The anthology submission call merry-go-round
Stay on, or jump off?
Hello and welcome to the latest issue of Fervent Curiosity. My name is Victor De Anda and this is my newsletter.
Every month or so, there seems to be a new call for another anthology, some of them from A-list editors, and some from amazing publications. It’s always tempting to submit to every one of the calls that sound interesting. After all, who wouldn’t want to be part of a ToC (table of contents) co-edited by Chuck Palahniuk, or some other heavy-hitter in the fiction world? But maybe you shouldn’t submit to all of them.
Before the hate mail comes in, I just want to clarify one thing—I am NOT against submitting your fiction to anthology calls. Nothing of the sort. I’m just telling you my story. I’ve been caught up in the endless loop of submitting work for anthologies and feeling like I never get my own original stories finished. If your calling is to sub to anthologies and nothing else, more power to you. Nothing wrong with that at all. But if you’re like me, you may start to wonder if it’s worth submitting to all of them and running yourself ragged in the process.
Today, I’m going to talk about the pros and cons of submitting to anthology calls. As always, your mileage may vary.
The pros
1. The biggest positive to submitting and being included in an anthology is the exposure. Most authors who get chosen for anthologies all vary in writing style, craft, and approach. Some of them may be veteran writers, while others are new to the scene. It’s beneficial for you as a writer, since your work will be seen by new readers not familiar with your work. In a sense, you’re riding others’ coattails by making it into the ToC of an anthology. Or they could be riding your coattails, who knows? In the end, it all works out for everybody.
2. Writing to a deadline. I’m a slow writer. I never get my stories done unless I impose my own deadlines. Even better if it’s an external finish time. Anthology calls force you to manage your time and get to the end, if you plan on making the deadline, that is. I’ve subbed to calls where I was working on a story until the last minute of the last day, hitting “send” at the last possible second. It’s a “pencils down” feeling that’s like no other. You gave it your all, and now you’re going to let the chips fall where they may.
3. Shaking the writing cobwebs loose. Say you’re in a writing rut. Maybe the words aren’t coming easy. An anthology call might be the solution for you. With a theme and/or writing prompt, your brain gets to work on a different problem. You can still make it your own, but now you’ve got some guardrails to help you.
4. Getting paid (hopefully)! Most anthologies offer a nominal payment for making the cut. Hey, now you can tell everyone that you’re a paid writer. Sounds good, right?
5. You’re in a published book! For writers who have only been published online, or never before, it’s a great feeling to see your words on the printed page. It’s also nice to be able to hold something in your hand and tell family and friends that you’re a part of it. This never gets old.
The cons
1. Get ready for your expectations to be brought down to earth. After I made it into my first anthology, I thought, “Now the world is going to recognize my writing talent!” That isn’t how it happened. To date, that anthology has gotten a handful of reviews on Goodreads. The myth I’ve heard is that only other writers read anthologies. I don’t think that’s entirely the case, though. I’ve seen lots of anthology reviews from folks who were strictly readers, and love reading all kinds of things.
2. The endless cycle of submitting. At any given time, there seems to be a myriad of submission calls for anthologies. Some of them happening even in the same month. Again, I’m not bagging on solely subbing your work for anthology calls, I’m just calling attention to the fact that you can spend all of your time doing this. Your own work can take a toll if you’re only subbing to anthology calls. I’ve taken breaks from anthology calls to focus on my own work, and it’s been a good thing. You can easily get caught up in subbing to multiple anthology calls and feel like you’re not doing the work you really want to do, in my opinion.
3. This one’s the flip side to #3 in the Pros list above. An anthology typically has a theme and/or a prompt that needs to be followed. You can still apply your own experiences to an anthology prompt, which often results in a great story, I think. And yes, it’s important to be flexible. But the story didn’t start in your head. It started with the prompt. No idea is original, I won’t argue that. I’m being nit-picky, but something in my twisted head always tells me that if a story doesn’t come from my own idea, it isn’t really mine. We can argue about this one if you like.
4. Your own stories may suffer. If you spend all of your time writing to submission calls for various themes, that’s great! But what if there are other stories you want to tell? Stories that may not fit into an anthology? When do you write those? I’m a notoriously slow writer, so if I’m working on a story for an anthology call, I’m typically not working on anything else at the same time. Nowadays, I try and balance the anthology calls I choose to write for. When I see these sub calls being promoted, and take a closer look, I always ask myself the same questions. Do I have a story that already fits the call, or one that can be slightly altered to fit? Do I have the time to write something new for the call? Or should I ignore the call, and focus on the stories that I want to write? These points are always running through my head when I read about submission calls.
