About Anthologies

October 1, 2023October 1, 2023 / lmkling / Leave a comment

I’ve always thought of anthologies as books of short stories and poems put together by writers’ groups as a fun and interesting exercise. A way to get your work into a book format that can be sold at low cost to family and friends and maybe raise funds for the group or for a charity.

I recently entered a competition with the Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) and the prize was being included in the Sweet Treats anthology Lollipop. I was short listed and my story The Houdini Lollipop was included. It was fabulous encouragement, a learning experience and wonderful publicity. It was great to be published with other romance authors but the proceeds the anthology raised were used for the organisation.

My preconception about anthologies was blown away at a wonderful session on anthologies presented by Ebony McKenna at the RWA conference 2023. This popular and prolific author has written a guide providing a wealth of information and advice. The Writer’s Guide to … Anthologies – From idea to Publication – A step-by-step manual ©2023 by Ebony McKenna www.ebonymckenna.com

Ebony contends, and with lots of evidence, that anthologies don’t only make money for the authors included, they can also be listed on best-sellers lists and get the attention and publicity that all authors need in order for their work to get into the hands of readers.

I won’t go through the steps Ebony suggests in her book, it would be better for readers to purchase her book and use it as a reference. But I will go through some of the advantages and disadvantages of the process and some things to consider when deciding to put together an anthology.

Before setting up an anthology you will need to consider what sort of anthology you want to produce. Anthologies can include short stories, novellas, poetry or even non-fiction articles but the first thing to think if you are putting the anthology into the marketplace is who is your targeted audience. Readers like anthologies with a consistent content, whether that’s all historical, crime, romance, fantasy science fiction or poetry. Ebony also suggests similar heat levels (sweet or erotic) and a consistent type of content. This makes advertising easier and you won’t shock a reader who expects an anthology full of sweet love stories and finds one or more stories with erotic or horror themes. A full study of what is popular and what is selling is important. Google ‘popular anthology books’ to get an idea of what is out there. The most important issue is that all the included writers must do their bit and contribute equally to the project. Ebony suggests a contract clearly stating the terms and obligations required.

Advantages

You can make money.
You will get your work published.
It may help you get your name into a new genre.
You have a given theme/subject.
Writing novellas and short stories can be easier than a full-length novel.
You can learn a lot about publishing and marketing in a group experience.
It could be fun.

Disadvantages

It does require good organisation.
You will need to ensure all members contribute their time equally even if their skills differ.
Contributors do have to “buy in” to the anthology, which means you pay to cover costs such as the cover design, formatting, marketing, advertising etc.
The organiser will have to work out the steps of producing the anthology and ensure they are carried out professionally.
Anthologies often take 2-3 years to put together.
The group may have to learn about taxes and royalties and sort out the finances before proceeding.

If you don’t want to organise your own anthology many are advertised on-line. Romance writers have an advantage as there is a dedicated Facebook group: Australian Romance Anthology Connection. Other genre’s may require some internet searches to find what is on offer.

Writers organisations also provide information about anthologies and many competitions will include your work in an anthology. Try browsing through the Writers SA website under competitions and opportunities, and have a look at other writers centres interstate or overseas.

Cheers

Feature Photo: Stock photo attributed to Creative Commons

A Poem by Elsie King–First Thing in the Morning

August 5, 2023 / lmkling / Leave a comment

First thing in the Morning

Warming beams of silvered light,

Shattered into shadowed flight,

By trees, ancient and divine,

Standing in eternal time,

The ground hoary, crisp with frost,

Mist rising, horizons earlier lost,

Emerge, first thing in the morning.

Grass crunches under chilly feet,

Lowing cows huddle, sharing heat,

A magpie chuckles to greet the day,

Parrots screech and rise to play,

Winds murmurs among the leaves,

Dew drops, as the night must grieve,

Defeated, First thing in the morning.

The air fills lungs with, stimulation

Breath clouds with every exhalation

The heart lifts as it’s beat proclaims,

The ethereal beauty it acclaims,

We may shiver in the dawning light

But beauty abounds following the night,

Exultant, First thing in the morning.

© Elsie King 2023

Feature Photo: Mole Creek Morning © L.M. Kling 2011

Rhythm–Making Your Poetry Sing

July 29, 2023July 29, 2023 / lmkling / Leave a comment

Rhythm in Poetry

Further to my comments a few blogs ago re rhythm in poetry there are a couple of points I feel could do with clarification:

Rhythm is dependent NOT upon words but on the syllables that make up those words. While a word is at times only a single syllable (e.g.cat/dog/plant/then/through/thought…) many have two or more syllables (i.e. are multi-syllabic).

However, looking at that list of single-syllable words above it is obvious that the number of letters in a written word has little or nothing to do with the matter. Syllables are based on the number of sounds rather than the number of letters used to represent those sounds in the written form of the language.

All spoken language consists of two sorts of sounds: vowels and consonants; the vowels themselves come in two sorts: short and long. In English there are six short vowels – the middle sounds in pat/pet/pit/pot/putt/put. All the rest (14 in all) are long. To name but a few for example: the middle sounds in pool/paid/peel/pout/pipe/part/pert/port/pose.

The consonants on the other hand (25 in all) are the first one or two and the last sounds in all the examples above – apart from “through” where the last sound is “oo” (as in “soon”). Quite clearly, spelling in our written language and the sounds of the spoken language seem to bear little relationship to each other. But in saying that I’m teaching my grandma to suck eggs; aren’t I? Regardless of the fact that it is syllables and therefore the sounds of those syllables that are critical to rhythm I won’t go into all the intricacies here as it distracts from what I need to say about rhythm in poetry.

If the rhythm doesn’t “sing” properly when you read your poem aloud it is the syllables you must consider: maybe change a three or four syllable word to one of two or three (or vice versa) or remove a word; or add another; or repeat a word or a whole line or… Maybe you need to change a short vowel for a long one (or again, vice versa!).

The permutations can be seemingly endless. Just keep playing with it until it feels right when you read it aloud. Remember: poetry is music using words instead of notes and, like music, is meant to be performed. We miss much of the joy of poetry if we simply skim the words on the page; eyes only.

Secondly, prose marches across the page, words side by side like an army, ranks of soldiers filling the space. Poetry is more like a company of dancers, short lines, long lines, single words, spaces, positions on the page…

By simply changing the length of lines in a poem you can change the mood entirely. By way of example consider two versions of the A.A. Milne poem “Happiness”:

These 16 short lines give a beautiful, clear picture of John’s joy as he stomps around; jumping in puddles; splish, splashing in the rain. No words detailing any of this. But no words needed. Now read aloud those same words arranged differently:

How did that feel to you? Much slower; much more thoughtful is how it seems to me; almost as if he’s looking at his wet weather gear and wondering if it’s worthwhile going to the bother of putting it all on just to go out in the rain. Wouldn’t it be better to stay inside by the fire and read a book?

By the by, in the second, longer, more discursive version I found myself saying “has” instead of “had” as I was reading it. A small point indeed. But this is a lot of what poetry is about – small points can have a big impact!!

And another small point with a big impact: all the capital letters in the original provide emphasis plus; an emphasis that adds to the mental picture of a small boy stomping around, splashing in puddles, having a joyously wonderful time and to hell with the rest…

Do you too feel that it adds to the whole thing in a way that mere words alone could not possibly do?

Indie Scriptorium — Self Publishing Collective

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First thing in the Morning

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Rhythm in Poetry

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