down a rainy road, a vision-oriented painter will see the spreading circles on the surfaces of puddles, while a drummer will hear the rhythm of the drops hammering on the car roofs.

Deepening the PoV

Leave out filter words which create a barrier between the PoV and the reader: I/he/she/ saw/heard/smelled/noticed/could see/could hear/could smell etc. Although these words are not wrong, they're not needed once you've established who the PoV character of the scene is. It's best to use them sparingly.

Here are some examples.

Shallow PoV: She heard a motor whine in the distance.

Deep PoV: A motor whined in the distance.

Shallow PoV: He realised that the hum came from a combine harvester.

Deep PoV: The hum came from a combine harvester.

Shallow PoV: He could see waves crashing against the shore.

Deep PoV: Waves crashed against the shore.

The deeper the PoV, the more powerful the reader's experience.

Writing the Actual Descriptions

Less is more. Keep your setting descriptions short, because readers tend to skip lengthy descriptive paragraphs.

Don't dump all the setting descriptions at the beginning of the scene, but sprinkle them, two sentences here, three there.

Don't rely exclusively on visual impressions. A sentence describing smells evokes the place more strongly than a whole paragraph about visuals. Sounds add excitement and don't slow the pace like visual do.

A Practical Assignment

Who is the PoV of the scene you're writing or revising? What are his or her job, hobbies, obsessions and dominant sense? Therefore, in the scene you're working on, what will he or she notice about the setting?

If you like, post your answer in the comments section, and I'll try to reply.

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As the author of the bestselling Writer's Craft guides, she answers writing-related questions on Twitter,  posts articles online, coaches authors, edits books, speaks at conferences and teaches online classes.

She has been working in the publishing industry for three decades, as a trainee publishing manager, editorial assistant, magazine editor, investigative journalist, production editor, literary agent, and publishing consultant. In between, and often at the same time, she has been a museum guide, adult education teacher, development aid worker, apple picker, trade fair hostess, translator, belly dancer, and tarot reader.  

Now she is a professional writer, with more than sixty books published under several pen names (mostly Rayne Hall), in several genres (mostly fantasy, horror, historical and non-fiction), by several publishers (and indie-published), in several languages.

After living in Germany, China, Mongolia, Nepal, and Britain, she is now based in Bulgaria where she enjoys visiting ancient Roman ruins and hot springs, going for walks in the countryside, permaculture gardening and training her cats.  If you find this article helpful and want to study the subject in greater depth, Rayne's books Writing Deep Point of View (myBook.to/PoV)  and Writing Vivid Settings  (myBook.to/Set)  will teach you professional-level techniques.  

Sulu the lucky black cat (adopted from a cat rescue shelter) recommends them.
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