5. Rejections can hit hard. Especially if the editors are people you highly admire. If you submit to a Chuck Palahniuk-edited anthology and your story gets passed on, how will you react? When I began subbing to anthologies and got rejected, I always thought the worst: “Such and such editor thinks I suck!” Not the case. Luckily, the rejection letters I received were personal ones, simply stating that the work wasn’t for them at this time. Editors of anthology calls are often looking for something specific. If your story doesn’t fit their expectations, it won’t get accepted. Makes sense, right? If the call is for horror, you don’t send in a rom-com story. Unless there’s body horror in it, I suppose. You just can’t take it personally. Also, with any submission, anthology editors aren’t looking for anything that’s too far off the mark. I’ve taken chances and swung for the fences with some of my anthology submissions. But I have yet to make it in with any of these stories. My guess is they were just too far left field to be considered. Which also makes sense, as anthology editors are often looking for some consistency in the stories they choose to include.
Wrap-up
After all this talk, do I still submit to anthology calls? Of course I do. I’m just a bit more discerning these days, that’s all. Not like when I first started, which was a trying experience. I also love being part of an anthology with other talented writers in a ToC. And I enjoy promoting any collection that I’m in.
On the flip side, what if you don’t have time to submit to an anthology call? No problem there, either. I typically weigh the cost versus the effort. Life is short for all of us. There will always be another anthology you can submit to.
Again, I’m not bagging on solely subbing your work to anthology calls, I’m just calling attention to the fact that you can spend all of your time doing this. Your own work can take a toll if you’re only subbing to anthology calls. I’ve taken breaks from anthology calls to focus on my own stories, and it’s been a good thing. You can easily get caught up in subbing to multiple anthology calls and feel like you’re not doing the work you really want to do.
Instead, what I try to do is focus on my own stories, and then see if they fit any submission calls that are out there. I also sub these stories to other publications as well.
I’ve also started stories for anthology calls that never got finished. Is that a fail? I don’t think so. The end result is that I have part of a story that I can come back to and complete. That’s a positive, wouldn’t you agree?
I’ve gotten caught up in the submission call merry-go-round many times, and felt worn out. They can take a lot of your energy. All I’m saying is they are good in moderation. If that’s all you want to do, that’s fine too. I just find that my own work doesn’t always fit what an anthology is looking for. Regardless, I keep trying, and keep submitting. And you should too.
What are your thoughts on anthology submission calls?
ICYMI:
As of November last year, I’ve joined the staffs of two of the finest crime fiction magazines out there as a first reader! That’s right, I am now a part of the Gauntlet at Shotgun Honey (Thanks, Ron), and am also reading for Rock and A Hard Place magazine (Thanks, Roger). I look forward to reading your work if you submit to these great venues for crime fiction!
Last week, I was privileged to read my work as part of the Dark Waters Vol. 2 Crowdcast, along with some other talented writers that are in the ToC. The Crowdcast link is up for another week, and you can see it here:
My latest stories out in the wild:
* “Head Over Heels” is part of the Bloody Valentine call over at Punk Noir Magazine here (Big thanks to Stephen J. Golds)
* “Ahuizotl” is in the Dark Waters Vol. 2 anthology, get your copy here (Big thanks to Kirstyn Petras and N.E. Turner)
* “Frank is typing…” in Roi Faineant here (Big thanks to Melissa Flores Anderson)
* “Diamond Dust” in Yellow Mama here (Big thanks to Cindy Rosmus)
What I’m Reading:
Still reading stories by Harlan Ellison and Flannery O’Connor. I’ve also just started RED HARVEST by Dashiell Hammett.
What I’m Writing:
Working on some stories for my 1999 L.A. collection, as well as revisiting some sci-fi pieces I wrote a while ago.
What I’m Watching:
Nothing worth noting as of last week, I’m afraid. Tune in next week!
That about does it for this week. If you liked this post, please restack it, give it a mention, or share it on social media. You can find all my links here.
Nice article about anthology opportunities. I tend to look to them as a reprint market, if that is part of their submission call. I’m less likely to write something to a specific theme than to see what I have already finished or started that may match. And because I write different types of things I’ve had stories in recent years in crime, sci-fi and literary compilations. In a couple of cases, I sent stories that were quite long, 7500 words or larger; print anthologies often are good markets for the big ones, I find.
I was on this merry-go-round from about 2015-18, and I stepped off after that. (I think I’ve had three stories published since then.) Chasing those horses threw my creative life out of balance: my novel writing ground to a slow crawl, and I often felt as if my editing practice was suffering from the daily write-or-edit Sophie’s Choice. Then I met the woman who became my wife and time for short stories narrowed to a pinhole.
Part of it too, I think, is that the crime-short-story world, while wider than ever, seems more scattered and fractured. The late and much lamented THUGLIT seemed like the main field on which talent was being scouted and sighed to publishing deals. Now there are a number of solid outlets but none seems to have seized pole position the way THUGLIT did. Among, say, Tough, Guilty, Rock and a Hard Place, Dark Yonder, Starlite Pulp, All Due Respect and many others, which is more visible? Which gets attention from publishing houses? Which offers the best possibility for leveling up the way Jordan Harper, Eli Cranor and Shawn Cosby did, to name a few?
True, you should be writing for the love of the art and the craft, and when bolts of inspiration strike, but let’s be honest: we all want to level up too. We don’t write only for $40 paydays or a scattering of online praise from our pals. We all want our work to take us someplace. How is that done? Can it still be done?