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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